eskista

English

A woman performing the eskista in Israel.

Alternative forms

• eskesta (rare)

Etymology

Borrowed from Amharic እስክስታ (ʾəskəsta).

Noun

eskista (uncountable)

1. A folk dance of the Amhara people of Ethiopia characterized by intense shoulder, chest, and neck movement.
   • 2002 August 1, Frank Tenaille, Music is the Weapon of the Future: Fifty Years of African Popular Music, Lawrence Hill Books, →ISBN, page 168:

     Ahmed was also appreciated for his talents as a showman, because he had no equal in letting loose the famous eskista, with the heaving quiver of the torso and shoulders, of which Ethiopians are so fond. Eskista is the dance of the Amharas, enhancing amorous repartee and expressing collective jubilation.

   • 2018 February 20, Adesola Akinleye, Narratives in Black British Dance: Embodied Practices, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 195:

     One of Ethiopia's most popular traditional dances, eskista, which is said to have originated from the lower highlands of Ethiopia's Amhara region, exemplifies the type of multi-functionality that Martin (1967) acknowledges as it is performed in many different settings of the Ethiopian community.

   • 2023 April 4, Araba Ofori-Acquah, Return to Source: Unlock the Power of African-Centered Wellness, Hay House, →ISBN, page 52:

     The Amhara people of Ethiopia have the Eskista, a celebratory dance that centres around movement in the shoulders and is said to be inspired by the movements of a snake.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:eskista.