The Sounds of Battle and Dance

Music is a big part of our HEMA (historical European martial arts) club. There is always music playing. When I first started choosing music for class, I'd go for epic battle music from films and video games. This week I selected a 1980s dance pop playlist.

Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance with Somebody stood out in particular.

In the song, Houston is lonely at night and ends the piece by asking someone to dance with her. Loneliness has gotten so much attention recently, especially amongst adults trying to make new friends. I felt extremely lonely moving to a new city where I only knew my landlord and one of my partner’s coworkers. Then I joined a HEMA club.

On weeknights after every class, we have free spar, or a time when people can ask each other to fight. The fighting can look like dancing, depending on how elegant the fighting styles are. Some people are extremely beautiful to watch. (I am not.)

When I started individualized training, my instructor noticed that I would freeze. I wouldn't move until I was threatened, and sometimes not even then. To ease the tension, he started dancing.

He was not performing a casual Saja-Boys-Soda-Pop-shoulder-shrug dance either (I'm team HUNTR/X obviously). This man twerks with a longsword.

When Houston declared that she wanted a dance partner, I don't know that she quite imagined this scenario.

In the song, Houston repeatedly mentions her lonely heart. And while you can dance alone, it's very challenging to sword fight alone. Sword fighting (not practicing or drilling) requires a partner, one with whom you can choreograph and collaborate during the dance of a duel.

I want to apply this song to HEMA. A song by an iconic Black woman. A love anthem that is still powerful almost 40 years after its release. If I were to see HEMA through Houston's work, what might I see differently?

I see celebration in moving our bodies and joy and having company. I feel less like I need to win a fight, and more like I get to enjoy the dance. I can fully support twerking with a longsword.

Rescoring HEMA to include 1980s dance pop might not be the brave and revolutionary upset the world needs right now. But for me it is beautiful to hold them both in the same moment. HEMA doesn't have to sound like a battle. It can sound like a dance too.