strathspey@strathspey.org:52691

John Chambers

Re: No more sword dances?

June 5, 2008, 2:30 a.m. (Message 52691, in reply to message 52672)

Dick Daniel wrote:
| Can you do a Sword Dance without keen edged swords?  Yes, you can do the st=
| eps, but the whole point of the dance was to demonstrate skill in not cutti=
| ng your feet, so it becomes like a high wire artiste doing their act with a=
|  harness, so they can't come to any harm if they slip [Yawn].=20=20

Hmmm ...  In my experience (mostly in North America, with a few trips
to the UK) the swords used by dancers have never been sharp. In fact,
if you get close enough to see them clearly, you'll usually  see  all
sorts  of nicks in the edge.  Some dancers do like to keep the swords
polished and shiny, since they're for show, but they're  more  likely
to  dull  the  edge than sharpen it.  The audiences know it's a show,
after all, and  nobody  sensible  expects  the  dancers  to  endanger
themselves, aside from a few bruises now and then.

It is common for teachers to warn newcomers to sword dancing that the
swords  may  not  be  sharp,  but they are hard steel, and you should
expect a few good bumps and scrapes until you learn to handle them.


--
What if the Hokey Pokey really IS what it's all about?