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Yemenite (Jewish dance)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jewish and Israeli Music  (main article) |
| Religious music: |
|---|
| Historical • Contemporary Piyyut • Zemirot • Nigun Pizmonim • Baqashot |
| Secular music: |
| Israeli • Israeli Folk Klezmer • Sephardic • Mizrahi |
| Not Jewish in Form: Classical • Mainstream and Jazz |
| Dance: |
| Israeli Folk Dancing • Ballet Horah • Hava Nagila • Yemenite dance |
| Israel |
| Hatikvah • Jerusalem of Gold |
| Piyyutim |
| Adon Olam • Geshem • Lekhah Dodi Ma'oz Tzur • Yedid Nefesh • Yigdal |
| Music for Holidays |
| Chunakah • Passover • Shabbat |
| Music of the Haggadah |
| Ma Nishtana • Dayenu • Adir Hu Chad Gadya • Echad Mi Yodea |
| Music of Chanukah |
| Blessings • Oh Chanukah • Dreidel Song |
| Al Hanisim • Mi Y'malel • Ner Li |
In Yemen, where Jews were banned from dancing publicly, forms of dance evolved that are based on stationary hopping and posturing, such as can be done in a confined space. Today, this type of dance is called a yemenite and is a common dance step in Israeli folk dancing. It consists of three steps, with a short pause on the final step ("quick, quick, slow"). There are several variations; yemenites can be done forward or back, and right or left.
Yemenite right: with weight on left, step right. Left foot crosses in front of right, right foot is raised by does not change position much. Weight transfers to left for a moment, then back to right. The rhythm is a quick "1, 2, 3" followed by a pause on "4". Dancers will often speak out this step as "ye-men-ite", or "quick, quick, slow".
Yemenite left is the same movement but on the opposite feet.
In the case of back yemenites, the middle step is crossed behind the first foot, instead of in front.
In dance descriptions, Yemenite steps are often abbreviated "Yemenite R" or "Yemenite L". Sometimes it will describe the step beforehand as to eliminate confusion, as some dancers think of the "back yemenite" as just "yemenite", or vice versa.
It is also sometimes known as the "grapevine" because the combination of steps trace such a pattern.