A Folk Dance From Martinique (Mabelo)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents four videos of the Mabelo folk dance from Martinique, West Indies.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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EDITOR'S NOTE ABOUT ADDING COMMENTS ON THIS BLOG
With considerable regret, I have disabled the comment feature on this blog (and on my other blogs except for https://pancocojams.blogspot.com, because of the large number of spam comments that I received on those blogs.

Comments for those blogs can be sent to my email address azizip17 dot com at yahoo dot com for possible inclusion in a specific post on those blogs.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE MABELO DANCE
The Mabelo is a very old Martinique folk dance that is a form of the larger category of Bele dances. The name "Mabelo" probably come from the French phrase "ma belle" (my beauty).

The Mabelo dance is very much like the Calenda (Kalinda) which is documented in the Caribbean and the USA from as early as the 18th century. Mabelo features a processional entry and males & females dancing in two horizontal lines. "Umbigada" *(the bellies of two dancers touching each other) is the central feature of this dance.

*"Umbigada" is the Portuguese word that is translated to English as "belly bucking".

Here's some information about the Calenda from http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3calnda.htm

"The Calinda was a dance of multitude, a sort of vehement cotillion. Men and women would dance with Lascivious Gestures, the thighs together, striking them together in a rhythm patting, and would feature pelvic thrust's and hip gyrations. They then would separate with a pirouette, only to begin advancing towards each other all over again, doing the same movements with lascivious gestures. These dancers would sometimes last for hours and upon tiring, another would take their place. Throughout the dance the dancers would lock arms and make several revolutions, slapping their thighs and "kissing each other." The Calenda had numerous attempts of mock and ridicule and had actual attempts at banning the dance from society, and finally un-successfully banning the dance in 1843, however the Calenda lasted well into the late 19th century, despite the protests.

The Cuban Rumba is said to be a descendant of the Calinda Dance."
-snip-
Here's a one line description of that dance from http://ziloka.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/bele-when-martinique-dances/
"Mabelo: a rather saucy dance where the dancer throw themselves at the other."

FEATURED VIDEOS
(These videos are presented in chronological order based on the date of their YouTube posting, with the oldest dated videos posted first.)

Example #1: MARTINIQUE - Bèlè **Mabélo**

lagoyave, Uploaded on Apr 22, 2008
Tradition Martinique
People from Martinique Island (FWI)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtG2uLDEUUI

Embedding disabled by request

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Example #2: MARTINIQUE - Mabel O petite demo de la danse Bele et bonne humeur



lagoyave, Uploaded on Dec 22, 2010

Démonstration avec des volontaires du public. Ma Belle Oh (Mabèl O) est un titre célèbre du Bèlè, danse traditionnelle de la Martinique. C'était aussi un chant pour la fécondité. Si vous partez en vacances en Martinique, renseignez-vous auprès de l'office du tourisme et des collectivités pour assister à un 'rassemblement' typique de danses Bèlè, Kalennda et Damier, d'abord parce que l'ambiance y est formidable et puis ensuite cette tradition est magnifique. Des cours sont également disponibles à Paris et en région Ile-de-France. Surtout n'hésitez pas à me laisser un commentaire ou à m'envoyer un e-mail...=;)
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I don't speak French, but I think that the title of this video indicates that this is a brief, good humored [a funny] demonstation of this style of Bele dancing. And if I'm correctly deciphering it, I think that a portion of that summary says that this is a public demonstration of a fertility dance which is similar to the Calenda dance. And if I'm not mistaken, the commenter also writes that the name for this style of Bele dance comes from the phrase Ma Belle Oh" (Oh my beautiful lady).

Additions & corrections to this partial transcription are welcome.

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Example #3: Bèlè - Mabello - Bourg de Schoelcher



MrDjipe, Published on May 4, 2012

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Example #4: Mabelo Danse traditionnelle sous forme de ballets martiniquais



keops97208, Published on Jul 18, 2012

Danse traditionnelle sous forme de ballets martiniquais

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RELATED LINKS
http://zumalayah.blogspot.com/2013/04/bele-dances-in-martinique-west-indies.html
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http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/02/comparison-of-various-calenda-like.html
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http://cocojams.com/content/caribbean-folk-dances

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to all those featured in these videos. Thanks to those who choreographed these dances and those who provided information about the Mabelo dance. My thanks also to the producers of these videos and their publishers on YouTube.

Thanks for visiting zumalayah.

Zumalayah showcases videos of dances & singing games done in circles or in lines, and other movement performance arts from African American culture, from African cultures, and from other cultures of the African Diaspora.

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