full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Melaku Belay: The ecstasy of Eskista, an ancient Ethiopian dance

Unscramble the Blue Letters


MB: (Speaking in Amharic)

MM: I honor the many generations that came before us who have given us our dances that are always in the process of becoming anew. I dance to tell stories, like the enamrnegdnet of Mercato and other Indigenous spaces, in the name of development in Ethiopia.

MB: (Speaking in Amharic)

MM: Eskista itself oigtienrad in a moment of improvisation. It got its name from a folklore where a young wamon hypnotized a snake by mikimincg its own movements and sounds. It is beauty born out of the desire to survive.

MB: (Speaking in Amharic)

MM: Eskista saved my life too. In 1998, I was homeless, living on the streets of Addis Ababa. My street life changed when I found work as a dncear at Fendika Azmari, a tnoiiradtal nhlgictub in Addis Ababa. I danced every single ngiht for 12 years with no salary. For the first seven yares after the customers left, I turned off the light and splet under the bar.

Open Cloze


MB: (Speaking in Amharic)

MM: I honor the many generations that came before us who have given us our dances that are always in the process of becoming anew. I dance to tell stories, like the ____________ of Mercato and other Indigenous spaces, in the name of development in Ethiopia.

MB: (Speaking in Amharic)

MM: Eskista itself __________ in a moment of improvisation. It got its name from a folklore where a young _____ hypnotized a snake by _________ its own movements and sounds. It is beauty born out of the desire to survive.

MB: (Speaking in Amharic)

MM: Eskista saved my life too. In 1998, I was homeless, living on the streets of Addis Ababa. My street life changed when I found work as a ______ at Fendika Azmari, a ___________ _________ in Addis Ababa. I danced every single _____ for 12 years with no salary. For the first seven _____ after the customers left, I turned off the light and _____ under the bar.

Solution


  1. woman
  2. mimicking
  3. years
  4. nightclub
  5. endangerment
  6. originated
  7. traditional
  8. dancer
  9. night
  10. slept

Original Text


MB: (Speaking in Amharic)

MM: I honor the many generations that came before us who have given us our dances that are always in the process of becoming anew. I dance to tell stories, like the endangerment of Mercato and other Indigenous spaces, in the name of development in Ethiopia.

MB: (Speaking in Amharic)

MM: Eskista itself originated in a moment of improvisation. It got its name from a folklore where a young woman hypnotized a snake by mimicking its own movements and sounds. It is beauty born out of the desire to survive.

MB: (Speaking in Amharic)

MM: Eskista saved my life too. In 1998, I was homeless, living on the streets of Addis Ababa. My street life changed when I found work as a dancer at Fendika Azmari, a traditional nightclub in Addis Ababa. I danced every single night for 12 years with no salary. For the first seven years after the customers left, I turned off the light and slept under the bar.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
traditional dance 3
contemporary stories 2
addis ababa 2


Important Words


  1. ababa
  2. addis
  3. amharic
  4. anew
  5. azmari
  6. bar
  7. beauty
  8. born
  9. changed
  10. customers
  11. dance
  12. danced
  13. dancer
  14. dances
  15. desire
  16. development
  17. endangerment
  18. eskista
  19. ethiopia
  20. fendika
  21. folklore
  22. generations
  23. homeless
  24. honor
  25. hypnotized
  26. improvisation
  27. indigenous
  28. left
  29. life
  30. light
  31. living
  32. mercato
  33. mimicking
  34. moment
  35. movements
  36. night
  37. nightclub
  38. originated
  39. process
  40. salary
  41. saved
  42. single
  43. slept
  44. snake
  45. sounds
  46. spaces
  47. speaking
  48. stories
  49. street
  50. streets
  51. survive
  52. traditional
  53. turned
  54. woman
  55. work
  56. years
  57. young