Category Archives: Kinesthetic

Body movements

Luddi

The informant is one of my Pakistani friends who has lived in many different countries, yet is very attached to the culture of his heritage and is very involved in the rituals, ceremonies and overall traditions that are tied to his roots in Pakistan.

Dance:

The informant describes this dance, the Luddi, as a “circular formation that people dance to”. This dance entails the “clapping of their hands and spinning in circles as they are still moving in a circle.” Although the dance is not usually performed for a certain scenario or moment, it is “usually done at celebrations and ceremonies like weddings and dinners with the family” who are brought together and dance to specific songs that link to the informant’s culture. He describes his times watching the Luddi as a “coming together when [they] have not seen each other in a long time” and celebrating the family or a certain event happening at the time. It is always performed in Pakistan when the entire family joins, his family always visits to “celebrate their cousins, aunts, uncles and all the elders that have given us the privilege we have” conveying the importance of the dance in Punjabi culture.

Context:

The Luddi is typically done with “the group of women in the family that are important to the celebration or occasions” and this can range from “family of the groom or bride in a wedding or the parents and siblings of the birthday person.” The joining together of the women in a circle gives them a chance to “celebrate in a space without the men involved”. Although it is usually performed by older women in the family, younger women around the age of the bride and/or person of significance are able to join the dance and “learn the significance of what it means to become an adult woman” in the family that has their culture embedded into their daily lives. Luddi is msot typically seen in the winter and spring when all the family members come back from their travels for the wedding season, therefore, it allows the women to not only celebrate the occasion but also the family and other women.

Analysis:

The formation of a circle as part of the dance highlights the cycle of their culture and the generations that come together to form a chain that connects. It is creating a personal connection between the women of the family in that certain moment, growing as the girls grow and join the dance to celebrate each other. The clapping of their hands emphasises the celebration of the occasion and also creates a unified sound that the woman can sing and dance to, establishing their heritage and Punjabi culture in the form of performance and expression of their joy into feelings. The incorporation of this dance at weddings, which is also presented to be an important and momentous part of the culture in South Asia, highlights how the family is the base of their culture and even the women have their own traditions and rituals that create unity. Furthermore, the circle growing highlights the chain of Punjabi women in the family growing and the representation of the elders teaching the younger traditions to keep the culture alive.

Mithai

My informant is a Pakistani male that has lived in many different countries across the world, yet his attachment to Pakistan and its culture plays a significant role in his life and how he lives.

Traditional Food:

Mithai is a “type of box or category of sweets” that exist within Pakistani culture. It is comprised of “different sweet treats and toffees that you give out to houses at the weddings.” He describes these sweets as a form of an invite for party favours that occur at the wedding. The sweets are often seen as a ‘thank you’ or token of appreciation and reminder of the wedding, they are the “staple sweets at Pakistani weddings”

Context:

The Mithai is usually made by certain stores in Pakistan that specialize in providing the sweets “on a large scale when they also are able to maintain the best quality” for the guests. Even though my informant is Pakistani and has seen these sweets at weddings and different family events that he has attended, it is “a general desi traditional sweet that also exists in India”. This sweet is provided before the dinner or reception as a sort of snack or small bite in order to keep the guests satiated and entertained for the long day of traditions ahead.

Analysis:

The incorporation of food into big events in Pakistan such as weddings allows the guests to feel like they are being cared for in a certain environment. It ties it back to their culture as the unified feeling of togetherness that is provided in the event is seen through Pakistani food as a whole which is usually made for sharing and family-oriented events. The ability that their culture possesses by bringing their families together with food allows them to maintain their connections with the children and set in place the values that they hold when prioritising family. Furthermore, this is seen in the wedding sweets as the guests are seen as part of the family and are given the opportunity to celebrate the day with the community whilst being fed and incorporated into a family tradition.

Swedens National Dance

Text: 

The Hambo

Context: 

Collector: “Give us a brief history on practice and use of the Hambo.” 

Informant: “The Hambo is Swedens national dance, and is a couple’s dance that originated in the late 19th century and became popular across Sweden and other Nordic countries. It is characterized by its graceful, flowing movements and the use of a gliding step that gives the dance a smooth and fluid quality. The music for the Hambo is typically played on a fiddle or accordion and has a lively, upbeat tempo. The dance is usually performed at traditional Swedish celebrations, such as Midsommar, festivals, and weddings. It is more often taught in schools as part of physical education and is sometimes performed by professional dance troupes.“

Collector: “How did Hambo play a role in your life?“

Informant: “Dancing is a very integral part of Scandinavian celebrations and ceremonies, symbolizing joy, unity, and tradition. My father made me start Scandinavian dancing from a young age, so it has just become a part of who I am. From this I have developed a tremendous appreciation for dance, which brings a joy I cannot obtain from anything else.“

Analysis:

The Hambo seems to play a crucial role as a performance in the carrying out of many Swedish traditions, which makes sense since it comes from a nordic country. Sweden is a small nordic country, regions known for having rich, nationally recognized folklore. These countries typically weaponized folklore against the presence of outside, unwelcomed invaders during the 19th and 20th centuries. With this weaponization comes a greater sense of nationalism, and as a result, spurs the interconnectedness of its peoples and cultures. This way, countries like Sweden are able to act more like a single body, and strengthen themselves under their unity. Larger, more powerhouse countries like France, the UK, or the USA, did not require such weaponization for their strength was more industrial as opposed to cultural. This is why you see a weak, distilled presence of folklore within all of them.

Children’s Hand Game: Concentrate

The game requires two players. One hand is facing down, one hand is facing up, your hands are mirrored with each other, and then you clap three times on your own. To start, you do those actions while singing “Concentrate, 48, no repeats, or hesitates, ill go first, you’ll go second, let’s concentrate on _”
The informant stated that the category to concentrate on is chosen before the start of the game. For example, the category could be Disney characters, fast food restaurants, books, movies, or anything else. Then the informant said the point of the game was to continue to list out things in that category while alternating back and forth, doing the same hand-clapping motions every time a response is given. The game ends when one of the individuals runs out of responses, someone hesitates, or something is repeated.

The informant has an older sister who is five years older than her. She states that growing up, her sister knew so many games such as hand clapping games meant to pass the time. Whether it was in car rides, in line at Disney World, and before Iphones and Ipads, it became an integral thing for them. She stated that when they would play, they would think “Oh you’re bored, oh you don’t have anything to do, you just want to be silly for a second” and it would alleviate their boredom. Additionally, she added that at other times the adults would be busy and thus she and her sister would need to occupy themselves so they would be able to be silly and have fun. She added that she was a girl scout and learned many other hand games through this as well. Lastly, she mentioned that she still plays now for nostalgia and that she has taught it to some of her friends now as a way to disconnect from being on their phones all the time.

 The hand-clapping game resembles many other games in the sense that its pace is fast and creates a competitive environment between its players. The urgency to play whenever one was bored shows how children are able to be creative and innovative. Considering the link between being a girl scout and having the knowledge of all these games shows that there is a purpose to learning these games and that we view them as having value and not just something silly. They provide children with something they can do that stimulates their minds and can also now help to detach themselves from using technology for entertainment so much.

Tinikling

Text:

The tinikling is a dance performed by Filipino people where the dancers hop between two bamboo poles held on either side by other performers, as the bamboo poles are tapped on the ground in a specific rhythm.

Context:

The informant is 67, was born and raised in the United States, and whose parents were born and raised in the Philippines. She performed this dance for school as part of physical education and sometimes for school performances. The dance was taught by the school as the national dance of the Philippines. 

Analysis:

Tinikling, the national folk dance of the Philippines, is a dance inspired by the movements of the bird that it is named after. Though there are many stories about the origin of this dance, the one with most historical context is that it arose among the indigenous Filipino people after Spanish colonists would punish the Filipino people working in their plantations by smacking their feet with bamboo sticks. Therefore, the form of folk dance that evolved from this punishment serves as an act of rebellion against past colonization and occupation, as well as a celebration of Filipino heritage. The dance is performed not only in the Philippines, but survives in the younger generations who perform the dance, usually in cultural clubs at universities.