Ocarran Traditional Dance

Ocarran traditional dances are the cultural dances of the Ocarran people. There are a variety of styles of these traditional dances each with its own purpose and expression.

Ocrran dance tends to be very graceful, with lots of focus on moving forward with small hops and waves of the arms. 

Dance Types

Beshna Dance 

Beshna dance -also referred to as hand-waving dance- is an expressive and fluid form of Ocarran dance. It originates in ritual dance, but is modernly also performed and enjoyed for its beauty as a performing art.

Fluid graceful movements are typical of this dance with more dynamic elements added when needed. Most of the movements are of the arms which are lifted and dropped as the dance goes on, symbolic of waves or birds. The steps and leg movements tend to be more simple and graceful, mostly limited to precise steps and hops.

Masculine dancers tend to use a bit more movement in their legs incorporating higher knees, as well as keeping their fists clenched, and overall using more angular movements.

Feminine dancers tend to focus more on the fluidity, making sure the limbs move very gracefully without bending them as much. Hands are often kept open, and shawls or long loose sleeves are worn to accentuate the fluid movements of the arms and hands.

Performances of Beshna dances come in a variety of forms from only feminine dancers to only male dances, to a mix of both. Oftentimes there are separate dance competitions for female-only, male-only, and unisex dances.

Ocarran Chain Dance

The Ocarran Chain Dance is an energetic dance performed at celebrations that often include kicks and stomps. The dancers and observers will often include a lot of improvised whoops and cheers when dancing.

The dance involves a group of dancers moving in a line, linking hands or arms to form a chain There are a lot of hop, stomp, and kick-like steps along with the occasional jump; they often involve lifting and dropping the arms -similar to Beshna dance movements- but as a chain, because the dancers are holding hands. Dancers will make the movements as in unison as possible, often trying to stay on beat with the accompanying music.