Ocarran traditional dances are the cultural dances of the Ocarran people. There are a variety of styles of these traditional dances each with its own purpose and expression.
Ocrran dance tends to be very graceful, with lots of focus on moving forward with small hops and waves of the arms.
Dance Types
Beshna Dance
Beshna dance -also referred to as hand-waving dance- is an expressive and fluid form of Ocarran dance. This is considered one of the more refined formal styles of Ocarran dance as the steps can be quite complex as well as the presence of dance competitions that have regulations about execution.
Fluid graceful movements are typical of this dance with more dynamic hops added when the dance needs to be more energetic and lively. Most of the movements are of the arms which are lifted and dropped as the dance goes on. The steps and leg movements tend to be more simple and graceful, mostly limited to short steps and hops.
Masculine dancers tend to use a bit more movement in their legs incorporating crouches, kicks, and leaps into the dance style. They often will their arms a bit more bent and closer to the body, with hands often being half or fully clenched.
Feminine dancers mostly focus on their arm movements, often using more elaborate arm movements in their dances, and often will keep their hands open with their palms out. Many of them will even use shawls or long loose sleeves to accentuate the movements of their arms.
Performances of Beshna dances come in a variety of forms from only feminine dancers to only male dances, to a mix of both. Often times there are separate dance competitions for female-only, male-only, and unisex dances.
Ocarran Circle Dance
Ocarran Circle Dance is an energetic dance style performed at celebrations that often include kicks and hand clapping.
The dance involves a group of dancers moving in a line or circle, sometimes linking up into a chain but more often they will simply move in a line following the dance in front of them leaving their arms free. There are often a lot of hop, stomp, and kick-like steps along with the occasional jump; they often involve lifting and dropping the arms -similar to Beshna dance movements- but often end the movement with a clap of the hands. Dancers will make the movements in unison.
The Circle dance is a unisex dance with little to no difference between the male, female, and other dance styles. It is often performed in a plaza or dance floor, with the dance taking up the whole space with observers being on the outside.
Accompaniment
The Dances are often accompanied by
Traditional Ocarran Music, specifically the Naj and Shuni for melody and Chomba for percussion. There may also be singing involved by both members of the accompaniment as well as the dancers themselves -the latter is most common in Ocarran Circle Dance.
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