Category Archives: Kinesthetic

Body movements

Hand Symbol – University of California, San Diego

Nationality: Japanese
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Irvine, CA
Performance Date: March 28, 2008
Primary Language: English

Hand Symbol

Danielle Ishihara is a freshman at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).  She says that the hand sign is supposed to symbolize a triton, which is the mascot of UCSD.  The person is supposed to put his/her ring finger down, while the pinky, ring, and index finger are supposed to be spread out to represent the three peaks of the triton. Danielle first learned the triton hand symbol when she went to her first basketball game at UCSD.  Danielle says the triton symbol is usually used at sporting events. She says the hand symbol pretty much looks just like the shocker sign except the index and the ring finger are not touching. Even though it is not the shocker sign, she says people always joke that it is. A popular saying regarding this UCSD hand symbol is “Shock ’em tritons”.  Danielle shared this information when we were home for spring break and our group of friends where sharing information about our respective universities.

Every school, whether it is a high school or a university, seems to have a hand symbol that represents their mascot.  Most commonly, these hand symbols are used at sporting events and are accompanied by a saying which also happens to be a reflection of the school’s mascot.  I think hand symbols related to the school are most commonly used at sporting events because it allows a person to identify and announce their alliance to their school.  It is a way for a person to support their school.  The symbol is recognizable and meaningful among the members of the school; therefore, it is similar to ethnic folklore and occupation folklore, where only members of the group understand the gesture and its meaning and background history.  By knowing what the hand symbol is, one can identify who is truly a member of the school.  Each school’s hand symbol is unique because of its meaning and history, even if the hand gesture looks the same as something else.  UCSD’s hand symbol reminds me of USC’s V-sign created by the index and middle finger with its accompanying phrase “Fight On!”.  These are used at USC events, most often at the sporting events.

Dance – French

Nationality: French
Age: 44
Residence: San Marino, CA
Primary Language: English

Breton Dance from France

Dance Folklorique: “La Gavotte”

Brief history
La gavotte is believed to be one of the oldest dances in Brittany.  Connected to the Trihori dance, a kind of branle, this folklorique dance is practiced all around the Cournouaille and the north ouest of Leon’s region.  La Gavotte is the most popular folkloric dance in Brittany.
It is composed of variances of Gavotte des montagnes, of Maël Carhaix, of Quimper, of Pays Bigouden, which follows the eight beat measure of the dance.

Here is a description of the step of the dance : it has three « plays », the Simple Tone, the Bal and a double tone that begins again the simple tone but is a more sophisticated way and faster!

I used to go to few festivals (fest-noz in Brittany) during the summer holidays where La Gavotte was often danced by local dancers or sometimes professionals.  I have seen it danced by large group of men and women dresses in traditional Brittany attire and it is really fun to see.
I have danced the Gavotte for fun during weddings or other large gatherings and it is a dance that always cheers the crowd.

Collectors Analysis: This dance is a prime example of traditions being passed town from generation. Though not practiced in mainstream Brittany life, Bretons are proud of their history and choose to keep traditions such as these to retain a sense of identity. Because the dance is performed, rather than written down, it allows for multiplicity and variation.

Tradition – Turkish

Leave a reply
Nationality: Turkish
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, California
Performance Date: April 26, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Turkish

The custom when eating dinner is to raise your glass and say “?erefe” at the beginning of the meal.  In the past, you raised your glass at the table and said ?erefe to say you were drinking to the honor of the table. You also should try to touch glasses together with everyone at the table or those near you.

Robert has spent much time in Turkey because that is where his family is from and many of them still live.  Several of the Turkish traditions Robert has experienced happened in Turkey.  This tradition, on the other hand, he said he has always done, even with his parents at home in America.  This is a way of identifying themselves as part of the Turkish culture, not only in Turkey, but back in America as well.  It is also a way for them to bring their Turkish culture with them to America.

Robert said that he does not know of a direct translation for the word ?erefe.  As he said it used to mean you were drinking in honor of the table, meaning everyone who was at the table.  Now it still maintains some of that meaning, but it has also become “just one of those things you do”.

Although Robert did not know an exactly translation, he said it is basically the same thing as saying “Cheers”.  The entire tradition, in fact, is very similar to that which we do here n America.  Many people in America, including my family, raise our glasses and touch them with everyone at the table or those near you.  I have never really understood this part of the tradition, but I suppose it could be a way of “honoring” each person at the table individually.  Many people also include the word “cheers” when they do so.  These traditions are basically identical, just with the use of a different word.  I have also seen the exact same tradition in other cultures, except they use the word “Salut”.  I do not know the origin of this tradition, if there even is one.  It may have been passed though cultures, and adapted to fit each culture.  Or, it is quite possible that the same tradition happen to develop in several cultures.

Video Game Celebration – American

Leave a reply
Nationality: African American
Age: 15
Occupation: Student
Residence: Lyndhurst, Ohio
Performance Date: March 12, 2009
Primary Language: English

When playing the popular XBOX game Halo, after a person kills their opponent he or she should go over to the corpse of his opponent and repeatedly crouch above him. This is known as “corpse humping.”

Nicholas told me that this is done frequently when playing Halo online. It is a sign of disrespect to one’s enemy. He says it is done by him and his friends as a way of celebrating their kill and not so much to disrespect someone. Sometimes people get highly offended when they see that their corpse is being humped. This can lead to shouting matches, nasty texts, or revenge killings (within the game of course).

The act of corpse humping is also sometimes referred to as tea bagging, which is when a person puts his testicles into the open mouth of another person, much like dipping a tea bag into a cup of hot water. The corpse humping mimics that act and that is the reason so many people take offense to it. I asked Nicholas when the first time he learned about corpse humping was and he told me it was the first time he played an online deathmatch in Halo. After being killed, the person that killed him humped his corpse for an extended period of time while taunting Nicholas via text about how he was being teabagged. Nicholas fought fire with fire by killing and teabagging his assailant.

He later started doing it as a way of celebrating an especially challenging duel, but his opponents still frequently take offense to having their corpses humped. I think corpse humping is a way to assert dominance over one’s opponent. When a person’s corpse is being humped they are completely helpless. They have to wait a certain amount of time for their character to re-spawn (reappear). During this time they are humiliated and helpless. By frequently humping corpses one is making a statement about his superiority and challenging others to take him on.

Here is an example of teabagging in Halo:
Halo 3: The Bag Boy (Machinima)

Aging ritual–Salsa Dancers

Leave a reply
Nationality: Salvadoran
Age: 32
Occupation: Truck Driver
Residence: Torrance, CA
Performance Date: March 15, 2008
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

At many salsa dance scenes, if it is someone’s birthday, the band will play a version of the “Happy Birthday Song” to the salsa rhythm. If the birthday person is a woman, her male friends will form a ring around her while stepping to the music; other people and friends may or may not form a larger ring around this as well. Then a man will step into the ring one by one to dance with the birthday person, and then passes her off to another dancer in the circle. Sometimes the next man will simply find the right timing and snatch the birthday girl—but all in good fun. If the birthday person is a man, then his female friends will ring around him and do the same thing. Occasionally, if he is an advanced dancer, he will dance with two ladies at once, leading them with one arm each. The birthday person will switch partners until the end of the song, which is usually about 4-6 minutes long.

Jorge has been active in the Los Angeles salsa scene for about 11 years now. He told me that he did not see this happening at all at first, and it was about six years ago when he started seeing this unique custom—“and it spread like nothing!” The first place he saw it happen was at a Los Angeles club called Rodolfo. When asked what he thinks it means, he said it is simply to show that “this is her [the birthday girl’s] night,” and to make sure she is, literally, at the center of attention.

That most certainly seems to be the case—as a dancer, what could be more delightful than to have an entire ring of other dancers waiting just to dance with you? At least for this one song, the birthday person is the queen or king of the dance floor, and can dance with as many people during that song as she or he wants. It is also a chance for the dancer to show off, as almost the entire crowd will be watching and cheering. Beginner or champion, they get to show what they can do, and perhaps try to outdo what they did last year.

I also think it is a way for salsa dancers to celebrate the spontaneity and leadability of salsa. This is a birthday ritual that I have not seen in other dances, such as dancesport or Argentinean tango, for example. Compared to other such dances, to be able to improvise and to lead complete strangers are important skills in salsa, and spontaneity and flexibility are highly valued. Therefore, it really does make sense that such a custom—in which one dancer must be able to quickly adapt to a number of different partners, make smooth changes, spontaneously improvise in case of bad timing—would have developed and been so popular in salsa. It is a way for them to show off to other dancers, and confirm to themselves, their mastery of improvisation.

The flexible nature of salsa which allows for improvisation, also allows for creativity and invention. New moves, new tricks, new combinations are being invented everyday right on the dance floor—salseros and salseras are always experimenting, which is why one will often see one man leading two women at once, or two couple rapidly switching around, and frequently the switch itself can become a complex, fancy move as dancers experiment with different techniques for changing partners. Again, this ritual, then, is a great time to show off these invented skills, as normally on the dance floor there are not multiple dancers to switch around at one’s convenience.

Finally, I think the flexible attitude of the salsa dancers helped spread this ritual so widely in just six years. I was surprised to hear it was so young, because I have seen people do this in New York—even in Korea. Interestingly, each place I’ve seen it does it a bit differently. The New Yorkers that I’ve seen were in a ring as well, but instead of facing the dancers in the circle, they will walk, making a bit of a dizzier scene—the dancers focus a bit more on stylish walks, but seem to care less about a flashy partner switch. In Korea, they will not form a ring, but stand in a line instead. This makes for a much more orderly ritual, because there is rarely the case where two dancers accidentally approach the birthday person at one time. Again, instead of focusing so much on slick changes, the Korean dancers like to show off very fast spins.