Cumbia As A Courtship Ritual
The slave courtship rite, which featured dance prominently, was traditionally performed with music played by pairs of men and women and with male and female dancers. Women playfully waved their long skirts while holding a candle, and men danced behind the women with one hand behind their back and the other hand either holding a hat, putting it on, or taking it off. Male dancers also carried a red handkerchief which they either wrapped around their necks, waved in circles in the air, or held out for the women to hold. Until the mid-20th century, Cumbia was considered to be an inappropriate dance performed primarily by the lower social classes.
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Famous quotes containing the words courtship and/or ritual:
“Reverence to a woman in courtship is less to be dispensed with, as, generally, there is but little of it shown afterwards.”
—Samuel Richardson (1689–1761)
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—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)