“Do you know where to find people who can teach two professional dancers how to dance Dabke?” That was the question I got in a phone call last spring. It was from a production team member of the Dutch broadcasting station KRO-NCRV. They were preparing their visit to Jordan for the Dance around the world program. A belgium and a Dutch dancer visit different cultures and learn the local dance. To get to know and to understand the local culture better.
My thoughts went back to the new years celebration. This Dabke dance group was performing their traditional Jordanian costumes, dancing Dabka on live music! Fadi got them in touch with the Dutchies to see what was possible. Finally a few months later, this group showed Jan Kooijman and Ish Ait Hamout the first moves of Dabke. Even better that they had their dance class was located in the beautiful surroundings of Little Petra. The little brother of so well known Petra.
This Little Petra area is a perfect appetizer for your Petra visit so add it to your Jordan journey. You can also visit the Neolithic village, which is on walking distance from the Little Petra parking.
Dabke is a traditional folk dance of the levant, performed at weddings and other festive celebrations by both men and women. The meaning of Dabke in Arabic is ‘stamping of the feet’. There is a raas (‘head’) or lawweeh (‘waver’) who takes the lead and improvises and shows off with his or her special moves. The rest is following by holding each others hands and dancing their feet off! It’s a strenuous dance and the stronger your legs, the better your moves can be! Here you can watch a performance of a Jordanian Dabke dance group.
This summer [2017] the crew visited Jordan to film these ‘dance classes’ with Ish and Jan. And after their efforts in Little Petra they enjoyed a BBQ at the B&B. Now I’m looking forward to the Jordan episode of “Dance around the world”!
Update:
Yeah, there it is! On the 19th of March 2018 you can see how Jan and Ish absorp the Dabke moves and show their Dabke skills!