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Volume 2 6 |
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A–Z |  |
AFRICAN GLADIATORS: A WONDERFUL SOMALI WAR DANCE
| One of the most striking dances in the Somali repertoire, called the "Bororoma-Boromsi" dance. Surrounded by an ever-restless chanting chorus of spearmen, the two combatants — one attacking fiercely with cutlass, the other defending desperately with his small Somali shield — seem to be in grim and deadly earnest, and none would believe them to be at play |
THE LAST SCENE: THE DUSKY VISITOR APPEALS TO CÆSAR
| The defender sinks to the ground and abjectly craves mercy, while the chorus, dancing more madly, chant "Boromsi Boromsa." The conqueror pins his victim and prepares to give the final blow but, like an ancient gladiator, turns to the spectators to ask the beaten one's fate |