The Jungle Dance

       A loud, deep drumming is heard throughout the great jungle, rich-sounding notes that ring out over many miles of the trackless land of South America. The Amazon native stops his work to listen and then runs excitedly to his family with the welcome news that there is to be a dance.

       The invitation is given by the chief, who sends out the message by beating on the two big signal drums that hang from the rafters in the center of the maloca. A dance to the native Amazonian is like a big wonderful party to you. Dances are held many times throughout the year to celebrate food harvests, successful hunts or wars, and the building of a new maloca. Or there might be a dance just because the chief wants to give a party.

       The natives prepare happily for the dance. They make cassava bread and fruit drinks. They climb up to the rafters of the maloca to bring down their ceremonial costumes that have been stored there since the last dance. The men will wear feather headdresses made from the brilliant plumage of the jungle birds. They will put on necklaces and arm and leg bands of polished nutshells that will rattle when they dance. The women paint their bodies with red, black, and white designs.

       Then the night of the dance arrives. What a change has taken place in the clearing about the maloca! Usually it is a dark, quiet, empty area. But this night it is ablaze with light from huge bonfires, noisy, and filled with hundreds of joyous people with their bamboo flutes, reed panpipes, and gourd rattles. The dark interior of the maloca is lighted with many torches that cast a glow on the chief, who sits in the center.

       When all have assembled outside, a line forms and the grand march begins. Led by a high-stepping dancer, the men and women parade around the maloca and then into it and around the chief. At a certain signal the dancers stop and there is a great silence. The chief tells in song the reason for the party, and then the dancing and singing begin. The men all join together, dancing in a circle, and the women dance inside the circle or outside. The steps are simple stepping forward and backward and stamping and toeing the ground. The rhythm seems to be the most important thing and the earth shakes with the stamping of the beat. Those who are not taking an active part squat in the background and shout out words of praise and encouragement to the dancers.

       During the dancing it is customary for a tribesman to enter the maloca in comic dress topped with a huge absurd hat. He pays no attention to anything but stands where all can see him and sadly begins a loud chanting about some misfortune that has happened to him. He drones on and on, and no one seems to pay any attention. However, if a dance should end while he is moaning, the others laugh and scoff at him, which does not bother him at all. But the chief listens to him and, if the complaint is serious, he will consider it at a tribal meeting.

       In addition to the dancing and, of course, eating and drinking, there is singing. One man, who is the leader, sings alone, and the others join in the chorus. The songs are simple, with strange rhymes and words that have been handed down from the ancestors.

       Since the dance is the only kind of entertainment in the jungle, the natives always look forward to this time when they can sing, dance, act, and feast, and they prepare for it by learning the traditional songs and dances. Even the children in their jungle play practice the steps and tunes so that they may be ready when it is time for them to join in the excitement of the Amazon dance. Buchwald.

Celebrating an event inside the maloca with dance, dress, and eating.

Read more about the jungle:

• The Jungle
• Jungle Animals
• People Who Live in The Jungle
• The Jungle "Maloca"
• The Jungle Hunt
• Jungle Farming and Foods 
• Jungle Medicine Past and Future 
• Jungle Crafts

Tatuuyas Tribal Dance from the Amazon River Area.