python dance, noun phrase

Forms:
Also with initial capitals.
Origin:
So called because the dance is dedicated to the python (considered a symbol of fertility).
A dance performed by unmarried Venda girls during a period of initiation into womanhood; domba dance, see domba sense 2.
1931 [see domba sense 1].
1970 B. Tyrrell in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. II. 76At night, linked arm to arm with a long line of fellow initiates, she dances the python dance, around a sacred fire, to the snake god of fertility.
1976 West & Morris Abantu 96 (caption)Caught up in the hypnotic beat of the drums, domba girls perform the ‘python dance’, their movements gradually gaining momentum.
1990 N.H.G. Jacobsen in Fauna & Flora No.47, 26At a lake called Fundudzi, Venda maidens are performing the Python Dance in anticipation of the rain that is going to fall.
A dance performed by unmarried Venda girls during a period of initiation into womanhood; domba dance, see domba sense 2.
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