Jeitili is a Lebanese-style dabke folk dance taught in USA by Tom Bozigian. Tom learned Jeitili from the Lebanese-American community in Los Angeles, California, USA (according to dance notes). In a Global Folk Dance Party over Zoom on 17 August 2024, Tom stated that he learned it at the Baalbeck [International] Festival in Lebanon in 1968. Perhaps Tom learned it from an LA group he saw at the festival? It’s not a difficult dance, but there are four parts to remember, plus an intro, which is the foundation for the entire dance. The dance mostly follows the Levantine Arab dabke pattern of dance step being three bars/six counts with stomps. The music is a shortened recording of the Jordanian folk song “Jadili” by Abdo Musa (1927-1977), featuring the famous Lebanese singer Hiyām Yūnis (هيام يونس, also spelled Hiam). The song sort-of translates to “braid my hair.”
| Dance Name: | Jeitili |
| Arabic Script: | جدايل (some form of جدل) |
| Pronunciation: | ZSAH-dah-lee |
| Translation: | Plait (braid) My Hair |
| Aliases: | Jadili, Jaddali, Jeddili, Jetili, Jeti-Li, Jati-Li, Zhetili |
| Country (Style of): | Lebanon/Levantine Arab |
| Region: | Los Angeles, CA, USA |
| Music Genre: | Jordanian folk |
| Taught in USA by: | Tom Bozigian |
| Year: | 1971 |
| Dance Type: | Circle/Chain/Line: Non-partner |
| Dance Category: | Oldies RIFD |
| Folk Status: | Performance Adaptation |
| Skill Level: | Intermediate |
| Energy Intensity: | Moderate |
| Song: | جدلي يا ام الجدايل Jadili (Jordanian folk song) Abdo Musa feat. Hiyam Younis |
| Time Signature: | 2/4 |
| Pattern: | 3-bar dabke phrasing (6 counts) |
| Dancer Formation: | Short Lines |
| Hand Hold: | Fortress hold: hands clasped, fingers locked, arms parallel to floor, close in |
| Leads to: | R w/ L |
| Date Taught: | |
| Teacher: | |
| Published: | June 4, 2023 |
| Updated: | March 12, 2025 |
No, Google, I wasn’t searching for information about the martial artist and actor “Jet Li,” but thanks anyhow.
The Dance: Jeitili
Jeitili has all the hallmarks of Levantine Arab dabke (that just happens to be pre-choreographed.) That is, unless you adopt the strange exaggerated left heel pivots that are prevalent in some videos, but not the original dance notes.
Several groups, including Fort Collins, have adopted a left foot swivel/heel pivot in the traveling “Cross Step” of the Intro and Figure I. Tom’s notes call for a slight plié (down and up bending of the knees) for the L over R, but make no mention of a L pivot with step R. I did find one note from Folk Dance Camp 1973 (Stockton) with “L toe to L (pivot on L heel)” added by hand to the typewritten copy (a scan in Dick Oakes’ collection). Andrew Carnie’s notes include the swivel, but his notes are a hybrid of what they do in Tucson (Bill & Karen Faust video) and various choreography notes.
I haven’t seen this heel pivot motion in “normal” Arab dabke, but there are lots of different styles, so…maybe? It seems like an Americanization thing. It could be something Bozigian added later and never updated his notes. That’s happened before with Bozigian’s dances. It could also be that he mentioned a “slight” pivot, and it’s just gotten way out of control! The dabke origin was a dance to compact earthen floors with stomping, which swiveling does not.
What is also strange about the notes is that Figure III is called “Traditional Debki Step,” but that title belongs to the Figure I, which is a common variant of the basic dabke step, if you don’t do the strange heel pivot thing. By the way, Tom’s notes call for heel touches, not toe touches (in notes from the 1970s).
There is an “Israeli” choreography by Moshiko Halevi to the same music that is much different, but worth a watch and even a try. Moshiko calls the dance Jordanian (as is the music). Some sources do list the dance as “Jordanian,” rather than using the choreographer’s country or residence, Israel (Moshiko was born in Palestine and knows Arab dances well).
Dance Sequence
The dance is in four parts plus an introduction. A major part of the dance is following the cues of the music for figure progression. You can count repetitions…or you can listen to the music. If you give yourself 4 bars to get started dancing, the dancing intro is only 13 bars instead of the 17 listed in the notes. After the intro steps, you will start 3-bar reps of dabke steps, which will sometimes be right on with the music, and sometimes not. After that, the music behaves and doesn’t have any extra counts to get you out of sync with “Jadili” on the 3rd bar.
| Figure | Dance Shorthand | Starting Foot | Reps | Start Cue | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00 | music intro | – | 4 bars | 0:00 | |
| 0 | Cross Steps (CS) | L | 13 bars | zurna riffing | |
| I | CS + L Heel Touches (basic dabke) | L | 20 reps | melody starts | |
| II | Cross-Hop-Step Step-Stamp | L | 11 reps | drum riff, then male singing | |
| III | “Debki” + Back & Lift | R | 8 reps | drum riff, then zurna | |
| IV | “Debki” + Scissors | R | to end | male-female call-response ends, loud “haa” then all singers |
Dancing Examples: Plié (more authentic dabke-style)
Dancing Examples: L Heel Swivel/Pivot (Americanized)
Dancing Examples: Choreography by Moshiko HaLevy
Music for Jeitili/Jadili
Lyrics (chorus only)
Transliteration by Jim Waldron from Bozigian’s notes, really bad translation from Romanized Arabic instead of original Arabic script by Google (likely also a less-common dialect)Jaddili yamm il jadayil jaddili Wifrahee wa tahannee w tkhalli w jaddili, Wallahi ya helu mah-ma tjaddili Bitull il-mahboub w ma indna heda.??? [jadal(n, v) = braid, to braid] He rejoices, congratulates, abandons, and argues, I swear to God, no matter how much you braid The beloved is long and we do not have this.