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Bal Anat Sword Dance

Inspired by a Jean-Leon Gerome orientalist painting, Jamila had a student perform while balancing a Turkish sabre on her head, thus creating one of the most popular fantasy dances in Bal Anat.  Single and double sword became standard props for dancers, especially in the United States.  The same dancers performing at the Faire would include the sword routines in their cabaret routines in the clubs at night.  The popularity of Bal Anat’s sword dance spread like wildfire through the United States throughout the 1970s.

Suhaila updated the sword choreography for Bal Anat using the sword dance from her iconic Percussion Show.

Choreography

Learn the Bal Anat sword choreography by subscription in the PPV section of Salimpour School Online.

  • “In the Beginning Sword” Choreography
  • “Standing Sword” Choreography; a non-floorwork version of the same choreography
Bal Anat sword dance at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in the early 1970s.
Bal Anat sword dance at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in the early 1970s.
Suhaila performing the Bal Anat sword dance at a Jaila Weeklong Dance Workshop and Bagdad by the Bay Festival in San Francisco in the 1970s. Photo by Daphne B. Noyes.
Anne Lippey performing the Bal Anat sword dance at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in 1974.
Bal Anat sword dancer at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in the early 1970s.
Bal Anat sword dancer at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in the early 1970s.
"La Danse du Sabre" (1895) by Jean Leon Gerome. This is the painting that inspired Jamila Salimpour's sword dance.
Bal Anat Sword dance in Belgium 2018. Photo by Guillaume Dedeurwaerder.
Bal Anat Sword dance in Belgium 2018. Photo by Guillaume Dedeurwaerder.
Bal Anat Sword dance photo shoot in 2013. Photo by Pixie Vision.
Bal Anat Sword dance in Austin, Texas, 2011. Photo by Pixie Vision.
Bal Anat sword dancer in Belgium, 2018. Photo by J. M. Schneider.
Bal Anat Sword Dance in Florida, 2018. Photo by James Keith.