Circle Dance Research Articles

Ohuokhai: Transmitter of Biocultural Heritage for Sakha of Northeastern Siberia

Sakha, a Turkic-speaking people of northeastern Siberia, Russia, practice a circle dance called ohuokhai that is fueled by improvisatory song. Although it is typically bracketed by regular introductory and closing stanzas, its improvisatory middle is a communicative forum for the lead singer to report, critique, and prophesize on issues relevant to the dancers she/he leads. In Soviet times, this middle section often contained expressions of discontent masked by the linguistic complexity of the Sakha language compared to Russian. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the improvisatory texts speak to issues of the environmental crises resulting from the Soviet period and of the increasingly obvious effects of climate change on local lands, ecosystems, and Sakhas' horse and cattle breeding subsistence economy. In this article, I discuss my personal experience with ohuokhai and how it first drew me to work with Viliui Sakha, Sakha living adjacent to the Viliui river and with whom I have collaborated since 1991. My early findings detailed the circle dance's role in Sakha culture and the power it maintained through the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. In this article, I build upon the cultural and historical background I established in my previous research to highlight how ohuokhai can also be considered a perpetuator of biocultural knowledge for the Viliui Sakha. The longitudinal arc of my work with Sakha brings new understandings to ohuokhai, its ethnobiological threads, and its crucial role in transmitting biocultural heritage over generations.

Language of the Goddess in Balkan Women’s Circle Dance

The author narrates her journey to women’s circle dances of the Balkans, and explores how they incorporate prehistoric signs which Marija Gimbutas called ‘the language of the Goddess’. These symbolic images appear in archaeological artefacts, textile motifs, song words, and dance patterns, and have been passed down for thousands of years in nonverbal ways. The interdisciplinary approach of archaeomythology suggests that the images may carry ideas and values from the Neolithic cultures in which these dances are said to have their roots. Women’s ritual dances affirm the Old European values which honoured the Goddess, the mother principle, and the cycles of life, and offer an extraordinary oasis of women’s empowerment, even within patriarchal culture, indicating that the dances most likely originate in pre-patriarchal egalitarian matriarchy. For women today, even outside the Balkans, these women’s ritual dances offer insight and meaning through an embodied experience of the values of the Goddess.

The Action Research on the Sacred Circle Dance and Music-Based Integrative Arts Therapy

The Action Research on the Sacred Circle Dance and Music-Based Integrative Arts Therapy

Osuokhai, The Yakut Circle Dance

A circle dance, a fundamental element of many traditional cultures, exists in many parts of the world. Scholars have been fascinated by historical and contemporary, mythical and cultural, ritual and semantic aspects of circle dances. The article discusses the Yakut circle dance, osuokhai, influenced by ancient practices and religious ideas of Eurasian nomads. The article reflects on the historical transformations and on the semantics of the osuokhai.

Salvador Dalí’s references from Catalonia and the Empordà

Salvador Dali was born in Figueres, an open-minded city with republican ideals at a time when the myth of the Emporda as the heart of Catalonia, as the poet Joan Maragall described this place, was being forged. The friends of his father, the notary Salvador Dali Cusi, commissioned his first works, which bore the symbols of the Emporda, such as sardanes (the traditional circle dance). Figueres is also where the revolutionary Dali emerged, a close friend of Marti Vilanova and Jaume Miravitlles. And the landscape of the Emporda, with its clear blue sky, is the driver behind his creative works. Referents to Catalonia and the Emporda appear throughout his entire career and become the essence of his oeuvre; today, many of them have become universally recognised thanks to this genius from the Emporda. In this paper, we shall reveal these referents.

19세기 기록으로 살펴본 女圓舞와 한장군 신앙

19세기 기록으로 살펴본 女圓舞와 한장군 신앙

The experience of meaning in circle dance

ABSTRACTCircle dance, which derives from the tradition of folk dances, is practised worldwide. This article explores the meanings participants attribute to it. In-depth interviews with 39 participants, teachers and coordinators of teacher training programmes from the circle dance network in the United Kingdom were undertaken. Applying a constructivist grounded theory approach, major categories, representing respectively the experiences of circle dance participants, teachers and coordinators, were developed. This article specifically focuses on the first major category, termed “I can't imagine life without it”, which relates to the experience of 22 dancers. From an occupational perspective, the study reveals how participants realise a sense of meaning and satisfaction through engagement in circle dance and the potential contribution of this occupation to well-being.

Krishna’s Frolics with the Milkmaids

The story of the sporting experience of Krishna with a group of milkmaids is most popular in the Hindu Vaisnava tradition. It portrays Krishna as both a kinsman of the shepherd community in Vrndavana (Vraj) and the supreme God, synonymous to Vishnu. The story starts with Krishna playing his flute and milkmaids rushing to meet him. They leave their dear ones at home and it shows their unswerving love for their Lord. While the pleasant conversation and amorous behaviour reach a climax, Krishna disappears and the young women become remorseful and are caught up in the fever of love. Krishna reappears blossoming and after explaining that separation intensifies love, the culmination happens in a whirlpool circle dance in the moonlight. Passion and compassion, individuality and plurality, and erotic and divine mix and mingle, which is both liberating and unifying. The picture is stimulating for a creative discussion on sex and the sacred.

The Yakut Folk Song: A Brief Ethnographic-Musical Sketch

The author reviews the many genres of Yakut (Sakha) folk music, arguing that its richness is illustrated through the vitality and adaptability of song [toyuk], epos [olonkho], prayer [algys], and improvisational circle dance chanting [okhuokhai]. Some traditionally multi-media and multi-vocal forms, such as shamanic dramas and full-length epic singing, have been rechanneled, with their creative spirit being inherited by the most varied manifestations of Yakut artistic culture—words, painting, and music.

We Gather: Reflections on the 2015 CCWW

We GatherReflections on the 2015 CCWW Jacinda Townsend (bio) I When we get our Brown University ID badges, we are told that we can present them at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum to gain free admission, so I meet my workshop in the museum’s lobby on a hot afternoon during Callaloo’s second week at Brown. “Please find the space that most sparks your imagination,” I tell them, and the participants wander, as do I; some of us settling in front of the smiling, ten-foot-high Buddha on the museum’s Asian Art floor, some of us stumbling on the brilliant collection of vintage fabrics preserved in a stack of sliding drawers in Costumes and Textiles, some of us heading over to the Pendleton House, which has been outfitted with a stunning amount of late 1800s décor and arranged in such a fashion as to make one feel that actual inhabitants slept there the previous night. A couple of participants, just a couple, come to rest with me at Steffani Jemison’s short film Personal. The film is screened on a windowless landing whose darkness is absolute enough to support the projected image: a person who knows they are not going to linger might stand, but we, arrested immediately by the sight of Black men and women moving onscreen, take the bench. In the film a Black man runs across a lawn in Brooklyn and jumps a fence; another man does the same; a third man follows, replicating the action exactly. Young Black men on a basketball court walk backwards, but their movements are such that you suspect the film has been deliberately set in reverse, or perhaps it hasn’t. Pedestrians walk past a full wall mural of Obama and Mandela side by side, but then the pedestrians stand still; the film does not reveal whether it has been stilled, or set in reverse, or left alone to unspool in real time. The commentary on racial progress, or the lack thereof, is unmistakable. We gather in the courtyard at an appointed time to discuss what we have seen, and what found object we might use as a prompt for the day’s writing. It turns out we have, all of us artists of African descent, paused to take in Jemison’s Personal. We all have different interpretations of wonder and marvel, but we were all perfectly enchanted by the museum’s most prominently displayed piece of “for us by us” art. We reflect. We discuss. [End Page 574] II Our usual workshop meeting space is in Churchill House, the building that houses the Africana Studies department, our host for the summer. Alongside Churchill House is a green space called The Walk, where stands a sculpture called Circle Dance. Eleven life-sized human figures made out of aluminum turkey roasting pans hold hands in a circle to create the effect of Circle Dance: the figures are as tall as we are, and they seem lost in dance, or play, or skipping, their right legs kicked out behind them in various stages of attempted synchrony. One afternoon, towards the end of a long, delicious week of workshopping, one of the participants in my group, Rebekah Kebede, brings her very delicate, professional-looking camera and photographs other participants posing in various stages of seriousness and absurdity and hostility and kinship with the Circle Dance figures. Since the figures have no faces themselves, their emotions are open to artistic interpretation. It is up to the participants of Callaloo to bestow that upon them, and they do it with great aplomb. They enter into a conversation with this seemingly solid, unyielding art and they alter it to make their own meaning. III The magic of the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop is all of the above and so much more. Some of us come to the CCWW from artistic and geographical spaces populated with adequate diversity and some of us come from spaces where we are the only people of African descent we see for days on end. All of us, however, will gain, over the course of two weeks, the invaluable experience of having...

A Study on Buddhist Aspect of the Epic of Cheoyong Dance

The five main points which emerge from this study of Buddhist ritual and the Dance of Cheoyong are as follows: First, in the Dance of Cheoyong the figure of Cheoyong was probably considered to be Maitreya Buddha or Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. Second, the silence which is emphasized in the dance of Cheoyong refers to the practice of ‘sudden enlightenment.’ Third, Cheoyong’s silence is related to Śākyamuni Buddha’s lecture on Mt. Vulture and the Music in the Buddhist Song of the Meeting on Mt. Vulture is considered the finest of traditional Korean music and arts. Fourth, the figure of Cheoyong, the lotus flowers, and the cranes share narratives with Buddhist elements, as well as being symbols of longevity in Korean culture. Finally, the Circle Dance as part of the Dance of Cheoyong expresses an ideal world governed by the Buddhist Wheel-Turning Sacred King and the hope for an eternal lifespan.

Taniec w kręgu: nowe i dawne communitas

Circle Dance: Old and New Communitas
 Circle dances are observed in various cultures and times. The paper indicates certain social, political and situational contexts of the phenomenon of communal circle dances in remote territories: Catalonia, Balcans, Sakha (Yakutia), Buriatya and USA. The author offers an interpretation of chosen cases in terms of Victor Turner’s concept of communitas. During the communal dances – sardana, corlu mari, yokhor, osuokhai and ghost dance – the idea of community, equality and unity is dominating over social structure divisions and resulting in forming the psychological and social communitas. This is why all analysed circle dances arise in the context of serious menace and destruction of ethnic integrity. Being together in a very literal sense through physical closeness during the same motoric behaviours, common singing produces feeling of power and unification, reinforcing social identity and affirmation to a group. Circle dances are analysed in association with attempts to preserve group cultural and often even biological integrity.

„Kulturálisan vagyunk magyarok, mentalitásban szerbek vagyunk szerintem, igen.” Magyarországon élő vajdasági magyar migránsok és a jugóbuli

Tanulmányunk a vajdasági magyar migránsok egyik rendezvényével, az ún. jugóbulival foglalkozik, a szervezők és résztvevők elbeszéléseinek elemzése alapján a migráció, zene és identitás nemzetközi szakirodalomban is feltárt összefüggéseire mutatunk rá. A kibocsátó országhoz kapcsolódó zene csökkentheti a migrációval járó veszteségeket, felidézheti a migránsok maguk mögött hagyott ifjúságát, világát, egyben identitást is teremthet. A jugóbulik felidézik a volt Jugoszlávia zenei és kulturális világát, ezért írásunkban szintén választ keresünk arra, hogy e rendezvény, valamint a köré szerveződő elbeszélések vajon értelmezhetőek-e az ún. jugónosztalgia mint politikai, kulturális jelenség keretein belül. A bulit vajdasági magyarok szervezik, az eredeti szándékok szerint azért, hogy a vajdasági magyar migránsok számára találkozási és szórakozási lehetőséget nyújtsanak. A zene és a táncok, a hangulat, az ízek egyszersmind a Balkán kulturális világát idézik fel. A jugóbuli a vajdasági magyarok legalábbis egy csoportja számára olyan teret hoz létre, amelyben identitásuk „déli” vagy balkáni oldalát megélhetik, megjeleníthetik, s ez egyben arra is alkalmat ad, hogy önmagukat a magyarországi magyaroktól megkülönböztessék. A jugóbuli így a szimbolikus határmegvonás tereként is értelmezhető.

The Circle Dance of Time

The Circle Dance of Time

Terapia expressiva: veículo de cuidado integral num hospital universitário

We characterize Expressive Therapy as an instrument to Integral Care, and we relate the expe¬rience of the Program of Expressive Therapy in the University Hospital Antonio Pedro (HUAP), at the Flu¬minense Federal University (UFF). To contribute to humanization and integrality of care; to develop Self¬-Care among health professionals; to improve the quality of care, remodeling concepts of disease; to contribute to health and culture education in UFF; to join evidences about the efficacy of Expressive Thera¬py. The program includes diverse actions: the Course “Self-caring with Art”, for health professionals; “Infu¬sion of Life” – collective sections of Expressive Therapy during chemotherapy, in the Oncologic Service (NAO); “Waiting Time” – interventions in the waiting room of the same service, to patients, their relatives and caregivers; “HUAP dances” – open circles of Sacred Circle Dance at the entrance hall of the hospital; “Seeing and being seen” – production of videos for disclosure of the program; annual meetings for exchan¬ging experience. The interdisciplinary team includes teachers, students from different areas and voluntary therapists, under the leadership of the supervisor – a medical doctor, artist and a master in Expressive Therapy. The program integrates education, research and assistance, under a compassionate and emanci¬patory ethics. After one year and a half the program has achieved results above all expectations: a broad acceptance by patients and staff, who relate an improvement in the quality of care. The results of the resear¬ches will be soon published. There are prospects of extension of the program to other services.

Circle Dance, Occupational Therapy and Wellbeing: The Need for Research

Circle dance derives from the tradition of folk dance and has historically been a popular form of dance throughout the world. As a form of physical activity, it can be explored in the context of occupational therapy principles and practices and the promotion of health and wellbeing. However, no literature is available to establish empirically the synergy between circle dance, occupational therapy and wellbeing. This opinion piece considers the use of circle dance as a tool for promoting occupational wellbeing and proposes that further research is needed to understand fully the perceived meanings attributed to this form of physical activity and its application in the context of occupational therapy.

‘Dancing down memory lane’: Circle dancing as a psychotherapeutic intervention in dementia—a pilot study

Background: There is increasing recognition that psychological interventions for people with dementia and their carers are of value. Neuropsychological considerations and an exploration of the literature point towards the potential benefits of non-verbal, body-oriented interventions to work psychotherapeutically with people as their cognitive abilities deteriorate. Method: A total of 18 people (11 people with moderate-to-severe dementia and 7 family carers) consented to partake. Measures were completed before and after the group therapy (45 minutes once a week for 10 weeks). Weekly progress monitoring sheets were completed and participants were interviewed after the group for their views. Results: The therapeutic intervention had a positive impact on participants’ general well-being and mood, including improving people’s concentration and communication with others. Discussion: The results of the pilot study support using therapeutic circle dance as a body-oriented psychological intervention for people with dementia and their carers. Further studies with more stringent methodologies in larger samples are required.

The Last Dualism: Life and Death in Goddess Feminist Thealogy

This essay is a reflection on Valerie Saiving's statement that the "last dualism," the dualism between life and death, is the root of all the other dualisms and will be the most difficult for feminists to overcome. Carol Christ agrees with Saiving that the fear of death is at the root of all the dualisms and that the assumption that the enduring individual is of the highest value is reason that death is not accepted. She suggests that rituals of giving and receiving in ancient and traditional Crete embody an understanding of the self as embedded in a matrix of interdependent relationships. This insight is also expressed in the symbols of the spiral and the circle dance. Analysis of their burial rituals suggests that ancient Cretans affirmed the death of the individual while celebrating the continuation of life for others. An understanding of the self as interdependent in the matrix of life combined with an acceptance of individual death is also found in process philosophy. Carol Christ, like Saiving, argues that process philosophy provides an appropriate undergirding for feminist philosophies and theologies. Goddess symbols and rituals of ancestor connection celebrate the interdependence of life. From this standpoint, individual death can be embraced and the survival of life for future generations can be promoted. The "last dualism" is overcome.

CIRCLE DANCE FESTIVAL “GORKA”: TRADITIONS AND INNOVATIONS*

The circle dance festival “gorka” is one of the oldest Russian rituals of the spring and summer cycle, preserved by the Priestless Old Believers (Pomortsy) living in the Ust-Tsilma Region of the Komi Republic. This ritual activity requires the performance of seven dance fi gures or moves. Particular songs that are called “gorka songs,” correspond to each of the fi gures. In the past, the symbolism of the circle dance was linked to the renewal of life. The transition of adolescents to adulthood was arranged in ritual form; dramatized songs helped young people to fi nd potential marriage partners and to approve couples that had been formed earlier. The modern festival is held as a tribute to the ancestors. A recent innovation can be seen in the children's “gorka” and the inclusion of children into a single circle dance.

Para encantar, é preciso encantar-se: danças circulares na formação de professores

A dança é uma forma ancestral de magia, invenção dos deuses que a ensinaram aos homens, diz-nos a mitologia hindu. Envolvido no mistério e movimento da dança, o dançarino pode encantar; porém, antes de tudo é preciso que encante a si mesmo. Não seria este também o caminho do professor? Fazer para si para poder fazer ou propor aos educandos, encantar-se para poder encantar; criar para poder seguir com as crianças a aventura da criação; ousar para poder encorajar? Nesta direção, a pergunta que percorre o presente artigo é assim formulada: como contribuir com o processo de encantamento dos professores, como alimentar a sensibilidade, nos percursos da formação universitária? Buscando respostas no processo de pesquisa, identifica-se na experiência com as danças circulares, tradição de diferentes povos, um profícuo caminho pelo qual aquele espaço de encantamento, de inteireza, de educação estética, igualmente, pode ser provocado.