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thrown
and ruled from 1040-1057. King Duncan's
son, Malcolm III of Canmore defeated
King MacBeth and upon his victory,
Malcolm snatched Macbeth's sword, placed it on the ground and
his own sword crosswise atop it, and performed an intricate dance
in jubilation. Malcolm became the new King of Scotland, ruling
until 1093. Under Malcom's reign, Scotland began the transformation
from a Celtic to an English culture.
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There are many different varieties of the
sword dance. Such as the Danse
de Bouffons , Double Sword,
Longsword dance, Celtic
Bacchu-Ber,Rappier sword, etc., and the Germans called it theTacitus .
In Egypt, the sword dance was done by the female dancers who were
calledGtawazee .
Sword Dance and men's ceremonial dance with swords, exist in four
main varieties. Combat dances with swords (for example, the
ancient Greek Pyrrhic dance) were used for military training.
Circular guerrilla dances with swordplay occur in Turkey and the
Balkans. In Scotland (the Ghillie Callum dance), the Balkans,
India, and elsewhere, one or more dancers perform intricate steps
over two swords crossed on the ground. Midwinter hilt-and-point
dances, once widespread in Europe, survive in England, the Basque
Country, and a few other places. In these dances, a circle of
4 to 20 or more dancers-linked by holding the hilt of one sword,
the point of the next-leap over the swords, twist the circle,
and weave the swords into a knot. If a folk play or its remnants
accompany the dance, the knot may be placed over the neck of one
character, who "dies" and is magically revived.
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The dance is then
varied by dancing around two swords laid across each other on
the ground, and while performing the various steps in the angles
formed by the swords they are picked up, and the exercise is continued
with a sword in each hand. This dance is variously modified, but
the sword exercise is the characteristic feature in all its forms.
--
The Bacchu-Ber
is another Sword type Military dance from the Celts. The Egg or
Hop
Egg Dance was similar to the
Sword dance. One of the earliest dances of Bohemia was also a
Sword dance.
-- Kulu religious
dances performed by men before palanquins
in which idols are conveyed and in the presence
of the Raja, In the polo in Tibet region, mock sword fights take
place there between two combatants, also sword dances with two
crossed weapons laid on the ground, precisely like the sword dances
which are performed at Highland gatherings.
Danzas
de espadas , (a Spanish Dance)
in which the dancers clothed in white cloth and armed with a sword,
flutter to the sound of instruments.
The
Goathland Plough Stots
or sword dancers are from Yorkshire, England, They are mostely
unemployed men who emply their time by dancing and performing
acrobatic stunts for charity. Their musical accompanimeat consists
of a violin or a concertina, or other musical instrument. They
are named Goethland Plough Stots as in the olden days, when healthy
landlords refused to give them anything they would take plough
an dplough up the ground in front of the house. Plough Stots of
Goathland, Yorks, England, at the end of a sword dance.
Morris
or Moresca dancers use the
sword dance in some of their routines as well.
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Of the characteristic national dances the
"sword dance" of Scotland is still danced at times as
an exhibition of skill, and is one of the most perfect and symmetrical
in all its parts. The dance was undoubtedly originated as a war
dance and designed as a sword exercise. The dancer is required
to keep time to the stirring and lively music of the bagpipes
while he performs the various movements of a complicated sword
exercise.
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TheDouble
Sword dance
could be done as a solo or a duet. The dance
is learned by using something other than a sword, like a board
or stick, or a mark drawn upon the ground. The arm movements are
the same as the Highland
Fling .
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