Thread: 12th Century Sleeve Dance

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone has done any research on 12th century (end of Fatimid period) sleeve dances.

sicily scarf dancer 2.jpgLustre-painted dish with long sleeve dancer.jpgSicily scarf dancer.jpg

These images are often labelled as scarf dancers but I'm fairly certain they show very long sleeves and not scarves. Extremely long sleeves were popular in this period and I'm thinking they came via the silk road from China where water sleeve dances are still performed.
I'm trying to recreate a 12th century dance with proper clothes and music. Has anyone looked into this before?

They were probably sleeves, or a part of the coat, as shown on the picture below, from Cancioneiro da Ajuda (portuguese medieval poetry). The one on the right is a dancing girl (a "jogralesa"), wearing something similar. It was very popular in the 12th/13th century!

Iluminura do Cancioneiro da Ajuda 1.jpg

Originally Posted by nejla

I'm trying to recreate a 12th century dance with proper clothes and music. Has anyone looked into this before?

I do hope you will post a clip of the finished dance! What music will you use?

These images are associated with the court or upper class so I'm going to do some research on court music of that period. There should be some good sources out there. I'll definitely post a video.

Are you familiar with the "Required Qualities of Dancers" from Meadows of Gold? George Sawa in Canada translated it a couple of years ago and gave me permission to put his translation on my web site: http://www.shira.net/requiredqualities.htm

That essay is admittedly from a couple of hundred years earlier than the period you're researching, but maybe it'll still give you some ideas.

For music, I'm thinking a selection from the muwashahat might be a good choice. Something like Lamma Bada Yata Thana or El Bulbul Nagha.

Which area would you choose - Mamluk Egypt, Andalousia, Iraq, Persia or even the silk road?

Yes, I was going to ask you about the region. If you're working on something european you can also do it with medieval music, with or without voice. It's very used in tribal and fusion styles.
I'm a medievalist, so if you tell me more of what you want to do, maybe I can help you.