THE CULTURAL MEANINGS OF THE LIMBO DANCE

THE CULTURAL MEANINGS OF THE LIMBO DANCE

The purpose of this page is to explore the cultural meanings that have been given to the limbo dance apart from its dance, gymnastic dexterity, and recreational/social descriptions. This information is posted for its folkloric, historical, educational, aesthetic and entertainment value.

Note: This page was previously published on jambalayah's sister website http://www.cocojams.com

Disclaimer:
I don't claim to be a dance historian or an expert in the cultural meanings of the limbo dance. I am an African American community folklorist who became frustrated with reading the same statements about the cultural meaning of the limbo dance descriptions on various websites and those sites providing little if any citations for, information about, or descriptions of those purported meanings. I searched online and off-line for more information about the often repeated statements that the limbo dance was a re-enactment of the tight conditions of the ships that transported enslaved Africans and/or the limbo dance is connected to the Legba dance. And I then decided to compile & post online information the information that I have found about the cultural meanings of the limbo dance.

Some information about the religious meanings of or religious associations with the limbo dance is cited on this page. However, I am not posting that information to promote any religion. I intend no disrespect to any religion by the information posted on this page. Indeed, I hope that the information and videos presented on this page serves to heighten awareness of religious traditions such as those related to the Loa (Orisa) Elegba.

Contact Information
Please send corrections, and information about and/or links to the cultural meanings of the limbo dance to: cocojams17@yahoo.com

Your email address is never posted or shared.

Or if you are on facebook, visit me at cocojams jambalayah, and befriend me, or send me a private message!

Click http://www.cocojams.com/content/caribbean-folk-songs for selected example of Caribbean folk songs.

Sources of Information Posted On This Page
Information from various websites and books is quoted on this page for its educational, folklorical,and historical value. Sources for the off-line quotes is given. Sources & hyperlinks are given for the online quotes. My thanks to all those whose books, articles ,and web pages I have quoted. Please contact me at cocojams17@yahoo.com if you have any concerns about the use of your material on this page.

Internet Sources Of Videos
All videos embedded on Cocojams .com are from http://www.youtube.com/ . Videos are posted on this site for educational, entertainment, aesthetic, historical, and folkloric purposes. All rights to these videos remain with their respectful owners.

I sincerely thank all the video uploaders whose videos I have reposted on Cocojams.com. I also sincerely thank YouTube.com for helping to make these videos available to the general public. If an uploader of a video sends a request to cocojams17@yahoo.com for me to remove his or her video from Cocojams.com, I will do so.

Please note that links to YouTube videos or to other online resources may not remain viable. Please also be aware that comments posted on YouTube viewer comments threads may not be suitable for children.

****
Links to Related Cocojams Pages:

http://www.cocojams.com/content/caribbean-folk-dances

http://www.cocojams.com/content/caribbean-folk-songs

****
Ms. Azizi Powell, Founder/Editor
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Last revision: June 19, 2011

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE LIMBO DANCE
"Limbo is a popular form of contra dancing that originated on the island of Trinidad, though Hawaii is often mistakenly associated with limbo. The dancer moves to a Caribbean rhythm, then leans backward and dances under a horizontal pole without touching it. Upon touching it or falling backwards, the dancer is "out". When several dancers compete, they travel in single file, and the stick is gradually lowered until only one dancer — who has not touched either the pole or the floor — remains...

The name comes directly from the Trinidad dialect of English; Merriam–Webster [1] (see definition #2) lists the etymology as "English of Trinidad & Barbados; akin to Jamaican English "limba" to bend, from English limber".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbo_(dance) [retrieved June 18, 2011]

-snip-
"The Límbó (Limmm-Bóe) is a novelty or eccentric dance and is also known as the "Under Stick Dance," where as the dancer moves to a Caribbean rhythm and dances under a stick, held up by a person on each end of the stick or a stand, without knocking or touching the stick...

If the dancer is successful he must repeat this again and again with the bar being lowered another "Notch" each time. Each dancer does this until there is only one left standing who has not touched the bar, fallen down, laid on the floor or used his/her hands to keep balance. On-lookers as well as other dancers would clap and cheer (or egg on) and sing while the dancer trys to go under the stick. This dance was very popular at beach parties"
http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3limbo.htm [retrieved June 18, 2011]

THE HISTORY OF THE LIMBO DANCE
"The limbos dates back to the mid to late 1800s in Trinidad. It achieved mainstream popularity during the 1950s."
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5179971_history-limbo-dance.html [retrieved June 18, 2011]

-snip-
"In Jamaica, the trendy limbo music of the 1950s was often based on a rhythm played by the clave. It is also widely heard in Jamaican mento recorded in the 1950s, in songs such as "Limbo" by Lord Tickler and Calypsonians or "Limbo" by Denzil Laing & the Wrigglers, as well as many others songs not directly related to the limbo dance theme...

In recent years, limbo dancing has been conducted as a social "icebreaker" game for tourists at Caribbean and other tropical resorts. The winning dancer often receives a prize."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbo_(dance) [retrieved June 18, 2011]

-snip-
"This traditional dance gained widespread popularity in the 1950s and 1960s as knowledge of the dance spread from the islands worldwide. In Jamaica, limbo music was considered trendy in the 1950s, and many songs based on a limbo beat were recorded, including many not intended to be used for limbo dancing."
http://ezinearticles.com/?What-is-the-Limbo-Dance?&id=2588544 [retrieved June 18, 2011]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2588544

VARIOUS THEORIES ABOUT WHAT THE LIMBO DANCE MEANT & MEANS
Some observations:
It appears to me that most websites provide theories about the cultural meaning of the limbo dance without any attempt to provide substantiation or descriptions of those theories. Some websites seem to hedge their bets about the meaning of the limbo dance by briefly giving more than one theory and adding equivocable statements such as the dance "may be related to....". However, certain theories-such as the Middle Passage theory" appear to be given without any equivocation. I wonder why this is since there's no first person documentation of that theory (I don't believe that any enslaved African or formerly enslaved African shared that meaning with any historian). It seems to me tnat most websites repeat this and other theories about the meaning of the limbo dance without providing any corraborations, information, or description about those theories. Just because theories were cited long ago and just because those theories are repeated again and again does not mean that they are true.

It's possible that we may never really know the original meaning of the limbo dance. It's also possible (and even probable) that there are more than one cultural meaning of the limbo dance, and those true meanings may have changed over time and in various places.

Here are the most often repeated theories about the meaning of the limbo dance (with the most repeated theories listed first) :
1. that the limbo dance portrays how enslaved people going down the holds of the slave ships that transported them from Africa to the Caribbean or elsewhere.
A subset to theory #1 is that the limbo dance portrays the tight living conditions that enslaved persons had during the Middle Passage

2 that the limbo dance may be related to African legba or legua dance

3. that the limbo dance is connected to the Catholic belief in Limbo

-snip-

Another explanation of the limbo was that its performance at nine night funeral wakes with the bar moving from its lowest level to the highest level symbolizing the "elevation of the soul of the dearly departed from its lowest levels on earth to the highest in heaven. When the bar was at it's highest, it was declared victory night, signifying life's triumph over death."

More Information about the performance of the limbo dance during Caribbean wakes is given on this page under the heading "The Connection of The Limbo Dance With Caribbean Funeral Traditions".

Additional Information about those theories that are listed above and other theories about the meaning of the limbo dance are presented below.

The Connection of The Limbo Dance With The Middle Passage
One often repeated cultural meaning for the limbo dance is that it serves as a symbolical portrayal of the extremly tight living spaces on ships that transported enslaved African to the Caribbean or elswhere. "The Middle Passage was the leg of the Atlantic slave trade that transported people from Africa to North America, South America and the Caribbean. It was called the Middle Passage as the slave trade was a form of Triangular trade; boats left Europe, went to Africa, then to America, and then returned to Europe." http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Middle_Passage

Here's an example of that theory (given with other theories listed above)

"The word Limbo in the Roman Catholic tradition means a place where the souls of people go if they are not accepted into heaven but not bad enough to be sent to hell, not a very nice place to be and no one knows your there with no chance of escape.

Originally, the people of Trinidad during this dance portrayed going down in the hold of a slave ship which carried them off into slavery. No matter how they twist or turn squirmed or arched they would go deeper and deeper, some would make it, while some would not. Basically they were going into Limbo. (It was also used as a funeral dance and may be related to the African legba or legua dance).
http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3limbo.htm [retrieved June 18, 2011]

-snip-

Here's another example of the Middle Passage theory given along with the Catholic Limbo theory:
"The version of the limbo performed in nineteenth century Trinidad was meant to symbolize slaves entering the galleys of a slave ship, or a spirit crossing over into the afterworld, or "limbo."
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5179971_history-limbo-dance.html [retrieved June 18, 2011]

The Connection of The Limbo Dance With Legba And The Legba Dance
As previously mentioned, a number of websites on the limbo dance mention that this dance "may be related to the legba dance". Usually those websites don't even explain what "the legba dance is". Since I've read some books on Yoruba-Fon religion, I was aware that 'the legba dance" was the dance or dances for the orisha/loa Elegba.

Here's information about Elegba from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eshu [retreived June 18,2011]:
"Eshu (other names include Exu, Esu Eleggua, Esu Elegbara, Eshu Elegbara, Elegba, Legba, Papa Legba and Eleda) is both an orisha and one of the most well-known deities of the Yoruba mythology and its related New World traditions.

He has a wide range of responsibilities: the protector of travelers, deity of roads, particularly crossroads, the deity with the power over fortune and misfortune, and the personification of death, a psychopomp. Eshu is involved within the Orisa (also spelt Orisha or Orixa)-Ifá system of the Yoruba as well as in African diasporic faiths like Santeria/Lukumi and Candomble developed by the descendants of enslaved West Africans in the Americas, where Eshu was and is still sometimes identified with Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Michael [1] or Santo Niño de Atocha, depending on the situation or location. He is often identified by the number three, and the colours red & black or white & black, and his caminos or paths (compare: Avatar) are often represented carrying a cane or shepherd's crook, as well as smoking a pipe.

Eshu is a spirit of Chaos and Trickery, and plays frequently by leading mortals to temptation and possible tribulation in the hopes that the experience will lead ultimately to their maturation. In this way he is certainly a difficult teacher, but in the end is usually found to be a good one...

The veneration of Eshu is widespread in the New World, as well as in Africa, and he is venerated under many different names and attributes[4]:
Exu de Quimbanda: The Exu who is the messenger of the deities in Candomble is not Exu de Quimbanda. Exu de Quimbanda has a few similarities in how he is worshipped, such as in the colours he likes, but he is an entirely different entity, originating among the people of Angola, not the Yoruba of Nigeria. While the Exu de Candomble is an Orisha, the Exu of Quimbanda is like a Lordly or Kingly Spirit, and unlike the Candomble Orishas, he can be "bought" or "controlled" by the Quimbanda practitioner to go and do many sorts of deeds, while the Candomble Exu must only be petitioned...

Eleggua: Eleggua is another name used among Lukumi for Eshu. His divine number is 21.

Elegba or Elegbara: in Nigeria and the West of Cuba

Legba: In Vodou, Papa Legba is the intermediary between the divine and humanity, while Kalfu is his Petro manifestation..."

[other names cited] ....

-snip-
I think that in some ways Elegba is similar to the Egyptian god Thoth, and also to the European gods Mercury, Hermes, and Loki. But that discussion is more off-topic than I care to be.

Here's some additional information on Legba:

In the chapter "Kongo Influences On African-American Culture" that is included in the book Africanisms In American Culture (Joseph E. Holloway; Indiana University, 1991) writes of the connection between Elegba and the crossroads and the kalunga line (the line dividing the realm of the living from that of the dead). Farris quotes Newbell Niles Puckett as indicating that the crossroad is an ancient surrogate for the cosmogram, since it points towards all four cardinal points". (p. 154-156). Given, Elegba's association with the crossroads, and as the loa who should be acknowledged at the beginning and ending of religious ceremonies, if the limbo dance is indeed associated with Legba, it's understandable that the limbo was originally associated with funeral wakes.

Here's an excerpt from another chapter in that same book:
"In nearly any faithful voodoo service of the Dahomean nation in Haiti and New Orleans, the first supplicant song was addressed to Lebga, keeper of the gates, guardian of the crossroads, and go-between who intercedes with other deities in the affairs of humans. The first supplication is to open the gate so that voices of supplication may be heard and understood, as in this example from Haiti:
Attibon Legba, open the gate for me
Open the gate
I will enter when I return
I salute the loa

Source: Jesse Gaston Mulira "The Case Of Voodoo In New Orleans" p . 45; the song from Harold Courlander's Drum And Hoe, p. 77.

Also, from Mulira's chapter in Africanisms In American Culture comes the information that the name "Lebga" was often spelled "Limba" in New Orleans and some viewed Legba/Limba as the devil because of his trickster ways.
"All the people with her [Voodoo Queen Maria Laveau] was hollerin and screamin "We is goin' to see Papa Limba!" My grandpa go runnin' to my ma then, yellin to her, "You come in here, Eunice! Don't you know Papa Limba is the devil? But after that my ma found out Papa Limba meant St. Peter, and her pa was just foolin' her".
-Mulira, op cit.p. 54; Robert Tallent, Voodoo In New Orleans (New York, Putnam, 1956; p. 67

Information & Video Examples Of Legba dances:
Here is an description of the Legba dance from
"Each of the families of loa has its own dreim rhythms and distinctive dances...
Another of the loa with specific characteristics is Legba, who is, among other things, the guardian of the croos roads. Loegba is the first of the loa to be called upon in a religious service. According to [Harold] Courlander:

When a person is mounted by this loa one of the things he may do is to go about limping, since Legba is thought of as an old man whith one lamed leg...Sometimes a perrson mounted by this deity may dance or spin around with a kind of cane-crutch called a Legba-stick, around which he twines his leg. Under conditions of possession, the spinning and twirling often become a true acrobatic feat."
Lynne Fauley Emery: Black Dance from 1916 to Today (Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton Book Company, 1988) p. 56; quote from Harold Courlander: Dance And Drama In Haiti, p 42

-snip-
Here are four videos of Legba dances. Note some of the similarities in the movements of these dances.

1. ellegua

Uploaded by otaomi on May 12, 2006
"ellegua cantado por Grupo Yoruba Andabo" [English translation- Elegua danced by the Yoruba Andabo Group]

Unfortunately, no other information is provided about this video and the comments feature was disabled.

2. Legba dance

Uploaded by exu6 on Oct 11, 2007
"a dance for the old Papa"

Editor:
Unforunately, no location, or any other information is provided about this dance. I'm assuming that this dance was filmed in Benin or Nigeria, but I can't verify that. It was interesting to note that the women danced holding small sticks horizontally.

-snip-
3. Elegba Dance

Uploaded by ronzta on Jul 21, 2007
"Song and Dance for Orisha Elegba from the 17th annual African Street Festival"

Editor:
Although no information is provided along with that video, I believe that this African Street Festival occurred in Jackson, Tennessee in 2007 and was sponsored by the non-profit African American organization SAACA "The Society for African American Cultural Awareness". The website for that group is http://www.saaca.com/. That website is promoting the 22nd annual African Street Festival in Jackson, Tennessee on September 2, 3, 4 , 2011. Examples of other dances from previous African Street Festivals can be found on YouTube.

Here's a statement about the dance from http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/blogs/blog.article.php?blog=140&ID... [retrieved June 18, 2011]

"This is an elegba spiritual celebration. Elegba represents the crossroads in life. We all have them. This practice comes from the Yoruba people who live in Southwestern Nigeria, parts of Togo and Republic of Benin (former Dahomey Republic). Elegba is some times known as Baba Legba or father of the crossroads. Yourba religion is practiceD in many parts of the Americas. Republic of Cuba, other parts of the West Indies, Brazil and the United States of America are the main centers of practice.
CLC - 2007

-snip-

4. Eleguá (Elegua, Elegba) Yoruba rhythms, chants & dance

Uploaded by djmerecumbe on Sep 6, 2007
"The 'Conjunto Folklorico Okantomi' presents Yoruba and Afro-Cuban rhythms, chants and dances. Brought to you by www.iyalodde.ch (Adrian Coburg, researcher and percussion instructor) and www.merecumbe.com (Sandro 'Merecumbé' Trunz). Here: "Eleguá" - a Yoruba deity - el 'Abre Camino'."

Editor:
Here is an exchange from that video's YouTube viewer comment thread:
"the man dancing SHOULD NOT be in a Jester costume"
-mofietofie; 2010

**
"He's dressed as Elegua. Elegua walked through a village in a hat that was half red and half black so that the villagers on one side of the street argued with the villagers on the other side of the street. In some stories the villagers annihilate one another over this. in others, he returns to the village and says that he did it to show them how people can have different perspectives of the same thing. So you see a jester outfit, and I see an Orisha."
-sweavo; 2010

The Connection of The Limbo Dance With The Anansi, The Spider
"The limbo dance is a well-known feature in the Carnival life of the West Indies today... The limbo dancer moves under a bar which is gradually lowered until a mere slit of space, it seems, remains through which with spread-eagled limbs he passes like a spider.

Limbo was born, it is said, on the slave ships of the Middle Passage. There was so little space that the slaves contorted themselves into human spiders. Limbo, therefore, as Edward Brathwaite, the distinguished Barbadian-born poet, has pointed out, is related to anancy or spider fables. If I may now quote from Islands, the last book in his trilogy:

'drum stick knock / and the darkness is over me /knees spread wide / and the water is hiding me / limbo / limbo like me'

Limbo then reflects a certain kind of gateway or threshold to a new world and the dislocation of a chain of miles... I recall performances I witnessed as a boy in Georgetown, British Guiana, in the early 1930s. Some of the performers danced on high stilts like elongated limbs while others performed spread-eagled on the ground. In this way limbo spider and stilted pole of the gods were related to the drums like grassroots and branches of lightning to the sound of thunder"

From 'History, Fable and Myth in the Caribbean and Guianas' by Wilson Harris (1970)"

Thursday, April 19, 2007
Limbo Gateway ; posted by Transpontine [no date given]

http://history-is-made-at-night.blogspot.com/2007/04/limbo-gateway.html [retrieved on June 18, 2011]

-snip-

It seems to me that the theory that the limbo dance symbolizes moving from one world to another explains the original association of this dance with funeral wakes. That theory also explains the association of the limbo dance with the loa (orisha; deity) Legba, who is responsible for opening and closing the gate to the gods.

The Connection of The Limbo Dance With Caribbean Funeral Traditions
"Her Life has been dance and dance has been her life. She is recognized as Trinidad and Tobago's First Lady of Limbo, dancer extraordinaire, Julia Edwards.

Affectionately called Julia, she first started dancing in 1947...

Julia describes the Limbo as Trinidad and Tobago's only true national dance, originally performed at wakes. the limbo was done for nine nights, where some mourners said prayers and others danced the limbo. On the first night, the bar would be at its lowest and would be gradually raised each successive night. This symbolized the elevation of the soul of the dearly departed from its lowest levels on earth to the highest in heaven. When the bar was at it's highest, it was declared victory night, signifying life's triumph over death. On that victory night, the bongo was danced.

As a purely artistic endeavour, this did not sustain rapt attention because the climax came at the beginning, not at the end. Julia turned the dance on its head by using sticks to prop up the bar and the beginning at the highest point, while alluringly working her way down. Of course the costuming had to be more attractive than the mournful black and white, and consequently Helen Humphrey was brought in to do costuming that was more vibrant, and which is today being associated with the dance all over the world. Holly Betaudier, who was the first person to encourage her to dance professionally, came into the troupe to bring his tremendous organizational skills, and they introduced the signature song "I want somebody to Limbo like me". Julia further experimented, first introducing the flaming limbo and later the human limbo.

These Julia took to every corner of the globe, from Dakar to London, Japan to India and from North and South America to Europe. Julia and her troupe not only gave command performances to appreciative audiences, but in its wake brought HONOR and glory to the country's Dance by stamping Trinidad and Tobago as the "Land of Limbo"..."
http://www.webeat.org/honorees/honoree_2003.htm [retrieved June 18, 2011]

-snip-

Here's another excerpt about the limbo dance which combines the fact that the limbo was performed during wakes with theory about its connection with Legba and other theories:
"The Límbó (Limmm-Bó) is a unique dance and is also known as the "Under Stick Dance". The limbo dance, originally a ritual performed at 'wakes' (funeral dance which maybe related to African legba or legua dance) in Trinidad from the mid or late 19th century does not appear to have any roots in West Africa where most African traditions within the diaspora have emerged."..

Up to the 1950's and maybe later the ritual known as 'limbo' was still practised at wakes in rural Trinidad and Tobago. "
http://www.tntisland.com/limbo.html [retrieved June 18, 2011]

-snip-
Note that this site also includes the Middle Passage theory of the limbo dance, and the Catholic Limbo theory and the "life cycle" theory.

Also, click http://www.tabankacrew.com/caribdance/index.html to find a listing of dances. The entry for the limbo includes the information that the dance was originally performed at wakes. This makes sense given the (probable?) association of the dance with the Loa (Orisa) Esu/Elegba. Information about Esu/Elegba is provided in the above section.

Other Non-Recreation Or Non-Dance Meanings Given To The Limbo Dance Passage
Limbo dance a portrayal of the Catholic after-death state of "Limbo". This theory is usually given along with The Middle Passage theory.

Here's an example of the combination of these two theories:
[The limbo dance] "was created out of the "middle passage," between Africa and the West Indies. On the slave ships each slave had a space of 6 feet by 1 foot 4 inches in which to live. Consequently some of them arrived in Barbados, the auction centre, deformed. Many died. The dance demonstrates the way in which they manoeuvered in the limited space. It was later used by women for testing their spouses."
-Edric Connor, Coll., 1958, Songs from Trinidad Oxford University Press as quoted by Q on 17 Jun 11 - 05:30 P http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=138380&messages=29 Trinidad Songs

-snip-
Note the theory at the end about the limbo dance being "used by women for testing their spouses". The basis for this theory may be the fact that in the early days of the limbo dance in the Caribbean, it was only danced by the men. However, the theory that the dance was used by wives to test their husbands seems like fake lore to me. For what it's worth, I've only found that theory mentioned on that one site.

-snip-
Here's another example of the Middle Passage theory of the limbo dance combined with the Catholic Limbo theory:
"It is believe, that the people of Trinidad during [the limbo dance] dance portrayed going down in the hold of a slave ship which carried them off into slavery. No matter how they twist or turn squirmed or arched they would go deeper and deeper, some would make it, some would not. The dextrous position had to be retained because the space between the upper deck and floor was narrow, designed for packing and not standing, hence it asically [sic] they were going into Limbo"
http://www.tntisland.com/limbo.html

-snip-
The life cycle theory of the limbo dance:
In the following quote, that theory is offered along with other theories about the meaning of the limbo, and information about when it was danced:
"The movements of the limbo dance are said to represent the cycle of life. This idea stems from traditional West African beliefs, like many customs found in Trinidad. As the dancers move under the pole and emerge at the other side, their head clearing the pole represents the triumph of life over death. Another belief for the history of the dance's movements maintains that the dance portrays the people of Trinidad being taken down into the hold of a slave ship. Unlike today's limbo dances usually seen in a festive and carefree atmosphere, the limbo dance was also traditionally used as a funeral dance. In this setting, it is related to African dances called legba or legua."
http://ezinearticles.com/?What-is-the-Limbo-Dance?&id=2588544 [retreived June 18, 2011]

VIDEOS OF THE LIMBO DANCE

Princess Shemika Limbo Interview

Uploaded by Tropicalxplosion on Nov 28, 2009

-snip-
This interview features Shemika Charles, born in Trinidad and raised in Buffalo, New York. Note that the narrator for this video mentioned that the limbo was traditionally only danced by men. Female physiques create more challenges to getting under very low limbo bars.

-snip-

Emperor Duke Limbo's beer bottles!!

Uploaded by stumpy101017 on Jun 27, 2010
"Emperor Duke limbo's 2 Kalik bottles (Bahamian beer) off the ground. The bottles are only 8 INCHES off the ground!...

A FOLK SONG ABOUT THE LIMBO DANCE

LIMBO
I want a woman to Limbo like me,
Limbo, to Limbo like me.
Limbo, Limbo, to Limbo like me,
Limbo, to Limbo like me.
I want a girl to Limbo like dis boy,
Limbo, to Limbo like me.
Limbo, Limbo, to Limbo like dis boy,
Limbo, Limbo like me.
I want a woman to Limbo like me,
Limbo, to Limbo like me.
De girl must be good to Limbo like dis boy,
Limbo, to Limbo like me.
Limbo, Limbo, to Limbo like me,
Limbo, to Limbo like me,
Limbo, Limbo, to Limbo like dis boy,
Limbo, to Limbo like me.

Sheet music, arr. for voices, guitar, drum and bass by Gareth Walters.

Limbo- to limber up, a dance.
-Edric Connor, Coll., 1958, Songs from Trinidad Oxford University Press as quoted by Q on 17 Jun 11 - 05:30 P http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=138380&messages=29 Trinidad Songs

[A statement from this book as quoted by Q on 17 Jun 11 - 05:30 PM
is given on this page in the section "Other Non-Recreation Or Non-Dance Meanings Given To The Limbo Dance Passage" ]

FOLK STORIES THAT MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE LIMBO DANCE
Timbo Limbo (song also given as Tim-Mo Lim-mo"

Here's an excerpt of that story from
"A man had one daughter an' de daughter was name' Lydia. An' him wife die an' him married to anudder woman. An' she have some chil'ren fe de man, an' she like fe him chil'ren more 'n de daughter-in-law. Mostly it's de daughter-in-law she impose upon to do de work. An' she sen' Lydia fe water, give him a big jug fe go to de ribber; an' de jug is mor'n Lydia weight, dat she alone can't help up de jug, an' de mudder-in-law won't sen' none fe him pickney fe go an' help up Lydia. When Lydia get to de ribber-side, Lydia was crying dat de jug is too hebby an' him kyan't get no one to help him up. An' a Jack-fish was in de ribber hear de lament, an' went up an' said to de young woman if him wi' be a wife fe him he wi' help him up when him come to de ribber-side. An' Lydia consent to de Jack-fish to be a wife to him, an' Lydia fill him jar wid water an' de Jack-fish help him up an' 'he went to de yard....
Tim-bo, Lim-bo, Tim-bo, Lim-bo, Tim-bo, Lim-bo,
Same gal, Ly-di-a, Tim-bo, Lim-bo, Tim-bo Lim-bo,
Tim-bo Lim-bo, Tim-bo Lim-bo. Same gal, Lydi-a. Tim-bo Lim-bo."
- excerpt of "The Fish Lover" (# 78)" collected from Thomas White, Maroon Town. included with musical score in Martha Warren Beckwith, Jamaica Anansi Stories?
For the complete folk tale, with a musical score click http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/jas/jas078.htm ".

Also click http://www.cocojams.com/content/caribbean-folk-songs for examples of that song (without musical scores or sound files.

****

Thanks for visiting this page!

Please send information about and/or links to the cultural meanings of the limbo dance to: cocojams17@yahoo.com

Your email address is never posted or shared.

Or if you are on facebook, contact me there at cocojams jambalayah.

Or if you are on facebook, please befriend me. My name there is cocojams jambalayah.

Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/ to visit my blog.

Pancocojams is an eclectic mix of information, comments, and videos about the histories, cultures, and customs of African Americans & other People of Color.

The name "pancocojams" reflects this site's wide range of topics. The name "pancocojams" also reflects this blog's connection to my http://www.cocojams.com website.
.

Please visit and comment on this blog!

.
****

Share! Learn! Enjoy!