, image = Танец "Узундара" в исполнении армянки из Ахалцихе.jpg , alt = , caption = Uzundara performed by an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

girl,

Akhaltsikhe Akhaltsikhe ( ka, ახალციხე ), formerly known as Lomsia ( ka, ლომსია ), is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region () of Samtskhe–Javakheti. It is the administrative center of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality and ...

, genre =

Traditional dance A folk dance is a dance that reflects the life of the people of a certain country or region. Not all ethnic dances are folk dances. For example, ritual dances or dances of ritual origin are not considered to be folk dances. Ritual dances are us ...

, signature = (), () , inventor = , year = , origin =

Karabakh Karabakh ( ; ) is a geographic region in southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and Aras. It is divided into three regions: Highland Kara ...

Erzerum Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of ancient Theodosiopolis. T ...

Uzundara or ouzoundara (; ; ka, უზუნდარა) is a

lyrical Lyrical may refer to: *Lyrics, or words in songs * Lyrical dance, a style of dancing *Emotional, expressing strong feelings *Lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically ...

Узандара // Краткий словарь танцев / под ред. проф. А.В. Филиппова. — Москва: ФЛИНТА, Наука, 2011. — С. 220. УЗАНДАРА — старинный армянский (также и азербайджанский) народный танец спокойного и изящного характера. ZANDARA is an ancient Armenian folk dance of a calm and graceful character./ref> and AzerbaijaniТ. С. Ткаченко. Азербайджанский женский танец «Узундара» zerbaijani female dance «Uzundara»// Народный танец / под ред. Н. И. Львова. — М.: Искусство, 1967. — 656 с. dance traditionally performed by women. Today, the dance is famous throughout the

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

region; in particular

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Etymology and origin

The place of origin is

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

. The origination of the dance is claimed by both Armenians and Azerbaijanis alike due to the fact that both nations lived in Karabakh, where the Uzundere valley is located. According to Azerbaijani scholars, the dance originates in a Uzundara valley between

Aghdam Aghdam () is a town and the nominal capital of the Aghdam District of Azerbaijan. Founded in the 18th century, it was granted city status in 1828 and grew considerably during the Soviet period. Aghdam lies from Stepanakert at the eastern foot ...

and Baş Qərvənd in the region of

. According to another explanation, the dance was brought to the region by Armenians from

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

, who fled from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1828 during the Russian-Turkish war. In

particularly in the

western Armenian Western Armenian ( ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based on the Yerevan Arme ...

dialect "Uzundara" translates to "They wanted her, They took her". With "Uzun"being "they wanted (her)" and "Daran"'They took (her)". It showcases the metaphor of a bride being taken from her family. Translated from Azerbaijani, the word ''Uzundara'' means "long gorge" or "long valley". The word ''Uzundara'' itself comes from the word "Uzun", which is of

Old Turkic Old Siberian Turkic, generally known as East Old Turkic and often shortened to Old Turkic, was a Siberian Turkic language spoken around East Turkistan and Mongolia. It was first discovered in inscriptions originating from the Second Turkic Kh ...

origin and means "long", and the word "Dara", which is of

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

origin and means "gorge". Armenian ethnographer Srbuhi Lisitsian notes that "dara", in addition to a "gorge", can also mean a "pit".

Performing

The dance is performed easily, smoothly. Circular strokes and small lateral steps are coordinated with gentle movements.Uzundara // Big Soviet Encyclopedia, 1965. — V. 44. — P. 50. It has a 3-part structure, with more active movement in the outer parts and smooth in the middle. A typical method of melodic development is the variation of two-, three- and four-bar motives. According to Tamara Stepanovna Tkachenko, three elements alternate in Uzundara in the following order: moves in a circle, "syzme" (small, "floating" steps) and small movements forward or from side to side such as "khyrdalyk". She described those elements as "main elements of Azerbaijani female dance", while pointing out that "syzme" is an "integral part of Armenian dance". Tkachenko also noted that in Armenia, the lyrical dance of the bride was performed after the solemn dances of the matchmaker, parents, and groom, to the melodies of "Uzundara", "Nunufar" or "Rangi".Tamara Stepanovna Tkachenko: Армянский танец // Народный танец. — Искусство, 1954. — p. 481 File:Uzundara dance melody at the opening of Kharibulbul Festival in Shusha.ogg, Melody of Uzundara dance at the opening of Kharibulbul Festival in

Shusha Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet Union, Soviet ...

performed by Azerbaijani

kamancheh The kamancheh (also kamānche or kamāncha) (, , , ) is an Iranian bowed string instrument used in Persian, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Kurdish, Georgian, Turkmen, and Uzbek music with slight variations in the structure of the instrument. Th ...

players

References

{{Reflist

External links

Azerbaijanis performing Uzundara

Armenians performing Uzundara
Music of Azerbaijan Azerbaijani dances Music of Armenia Armenian dances Turkic words and phrases