The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1906-09-18
DANCE ALL THE TIME
REGULARITY OF THE TANALA TRIBE
OF MADAGASCAR.

They Have Danced For So Many Gen.
eratfOns That They Have Forgotten
Other Cats and Go Through Life In
One Long Delirious WhirI.
a tribe that dances, and dances all
the time except when sleeping or rest.
Ing, is the Tanala, the forest people
of the north central part Of Madagas-
car They dance instead Of walking,
and instead Of running they only dance
faster. Their religious ceremonies are
dances; their amusement is dancing, |
They dance even while hewing trees,
erecting houses or gathering rice. They
have danced so long for many genera
lions that they have forgotten other
gaits and other motions and go through
life in one long delirious whirl
Besides dancing in quantity, 1t is de
clared that their dances, or some of
them, are the most expressive and
meaningful, as well as the most beau
tifully and gracefully executed, In the
world
Every emotion of the human race is |
expressed in their dances, and the
forms of the dance are as numerous
as the emotions of the dancer. says
the Chicago Tribune. They dance with
arms, with legs, with bodies and with
faces, posing in every conceivable at
titude and doing steps and executing
movements that would make the most
skillful Of stage dancers wild with
envy.
Every form of the dance, almost is
used among these forest people" AT
the beginning Of one Of their dances
the warriors, thrilling with pride and
the lust Of battle, go forth to meet the
foe. Then comes the conflict, the wild
struggle, in which the dancers work
themselves up to a pitch of frenzy,
screaming rhythmically, while the
musical instruments rise higher and
higher and the crowd of spectators,
resting from their own efforts in other
dances, join in the cries. urging the
dancers to wilder exertions. The de-
feat, the rout, the capture, follow rap
idly, made so plain and so clear in
meaning that any one of any land could
understand, then the torture, in
which the bodies Of the dancers writhe
and tremble and their faces express
acute agony and fear. the awful sup
plication, and then woe and disgrace as
they dance away into captivity.
The musical instruments which are
used in their ceremonial dances, such
as the arrival OF a distinguished Wis
itor, the installing Of a new official
or the burial Of great dancer, are of
interest. The greatest is a sort Of
either, and next is a primitive form
Of the violin, with four strings which
is shaped like a huge melon. Also
they have a flute called yaliha, which
is made Of bamboo. They have
bamboo drum, the head of which is
hide, and also a drum covered at
| both ends with hide, inside Of which
round stones are shaken rhythmically.
Their chants and their wild, weird
music from the odd orchestra furnish
remarkable accompaniment for the
| dances; but with or without music,
these odd people dance.
1t is a common sight, according to
| the French explorer. to see scores Of
men working in the rice fields, shut
| fling their feet, swaying their bodies
and chanting melodiously while work
ing In Sahasinaka, the principal town
, of Tanala, the men can be seen dane
| ing along the streets In a sort of swing
ing twostep, and the carriers when
packing heavy loads through the great
forests dance along under their bur-
dens, for a time swaying their bodies,
then doing a little crow Jig with their
feet as they advance, and, although
four men may be carrying priest or
an important man in a litter, they
dance all the way, seeming never to
tire.
The children begin to dance almost
as soon as they can toddle, and literally
dance to the grave. The explorers saw
a funeral, four men carrying the body
Of petty chief on their shoulders, with
| q procession Of mourners following,
the entire crowd dancing toward the
big burial pit, where the bodies of all
who die In that village are thrown.