Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine April 2017 | Page 416

Saint Lucia’s
National Dance
by St. Lucia’s Cultural Development Foundation
S
aint Lucia with its rich historical
background, boasts of a culture that
reflects a good mix of European and African
presence in the island. Our European
cultural heritage was adopted because Saint Lucia
changed hands fourteen times between the British
and French. Slavery also left us with enough to
enjoy from our African ancestors. The Traditional
dances of European origin include the following:
Waltz, Moolala, Scottish, Minuet, Wedova,
Polka, Lancers, Norwegean, Italian Polka,
Quadrille
It has been acknowledged that there are many
regional variations of traditional dances.
While we have kept the original names of most of
these dances, it must be noted how the Scottish
and Wedova came about. The “Schottische”,
(shottish), originated in Germany and, therefore, is a
German folk dance. It was later known in the other
neighbouring European countries as the Scottish.
As our ancestors sought to pass on their own folk
dances to us, it was taught to us as the Scottish.
The Wedova is derived from the French folk dance
known as the “Redowa’’, (French words beginning
with re carry the sound in wi in creole; and w in
the French alphabet is called double v, hence the
v sound for the w in Redowa). Some refer to this
dance as the Edova, while some refer to it as the
heel-toe waltz.
The Norwegean, a reel, is a Scottishfolk dance from
Norway. Dances such as the La Comette, Quibish
and the Grand Rond, while they have their origins
from Europe, they are indigenous to us, in Saint
Lucia.
Besides those dances identified earlier, there are
also the Faci or Facio, the Pique Waltz and the Mapa
that are not very popular; the latter being danced
during La Rose and La Marguerite séances (practice
sessions) and during presentations on the days of
the Festival days.