Say Body Movements, Don’t Call It Dance: Lamentation Ritual Ceremonies in Dashtestan in Southern Iran

Abstract

Dance and lamentations stands against each other in the mind of people. In other words, in most
societies dance is mostly related to cheerful ceremonies much more than they are used for grief
and sorrowful times. In Dashtestan, southern province of Iran by the Persian Gulf, people
perform dance ceremonies in the occasions of martyrdom and death of young members of the
society. Even though one culturally does not allow to call such ceremony "dance".
This study tries to examine two main issues: "why music of this region is considered sorrowful"
and "what is the structure of lamentation ceremonies with regards to songs and body
movements". The findings of this study revealed that most songs performed in Dashdetan are
sorrowful due to several disasters people of this region experienced over last centuries, including
famine, wars and earthquakes. The most distinguished song genres of this region in lamination
ceremonies is called is Sharveh. Body movements in lamentation ceremonies contains special
patterns of feet and hand movements. Ceremonies performed in groups as in circle dances.
Lamentation singing is a prestigious way of singing in this region. The men and women
ceremonies performed separately in different venues and men are not allowed to present and
observe women ceremonies while presenting women to which men ceremonies are permitted.
We examine both men and women ceremonies in this article, illustrating the patterns of body
movements, lyrics and song structures within the cultural context. Key words: Dashtestan music;
Dashtestan Songs; Bushehri Songs; music in South Iran; Songs in south Iran.