Chub-Bazi - Robyn Friend

Çûb-Bâzî — The stick-dances of Iran
Çûb-Bâzî — The stick-dances of Iran

Robyn C. Friend
The Institute of Persian Performing Arts

Originally written for the Encyclopedia Iranica.
An abbreviated version appears in that work, volume VI, fascicle 4, page 448, and fascicle 4, page 449.

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Çûb-Bâzî (“stick game”; or raqs-e çûb, “stick dance”) is a form of folk dance found all
over Iran (Hamada), distinguished from other Iranian folk dances in that
the dancers carry, and dance with, sticks of wood (Dehkhoda, page 322).
Some consider that these dances may all be seen to have their origin in
stylized combat (Al-Faruqi); they may also be related to the sword (jengî)
dances described by Rezvani (pages 189-190).

There are two types of çûb-bâzî in Iran.
The first type is more directly related to stylized combat; while some
of the movements are rhythmic, no particular patterns are followed in hitting
the sticks. In this type, done only by men, two men dance together
while the rest of those present watch. This form of çûb-bâzî
is found primarily among the tribes of Southwest Iran: the Lor,
Bahktiari,
and Qashqai (Mobbashsheri, page 71; Beck; Friend; Gorguinpour).
It is competitive, aggressive, and dangerous, and only the experienced
participate. In the Qashqai version, the two men dance in
time with the musical accompaniment (usually the karnâ and
naqqâra). Each dancer assumes a distinct role:
one plays the role of the attacker; the other acts as the defender.
The attacker wields a short, thin stick while dancing around the defender;
the defender holds a long pole upright. After circling his opponent
for some time, the attacker suddenly strikes at the defender with his stick,
aiming for the legs. The defender tries to ward off the blow with
his pole. If the attacker hits the defender, someone from the audience
takes the defender’s place. If the attacker misses, he must quit
(Beck, pages 23-24), or change places with the defender (personal observation).
In this latter form, once each of the pair has had the chance to play both
roles, a new attacker comes in, or both players leave, permitting a new
pair to enter the game together. A khan may be the attacker,
but usually does not defend, except against one of equal rank; a servante
or other lower-ranking man would replace the khan in the role of
defender. The game can become fairly heated when it is played at
a large gathering, or between members of different tribes (Gorguinpour,
personal communication, 1993). This form of the çûb-bâzî
is thus both a dance and a show of skill and bravery; participants are
judged by their abilities in the combat aspects, as well as by their grace
in executing the dance movements (Gorguinpour, personal communication,
1987).

The practice is similar among the Bahktiari, where it is also
called tarka-bâzî, “twig dance” (Mobashsherî,
page 71; Kelkî, pages 39-40). These dances are typically done
as part of the wedding celebration. In some regions, they are also
performed as part of calendar-cycle rituals. For example, in Arâk,
southwest of Qom, çûb-bâzî is part of the
nâqâlî
ritual that is performed on the fortieth day of winter (10 Bahman / 30
January). This ritual is performed by groups of men who go from house
to house and enact certain rituals believed to bring about fertility and
good luck. As they enter the courtyard of a home, they begin
the ritual with çûb-bâzî, to the musical
accompaniment of the sornâ and dohol. This dance
is described as dangerous enough that only skilled dancers participate,
as the unskilled are likely to receive broken hands and legs (Enjavî,
1352/1973, page 73 to 77).

The second type of çûb-bâzî is not so
much an improvised competition as a social dance recreation, and the movements
of dancers and the hitting of the sticks follow definite rhythmic patterns.
It is done either in pairs (as in Bojnûrd; Hamada) or in a circle
(as among the Baluch; Allen, unpublished field notes, 1974, and personal
communication, 1987), and may be performed by women as well as by men.
In this type, each dancer has a short (approximately 18″ long) stick, and
executes a basic dance step, striking the sticks of the other dancers
as well as his own, while moving to the rhythm of the music. While
definite patterns of movement and rhythm are followed, there is room for
individual improvisation within the framework of the pattern (Hamada, pages
111-112; Allen, 1974). Similar dances form part of calendar cycle
rituals, such as the qîshdân çîkdîm
(“I have come out of winter”) ritual of Marand in Azerbaijan. This
ritual takes place in the month of Esfand (late February to early March),
just as the weather begins to warm, in order to herald or bring about the
end of winter. As part of this ritual, one man dances with two sticks,
hitting them together, to the rhythmic accompaniment of the daf
(Enjavî, 1353 / 1974, pages 20 to 22).

The first type of çûb-bâzî has an analogous
form in the tahtîb dance of Upper Egypt (Ali). The çûb-bâzî
dances of the second type have analogous forms in Central Asia and Afghanistan
(Schuyler), Pakistan (Maswan), and India (Banwari, Wood). In fact,
similar dances can be found all over the world (Sachs, pages 122-123; though
his two basic types of stick dance are defined rather differently, i.e.,
one stick per dancer versus two sticks per dancer, the latter type being
considered the older).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Al Faruqi, Lois Ibsen

“Dances
of the Muslim Peoples”, Dancescope, volume 2 (1), pages 43-51,
1976/77.

Ali, Aisha

Personal
communications, 1987.

Allen, Mitchell

Field
notes (unpublished), 1974.

Personal
communications, 1987.

Articles that did not name their authors

“Banwari”,
Marg.
Volume XIII, December 1959, Number 1, unpaged

“Gujarat”,
Marg.
Volume XIII, December 1959, Number 1, unpaged

Beck, Lois

The Qashqa’i People of Southern Iran. UCLA Museum of Cultural
History Pamphlet Series Number 14.

Los Angeles, 1981.

Bill Beeman

Ruhozi,
Brown University

Dehkoda, Alî Akbar

Logat-nâme.
volume 5, 1969.

Enjav-i, S. Abolq-asem

Jashnâ-ha wa âdâb wa mo’taqadât-e zemestân: Jeld-e avval.
Tehran, 1352 – 1354 / 1973 – 1975

Jashnâ-ha wa âdâb wa mo’taqadât-e zemestân: Jeld-e dovvom.
Tehran, 1352 – 1354 / 1973 – 1975

Friend, Robyn C.

Field
notes (unpublished), 1975.

Gourguinpour, Manouchehr

Personal
communications, 1987.

Hamada, Geoffrey Mark

“Dance
and Islam: The Bojnurdi Kurds of Northeastern Iran”. University
of California, Los Angeles.

Unpublished master’s thesis. 1978.

Kelkî, Bivzan

“Arûsî-e
Bahktîârîhâ-ye Rûstâ-ye Pâgaç”,
Honar va Mardom. Number 133, Aban 1352 / November 1973.

pages 36-40.

Maswan, A. K.

“Folk
Songs and Dances of Pakistan”, Folk Heritage of Pakistan.
Institute of Folk Heritage, Islamabad, 1977.

Mobashsheri, L.

“Ahanghâ-ye
mell-i”, monâtaq-e jonûb-e Iran. 1335 / 1956.

Rezvani, Medjid

Le théâtre et la danse en Iran. Paris, 1962.

Sachs, Curt

World History of the Dance. New York, 1937.

Schuyler, Eugene.

Turkistan.
New York, 1877.

Wood, Leona

Personal
commmunications, 1987.

Robyn C. Friend, Ph.D.
c/o Snark Records
38 Cinnamon Lane
Rancho Palos Verdes, California 90275

Such use is authorized only
after obtaining written
permission in advance
from Robyn C. Friend. Thank you.