Bèlè Dances In Martinique, West Indies (Information & Videos)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents infoRmation about Bèlè dances In Martinique, West Indies.

This post also showcases nine videos of these dances.

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 BELE DANCES
Here's some information about this dance:
From http://ziloka.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/bele-when-martinique-dances/
"Even if the etymology of the word is not clear, Bèlè encompasses a wide range of dances from the Island of Martinique. Product of West African patterns and European influences, one can say that Bèlè is part of the Creole aesthetic so unique and so typical of the Caribbean. Indeed, slaves used to dance and play drums for all the occasions of their lives. There was a rhythm to work, a rhythm to fight, a rhythm to worship, a rhythm to celebrate and of course a rhythm to seduce. Each step, and drum beat had a meaning, which is partially lost nowadays. Nevertheless, the spirit of fellowship still remains, making Bèlè relevant even in the 21st century.

If you are invited to a “Swaré Bèlè” (a Bèlè party) you will be able to see or join “la ronde Bèlè” (the Bèlè circle). In this circle, you have “La vwa” (the singer and the backup singers called “Le répondè”), lé tambouyé (2 drummers), “Le bwatè” (someone setting the rhythm, hitting the back of the drum with two sticks).

A basic “Bèlè ronde” is composed of 8 dancers, with 2 couples dancing simultaneously while the other couples wait their turn to join the dance. As we saw earlier, there are different dances for occasions. "... [A description of different Bèlè dances follows in that post.]

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From an emailed article that was sent to my Cocojams.com website on 10/7/2012 by Kieron Sargeant: "Bele History" by Emelda lynch Griffith
"In the late 18th Century when the French plantation owners and their slaves came to Trinidad and Tobago, they brought with them a life style of joie de vivre to their plantations. At that time, the French held many balls at the Great Houses where they enjoyed doing many of the courtly dances of Europe including the minuet.

The house slaves, in their moments of leisure, took the dance to the field slaves and mimicked the dance of their masters. They showed off by doing ceremonious bows, making grand entrances, sweeping movements, graceful and gentle gliding steps which imitated the elegance of the French doing the minuet whilst the rhythmic quality of the drums added spicy and yet subtle sensuality to the movements.

During the passage of time, this dance has evolved to what is now called the Bele. It includes the African ritual form that places the spiritual and the secular side by side. As a result different versions of the Bele can be found wherever the French settled in the Caribbean.

Carabinee - The opening dance where host greets the gathering.

Simple Bele - Expresses the gracefulness of the dancer – usually done by La Reine – the Queen.

Grand Bele - Couples dancing (male and female) similar to a square dance"
-snip-
A Bele dance that was choreographed by Kieron Sargeant is included in this page of my Cocojams website http://cocojams.com/content/caribbean-folk-dances

EATURED 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**

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

lagoyave, Uploaded on Apr 22, 2008

Tradition Martinique
People from Martinique Island (FWI) [French West Indies]

[embedding disabled by request]
-snip-
Here's a comment from that video's viewer comment thread:
"It is fasinating! The melodic structure of the chantwell's la veh is that same as what is used in Trinidad, though the dance movements resembles the pique more than our bele steps."
- Arthur Nunez, 2013
-snip-
"chantwell"- the lead singer
-snip-
The video given as Example #6 of this post demonstrates this style of Bele dancing.

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Example #2: soirée bélé



lesamisdubele, Uploaded on Nov 13, 2008


le robert etais chaud
-snip-
Here's a comment from this video's viewer comment thread http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryNz3hDgdVM
"This is bomba! lol J/K i know its bele but it is cousin drumming tradition to puerto rican bomba.. this is great
-vanchi233, 2010

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Example #3: Swaré Bèlè Kanigwé



Thierry Negi, Uploaded on Apr 18, 2010

Soirée Bèlè au grand marché de Fort de France, le samedi 17 avril 2010 organisée en Hommage à Aimé Césaire par l'Association "Kanigwé" .

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Example #4: Swaré bèlè de Bèlènou - Bèlè Kourant'.wmv



Thierry Negi, Uploaded on Jun 7, 2010


Swaré bèlè organisée par l'Association "Bèlènou", le 05 juin 2010 au quartier Roches carrées au Lamentin (Martinique).

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Example #5: Gran Bèlè - AM4 (chant Pierre Dru)



Ruddy Boa, Uploaded on Oct 3, 2010

Gran Bèlè - AM4 (chant Pierre Dru)

Extrait émission Select Tango RFO Martinique (1983)

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Example #6: 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...=;)
-snip-
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 #7: Bèlè - Bélya manmay la



kaboogo, Uploaded on Oct 18, 2011

Swaré bèlè Berthé Grivalliers lanmézon bèlè Sent-Mari
La Vwa Felix Cebarec

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Example #8: Bèlè - Titine di mwen



kaboogo, Uploaded on Oct 21, 2011

Swaré bèlè Berthé Grivalliers lanmézon bèlè Sent-Mari

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Example #9: Soirée Bèlè Samedi 05 Janvier 2013 Maison du Bèlè-Gran Bèlè



LA MAISON DU BELE, Published on Jan 7, 2013

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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 rovided information about Bèlè Dances. My thanks also to the producers of these videos and their publishers on YouTube.

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