On the High Uplands
Sagas, Songs, Tales and Legends of the Carpathians
by Stanislaw Vincenz
Dance description
pg 43
What did they dance? The depicted their ancestors history and past adventures. They swung their axes at one another, erect and squatting, as though repulsing an enemy; they threw their axes from one to another, as though challenging to a fight. Then after the battle, they united, embraced, and danced in harmony. Then they ran off together with raised axes, gazing into the distance, looking for the enemy, as though storming over the mountains, capturing towns, or fleeing from pursuit; or they trotted almost in the one spot, evenly, slowly, yet steadily moving round, always in a circle…….
[The following pic is from a Polish dance manual but is really illustrates some of the things mentioned in the above quote.]
Filed under: Carpathian Culture, History, Martial culture, Polish, Rusyn | Tagged: Axe, Ciupaga, dance, gorale, ranec, Rusyn, sokyra
