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Heritage
DANCES OF KARACHAY PEOPLE LIVING IN TURKEY
Author:
City
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Baku
Country :
Azerbaijan
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Uçlu Kapateyna:
This dance is performed by two female and one male dancer with its special music that has 8/8 time rhythm. The male dancer starts the dance first coming out in the middle of the dance floor turning around himself. Then he goes towards the female dancers and invites them to dance with him. The female dancers walk towards him in 8 counts and then back up immediately while he walks 8 counts towards them this time. This is repeated several times face to face. Then the girls move back four steps then immediately forward towards him again in 8 counts this time passing one from his right, the other one from his left side with turning their backs to each other. After changing places like this several times, they turn to opposite direction and start the dance from the beginning again.
According to M. Tekin Koçkar who is the field consultant of Karachay dances in this presentation, the specialty of this lively dance is that it is always done with one man and two women; more over, the same man can dance with several different female partners repeatedly formed in groups of two. The reason for this is to test the dancing endurance of the male dancer by making him dance nonstop for a long time. So it seems like this dance also has a some what playful function.
Abezek (Wuig) Tepseu:
This dace is very popular throughout Northern Caucasia as well as in Turkey; as it is the only dance that male and female touch each other. Traditionally in no other dance in Caucasian society man can touch to woman while dancing. Therefore, it is more popular among the young people. It is one of the prehistoric ritual dances and has a mythological story about it. Barbaros Unlu stated: > “Dancing is one of the important social dynamics for Northern Caucasian people today as it was in the past. “TSOPPAY” which is the dance of poly-theical periods has been given various names until today and now it is known as “WUIC” among the Adige community and called “ABEZEK” among Karachays. Abezek was a dance performed by Karachays to pray and ask for power from the Teyri (God) of the trees (or forests) during the period of the multi-god religion period. They were making a fire around (or near to) the black tree (it is said to be the oak); forming up a circle around the fire hand in hand and dancing in that way. Abezek has been the opening dance of Karachay wedding ceremonies after the acceptance of Islam as the official religion and, as a consequence of that, it came to Anatolia as a dance of wedding ceremonies. It lived in Karachay-Circassian and Kabardey-Balkar autonomous republics with the name Abezek while there is also a variant called “Marako” as determined. The name Marako has not been determined among the Karachays living in Anatolia.” 11
This dance is performed in groups of men and women arm to arm mostly in circular formation. It starts when a group of men form a strait line and start to pass in front of women each one inviting one to form a couple to dance with. After each man inviting his partner, they form a circle. Then they form a straight line, diagonal line, and other possible formations; also, they change places with each other in groups. Every time they form a circle, the leading couples come in the center of the circle to show their own dance that is spontaneously improvised. After these couples finish their dancing, they join to the end of the group leaving the leading to another couple. While the individual couples are dancing in the middle of the circle, the others hold a strong rhythm with pieces of wooden clappers in their hands to motivate them to dance more lively and energetically. Most of the time the groups increase the tempo, sound of the wooden clappers and give vice commends to motivate the performers. Dance continues until each couple performs their dancing in the center of the circle. The young people try to make this dance as long as possible so they can have more time to socialize with each other.
Isteme (Lezginka) Tepseu:
According to M. Tekin Koçkar the dance “Tögerek Tepseu” used to be performed as a separate dance; but, in time it has chanced and became a part of “Isteme tepseu”. There fore, this dance has been performed with “Isteme Tepseu” even though it is a different dance of the preislamic time period.
This dance is also very popular throughout Northern Caucasia, Trans-Caucasia as well as in Turkey. As it was stated before, this dance is more known as “Lezginka”. However, different tribes and each country might name it differently relating to their own language. “Isteme Tepseu” is the name for “Lezginka” among the Karachay people. Many different melodies in 2/4 time can accompany this particular dance. More over, besides all the traditionally anonymous folk melodies, there are many of them composed by Caucasian musicians in the recent century.
“Lezginka” has very dynamic, acrobatic and intricate movements that are taken from the hard life style of Northern Caucasian people. It is always performed by one couple man symbolizing eagle and woman a pigeon. The best known movement of this dance is man dancing on the knuckle of his toes, on his knees and performing sharp turns while following his partner.
The female partner begins the dance by leaving her friends and coming in the middle implying that she is single and has her freedom. While she is dancing, one or two male, who has an eye on her, among the young group of men, come out and follow her from behind. When the men come in the middle of the dance floor, they suddenly rise on their toes. The young girl starts dancing around them. If she does not use her arms, it is a sign that she does not care about them. However, if she moves her arms towards one of them, then that is a sign of her desire towards that man symbolizing that she has desire to share her life with him. By imitating flying of a bird, she is giving the massage of her desire to fly with him accepting him as eagle. The young man who gets this message starts to dance like an eagle as a massage in turn. In the mean time, all the other couples around them clap strongly to motivate their dancing in a festive manner. Following this, all the other girls pass in front of men giving a head sign invitation to dance with them. Each man who sees this massage joins his partner to dance with.
Conclusion:
People might move from one place to another, but they will always carry and retain their cultural values despite the fact that culture is dynamic and will change through time.
Karachay people left Caucasia, due to political unrest; many of them moved far away from their homland and settled in many different places world wide. But they succeded in retaining and passing their cultural values to the next generation. Thus today, like in many other placese, in Turkey, Karachays kept mots of their traditions and language alive among their own society. And one of the best cominication medium they kept is their traditional dances which they reflect their life style and loved to perform in every festive occasion formal or informal.
28-02-2007
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gurbuz AKTAS*
Ege University Turkish State Conservatory of Music Department of Folk Dance
Bornova, İzmir, Turkey
M. Tekin KOCKAR**
Osmangazi University, Folklore research center- HAMER
Eskişehir, Turkey
11. UNLU, Omer Barbaros. Abezek: A “Choreographic Poem”, Unpublished Presentation Project at ICTM Congress, Italy, 2001.
REFERENCES:
ERKAN, Aydın Osman. “Tarih Boyunca Kafkasya”, Çiviyazıları, İstanbul, 1999.
KOCKAR, M. Tekin “Teknolojik Gelişmelerin Halk Kültüründeki Değişime Etkisi: Ertuğrul Köyü Örneği” Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı-Kocaeli Üniversitesi-Motif Halk Oyunları Öğretim ve Eğitim Vakfı, Halk Kültüründe Değişim Uluslararası Sempozyumu Bildirileri, Kocaeli, 17-19 Aralık, 2004.
KOCKAR, M. Tekin. Kafkas Halk Dansları-Öğretim Yöntem ve Teknikleri, Şamil Eğitim ve Kültür Vakfı Yayını No:2, Folklor dizisi-Yayın No:1, 1987.
KUDAYEV, Muhtar Chukaevich. “Karachaevo–Balkarskie Narodnie Tantsı, Izdateltsvo “Elbrus”, Nalchik, 1984.
Ozbay Özdemir, Nart Kültür ve Düşün Dergisi, Kafkas Dernekleri Federasyonu Yayın Organı, Sayı: 43, s.28, Ankara, 2005.
SUSOYEV, V. M. Karachay Geograficheskom, Bitovomi İstoricheskom Otnosheniyi – Volume 43, p. 68, SMOMPK, 1913. pp. 68 – 70. in KUDAEV-Karaçaevo –Balkarskie Narodnie Tantsı Izdateltsvo” Elbruz, Nalchik, 1984.
ÜNLÜ, Ömer Barbaros. Abezek: A “Choreographic Poem”, Unpublished Presentation Project, ICTM Symposium, Italy, 2001.
Readed References:
AKTAŞ, Doç. Dr. Gürbüz, M. Tekin KOÇKAR, “Historical Development Of Caucasian Dances In Turkey (Protecting Cultural Features, Their Interpretation and Transferring to the Next Generation), Halk Kültürlerini Koruma – Yaşatma ve Geleceğe Aktarma Uluslararası Sempozyumu Bildirileri, Kocaeli Üniversitesi ve Motif Halkoyunları Vakfı, Kocaeli, 2005.
ESEN, Vedat. Türkiyede Yaşayan Kuzey Kafkasyalıların Geleneksel dans Formları ve Geleneksel Giyim Kuşamları (Eskişehir İncelemesi), Lisans Bitirme Ödevi, Ege Üniversitesi Türk Musikisi Devlet Konservatuarı, Bornova, İzmir, 2000.
Field consultants:
KOCKAR, M. Tekin. a researcher and director of Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Folklore Research and Training Center (HAMER), Eskisehir, Turkey.
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