I’m in awe 😭
i had no idea Limbo was Trinidadian!
YT ppl made the beauty of this ritual into a fucking game.
…I did not know this.
“Julia Edwards is known as the First Lady of Limbo for her role in popularizing this indigenous funerary folk dance.
Limbo was traditionally performed during the nine nights of a wake. On the first night the bar was at its lowest point and every night it would be raised higher, to symbolize the elevation of the soul of the departed. The bar at its highest point is the triumph of life over death and on this night they would also dance the bongo.
Edwards, who first started dancing in 1947 with Boscoe Holder’s Dance Company, formed her own dance troupe in 1953 and began performing at venues across Trinidad.
Edwards performed the limbo from Africa to the US to Japan and India, introducing the flaming bar in 1959. She also toured extensively with calypso king the Mighty Sparrow.” link
“The Límbó (Limmm-Bó) is a unique dance and is also known as the “Under Stick Dance”. The limbo dance, originally a ritual performed at ‘wakes’ (funeral dance which maybe related to African legba or legua dance) in Trinidad from the mid or late 19th century does not appear to have any roots in West Africa where most African traditions within the diaspora have emerged. It is believe, that the people of Trinidad during this dance portrayed going down in the hold of a slave ship which carried them off into slavery. No matter how they twist or turn squirmed or arched they would go deeper and deeper, some would make it, some would not. The dextrous position had to be retained because the space between the upper deck and floor was narrow, designed for packing and not standing, hence it asically they were going into Limbo.“ link
All of this is news to me
I did not know this!!!
