Dances of Belgium

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After a beribboned cock has been presented to the Mayor of certain Walloon towns the hapless bird is decapitated and the people dance around it - a strange, ritual ceremony, its analogue known also in the Pyrenees and in Spain. This and many another ancient custom has been kept alive throughout southern and eastern Belgium by the people’s great love of dancing - on the place, on platforms and in cafes. In Flanders, too, traditional dancing lives on. Her link with the past is seen, in particular, with the Sword Dances for which she was so famous. History records their performance in the picturesque city of Bruges as far back as 1389, and in the region of Antwerp men still dance ‘The Traweiteldans’ to the accompaniment of a drum roll.

M. Pinon was a folk song expert but was led to study folk dancing through insistent demands from all parts of the country. M. Jamar boasted twenty-five years’ study of his native Flanders. Like his collaborator he was a member of the Belgian National Commission on Folklore.

Their book contains music and step notations for five dances and there are, in addition, four coloured plates showing the correct costumes to be worn.