Debka Larden
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Hebrew: דבקה לרדן, "Larden's Debka". Circle dance by Moshe Eskayo, 2004.
History
Debka Larden was choreographed in honor of the fiftieth birthday of Larry Denenberg. It was commissioned by Denenberg's wife, Rachael Rosner. It is thought to be the first commissioned Israeli folkdance in existence, followed later by Becca Rausch's Bereshit Bara. (There are unconfirmed reports that Horat He-Asor and Hora Mamtera were earlier commissioned dances.)
As might be expected, Debka Larden is virtually unknown outside the northeastern United States, and is not very well known even there. The part that is well known, however, is a set of four sways, during which everyone in the room shouts "Larry, Larry, Larry, Larry." This custom was made popular by Eileen Weinstock, Eskayo's long-time friend and co-teacher.
The origin of the song is a little murky. It appears on an album of Antonis Kalkantzakos called Δε Με Νοιάζει Για Μένα (I Don't Care About Myself), assembled by DJ Kostas Monaxos. The track, #14, is called just "Tsifteteli (Dance Mix)". (A tsifteteli is a generic dance popular in Greece, Turkey, and surrounding regions.) But that album was released in 2000. Almost exactly the same song appears on album Bir Tek Sen—Barış Olsun (Only You—Let There Be Peace) released in 1996 by the Turkish group Yurtseven Kardeşler (The Yurtseven Brothers). On that album, the song is called "Halay (instrumental)", but that cut and one other instrumental cut are omitted from many listings of the album. All things considered, the song would seem to be originally Turkish. It is unknown to whom credit for the song is given on the Greek album.
External Links
The cut from the 1996 Turkish album
The rest of that album, Bir Tek Sen—Barış Olsun
The cut from the 2000 Greek album, and details of that album
Debka Larden at israelidances.com
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