Young man in dedicated mengarijana vulture costume for a formalized two-bird dance performance.
This is a lay ceremonial dance performed on the summer solstice, which is the beginning of a martial holiday period wherein the state hosts the summer games and localized festivals are held. This dance is embroiled in solar veneration but not a part of any specific ritual- its performance is a matter of festivity, can be organized and participated in by anyone, and is largely about getting a large group of people amped up and singing together while watching a couple of guys dance as birds, with less formal group singing and dancing to follow.
The dance is performed by two men who take on the roles of a golden eagle and a white-caped vulture, both considered to be solar birds with the eagle embodying the growing sun (winter-summer solstice) and the vulture embodying the dying sun (summer-winter solstice). It tells a loose story where the men become their birds, an enemy is defeated, and they become men again. There's room for improvisation and humor on the dancers' parts, though some elements of the choreography are fairly static, and wholly serious performances by skilled dancers who can evoke birds of prey and look impressive while doing so are appreciated. They dance in a clockwise circle around each other while acting as men (first and last verses) and each have a solo dance during their highlight verse while acting as birds (in some variations, each dancer sings the other one's focus verse, while the lead singer performs the opening and closing verses). There's very often a drive for the men to outdo each other in their performance, and this dance is most exciting when it's a competition between two very skilled dancers. There's usually a consensus on whether the eagle or vulture "won". The only prop the dance strictly requires is for both men to be wearing their capes fastened at the neck, which are clasped at the corners and held down and out to the side to evoke wings during the bird parts. More formal performances (usually at festivals run by a wealthy patron) will include ornate purpose-made clothing for each dancer to better resemble their bird.
The song is very simple in a way that's typical of Wardi call and response ceremonial songs/dances, unlike sung poetry or ritual coulagri (summoning songs) which follow a meter and can be extremely elaborate. All the "verses" are repeated four times and the "bridges" are only sung once. Any organized performance will be accompanied by at least one drummer, and more elaborate setups will also utilize bells and rattles. The audience will often clap in time (though is generally expected to stop, along with every form of percussion besides the drum, while the lead singer asks their three questions). The audience is expected to know the three answers, which are bound to be familiar for most people as the average person has grown up hearing this song.
LYRICS:
Wardi:
[Verse x4]
Wematseäm oüyra met
(Wematseäm oüyra met)
Wematseäm oüyra met
(Wematseäm oüyra met)
[Bridge x1]
Wematsata dwi?
(A jiëyan ti kagnachuy)
Wematsata dwi?
(A jiëyan ti kagnachuy)
[Verse x4]
Inyahara uya brat
(Inyahara uya brat)
Mengaricoura yuwayat
(Mengaricoura yuwayat)
[Bridge x1]
Haitemaä dwi?
(San bataya e asyan)
Haitemaä dwi?
(San bataya e asyan)
[Verse x4]
Inyahara siramayat
(Inyahara siramayat)
Mengarijana yuwayat
(Mengarijana yuwayat)
[Bridge x1]
Cotumeä dwi?
(A asyan ti gai gedo)
Cotumeiä dwi?
(A asyan ti gai gedo)
[Verse x4]
Wematseya oürya met
(Wetmatseya oürya met)
Wematseya oürya met
(Wetmatseya oürya met)
[Closing x1]
Wematsata dwi?
(A jiëyan ti kagnachuy)
Wematsata dwi?
(A jiëyan ti kagnachuy)
English:
See us, we are here
(See us, we are here)
See us, we are here
(See us, we are here)
What do we see?
(The men that are dancing)
What do we see?
(The men that are dancing)
The summer sun is fat
(The summer sun is fat)
Gold cape is flying
(Gold cape is flying)
What does he do?
(He strikes men down)
What does he do?
(He strikes men down)
The summer sun is dying
(The summer sun is dying)
White cape is flying
(White cape is flying)
What does he seek?
(The men that have fallen)
What does he seek?
(The men that have fallen)
See us, we are here
(See us, we are here)
See us, we are here
(See us, we are here)
What do we see?
(The men that are dancing)
What do we see?
(The men that are dancing)
---
Notes:
Mengaricoura and mengarijana ("goldcape" and "whitecape") are used here as epithets for the golden eagle and white-caped vulture respectively, the latter is part of the vulture's actual common name (which is literally "white-cape bird(of prey)").
Jiëyan is the dual plural for "man" (containing plural prefix jië) and is used in this song when referring to the two dancers directly, asyan is the >2 plural for "man" (containing plural prefix as) when invoking triumph and defeat in conflict with an eagle striking men down and a vulture eating them.
Inyahara is dead literally "adult sun" and refers to the sun around midsummer when daylight hours are longest, and to the deity-form that presides over this time of year. He is fat and healthy at his peak and then begins to die; the solstice evening is the moment of this transition. Inyahara is a proper noun in this song and does not include the definite article 'the' (a) that I added to make the English translation read more smoothly.
The form of "to be" used in "We are here" uses a permanent form (ouy), while the "to be" in "the summer sun is fat/dying" is impermanent (uy). The former is invoking a collective presence across a homeland rather than the temporary presence of the singers in the specific place where the dance is held, while the latter describes transitory annual conditions. Oüyra is the masculine "we" form of permanent "to be"; masculine plural conjugations are always used for mixed-gender groups, the feminine form is only used when referring to groups without any men.
