Ezpata Joku Txikia

This is the dance of the Set of Small Swords, a dance with weapons, performed by a group of eight men in columns of two. It belongs to the wider sequence of dances called Dantzari Dantza, peculiar to the Duranguesado or Durangoaldea de Bizkaia. The same as the rest of the dances in the sequence, we can find exhibitions in Abadiño, Berritz, Garai, Iurreta, Izurza and Mañaria, however, it must have spread all through  the Meridian.

In the exhibition the dancers, bouncing on their feet, change positions while touching swords with their opponent, either at eye level, or crossing over to the opposite knee in a show of what could have been an exercise of military weapons, although we cannot exclude other interpretations. Iñaki IRIGOYEN, in Bizkaiko Dantzak (Revista Dantzariak, special edition number 1, 1978,pages 20-29) points out that it could be a substitution for the dance of shields or bucklers, at the present time in disuse.