with them a life style of "joie de vivre" to their plantations. At that time, the French held many balls at the Great Houses where they enjoyed doing many of the courtly dances of Europe. The house slaves, in their moments of leisure, took the dance to the field slaves and mimicked the dance of their masters. The slaves who worked in or around these houses quickly copied the French style and dress. They showed off by doing ceremonious bows, making grand entrances, sweeping movements, graceful and gentle gliding steps which imitated the elegance of the French. The rhythmic quality of the bélé drums added spicy and yet subtle sensuality to the movements. There are more than 14 types of bélé dances including the Grand bélé and Congo bélé', with each performed to its own rhythms and chants. Female costumes usually have plain underskirts with bright and flowy over skirts. Female costumes may also include headpieces correlating with their overskirts. Male costumes are usually much more simple with slight tributes to the female costumes. Etymology The name bélé may derive from the French belle aire', or the old French aire (meaning threshing platform''), or it may derive from an African word. See also Biguine Rara Chouval bwa Zouk (dance) Bouyon music Edmond Mondesir References Virtual Dominica 18th-century music genres Dominica music Guadeloupean music Martinican music Trinidad and Tobago styles of music Saint Lucian music French styles of music Dances of the Caribbean