Dabkeh is the popular line dance of the Levant. It is done in groups of people who will often hold hands while they dance. There are stomping, jumping steps that move across the floor and sometimes shoulder shimmies and other intricacies. Choreographed stage versions can be very complex and exciting. In a social context there are simpler, easy to follow steps and there is a leader who often spins a scarf in one hand and adds improvised embellishments on top of the basic steps. Dabkeh is used as a dance of celebration, social fun and political protest, particularly in Palestine where people would dance in front of tanks.

Dabkeh music uses the rhythm called Soudasi or the Dalouna beat, which has many variations.

For the Oriental dancer, a Dabkeh can be worked in as a small Orientalized solo, or can be used in Lebanese cane dances.

Shems’s Lebanese Dabkeh YouTube Playlist

Shems’s Palestinian Dabkeh YouTube Playlist