Ya Abud

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Arabic: يا عبود ("O Abud!", male name). Circle/line debka in seven parts by Moshiko HaLevy, 1974. Alternative title: Debka Abud.

Concerning debka in general and this dance in particular, Moshiko says:

Arabic debka is a kind of prayer. The Arabs, by stamping strong on the earth, are thanking the earth that's supporting them. Most of the songs that accompany these dances are about love and women. Muslim leaders used to be against young boys dancing debka, feeling that dance was only for religious occasions, but after many years they realized that they cannot control the young boys and began to use those dances for all kinds of celebrations, like weddings, where it became popular.
I made this dance when I was working with a Druze group in Ossafiya in the Karmel mountain. I observed their material, and after having all the elements I made a choreography for their group. The elements are authentic Arabic which I learned from one of the elder dancers in their group (too long ago to remember his name---he was the instructor of the group until I came). I decided to make a choreography from the elements so they could perform them.^[1]

The music of Ya Abud is a combination of two different Lebanese tunes, both popularized by Jeanette Gergis al-Feghali, universally known as Sabah, a hugely popular Lebanese singer who lived from 1921 to 2014. The music of the first part of Ya Abud is the song "An-Nadda Nadda" (Arabic: عالندا الندا, "The Dew, The Dew") and the music of parts two through seven is "Jeeb il-Mijwiz Ya Abud" (Arabic: جيب المجوز يا عبود, "Take the Mizwiz, O Abud!"; a mijwiz is a double flutelike instrument).

The recording we use for dancing, from Moshiko's third album (MIH-3), was created at a studio in New York City. The singer is Yusuf Kusub.^[2]

A parody sing-along set of lyrics known as Fred Abud, written and often improvised by Ed Kaplan, was popular in the northeast US, especially Boston.

Choreographic Notes (see also videos below)

Although the original instructions call for arms on shoulders, the right way to do the dance is with hands joined down in parts 1, 2, and 3; hands joined shoulder height in parts 4, 5, and 6; and hands joined circling to down in part 7.

Part 5, bouncing on both feet, does not twist left and right or move forward. The bouncing is mostly in place, one long down and two quick up (international "mixed pickles" rhythm) with a slow progression around the circle LOD.