Note 4 — Chapter V · THE INTERPRETATION OF ANDAMANESE CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS: CEREMONIAL (continued 2)

The Akar-Bale story, besides giving an account of the origin of night, relates the invention of singing and dancing. There is no specific reference to dancing in the story as recorded from my Akar-Bale informant. The reference is found, however, in the version recorded by Mr Man4 and it is implicit even in the Akar-Bale version. Dancing is always accompanied by a song, and every song is composed with the express intention of being sung at a dance. Thus, for the Andamanese, singing and dancing are merely two aspects of one and the same activity.