Beti: "At the end of the engagement party, the invited guests dance, and every one has to dance whether they know how to or not. It is customary that every one participates in the dancing and singing. In this picture, the bride Nishan's friends and her mother are dancing the traditional dance called 'Eskista'. In this dance one person has to win. One person is said to win when the other person dancing the 'Eskista' stops because they are tired and can't dance anymore.

'Eskista' is a traditional dance from the 'Amhara' ethnic group. The 'Amhara' Ethnic group is one of the major ethnic groups in Ethiopia, found in north, central and west part of Ethiopia. Though 'Eskista' is the common dance, it differs slightly from the 'Gonder Eskista', 'Gojjam Eskista' 'Showa Eskista' and 'Wello Eskista'. It is only one type of dance among the various nations of Ethiopia.

Here they are dancing mixed 'Eskista', not a distinct one, but it was exciting and fun to watch them and photograph them."  

[Photo by Beti]