Pink Saturday - dancers in pink

 Pink Saturday - Beverly at the blog "How Sweet the Sound" hosts Pink Saturday. Let the color pink inspire you!

It was a bright summer afternoon, and a festival of West African arts and music was underway.

A small band played in an outdoor amphitheatre before a crowd of people seated on a grassy hill. Before them, two women dancers performed.

One wore a pink and white flowing garment and a pink head-wrap. The other dancer wore a two-piece blouse and skirt ensemble patterned in green. Both women wore elaborately wrapped head-scarves, or gele.

There are lots of names for West African women's clothing, and it's not easy for someone like me to distinguish one from the other. The word kaftan originates in ancient Persia, and was used to describe the long full-sleeved robes worn by men. These could be richly embroidered and sashed, if you were wealthy. The style spread to the Ottoman empire, and then to North Africa, and from there to Sub-Saharan Africa.

In West Africa, variations of this garment have different names depending on country and the gender of the wearer, but kaftan, agbada, and boubou are names for long, loose, full-sleeve garments worn by both sexes, and made of brightly colored, intricately patterned, or richly embroidered or lace cloth.

The audience watched as the two dancers moved to the music, but the dancer in pink drew the eye as her robe swirled in the wind.

And her enthusiasm was catching - from the front row, a little girl in a demure pink dress, sitting with her mom, stood up...

and started swaying along to the music.

The little girl grew more confident, and soon she was dancing along.

Before long, she stepped out into the plaza and the dancers invited her to join them.

There must be something about pink dresses that makes girls want to dance!