Longsword Dances - Some of the Oldest Dances in History
and why your students love dancing them
For adolescents, working with the sword (or wooden rod, or juggling pin) offers a challenge that is impersonal, objective, precise yet not body-oriented. Self-consciousness can fall away.
Just this morning a text chirped with a question from a colleague asking about sheet music for a sword dance he was planning to teach this fall. I pointed him towards the great resources at the Country Dance and Song Society, an organization that has not only amazing camp programs but a web shop of recordings, videos, books of sheet music and instructions for zillions of dances as well as important props like the wooden longswords that weave so beautifully into the climactic highlight of the sword dances, and the bells and bell pads for other Morris dances, all perfect for 6th-8th grade classes.
My teaching playlists (so much music!) revealed the one perfect recording I’ve found most successful for sword dance practice, with a moderate pace and clear rhythms. I forwarded this on to my colleague. Maybe it will work for you, too.
MUSIC Traditional Sword Dances / Bobby Shaftoe by The Revels
Handsworth Sword Dance was taught by the late, great Joan Carr Shimer during our Spacial Dynamics training, and continues to be a rich sources of rhythms and fun for countless students. Most recently, young adults with autism practiced for months for a school presentation at Meristem, showing great pride at the accomplishments of each variation. With any group I feel free to modify the variations, add transitions, slow the tempo as needed, and set for 8, not 6 as you can see in this inspiring video. A worthy challenge, at any age!
VIDEO Handsworth Sword Dance
These old ritual dances can give the dancer, musician, and viewer the experience of moving across the centuries. They are difficult, fast, risky, and fun. Ritual dance master teacher Jan Eliott writes more from Waldorf School of Cape Cod:
Spatially, the forms of the dances tell more personal and social stories. For adolescents, working with the sword (or wooden rod, or juggling pin) offers a challenge that is impersonal, objective, and precise, yet not body-oriented. Self-consciousness can fall away. For the group, the swords connect the dancers with their shared manipulation in the archetypal form of the circle. The circle forms rotate, invert, revert, twist, fold and unfold, expand and contract, fall into gravity with a heavy footfall and rise to glorious heights at the finish, all in quick succession and in unison. No wonder a cheer is raising at the final moment, from everyone! Hey!
Does your school or community have a ritual dance tradition? Tell us about it!
Happy dancing!
Special thanks to DaVinci Waldorf School, Waldorf School of Cape Cod, Jan Eliott, Alex Boshell, Justin Ganz, and the memory of Joan Carr Shimer.