Dance

Halay. Halay is a term used for some of the folk dances found in Turkey and is performed to a large extent in Eastern, South-central, Central, and Southeastern Turkey. The rhythmic and choreographic elements of these dances are very diverse.

Van and Adiyaman are the most frequently dance styles that have grown popular in Turkey. They are performed with various groups in different ceremonies to ignite the dull spirit of the crowd.

There are many types of Turkish dances since Turkey is known for its intercultural mixing reflected in its popular culture of arts such as folk music and folk dances, traditional Turkish theatre and Ottoman military music, and many more… Below are the 7 main types of Turkish Dances;

1-Zeybek Dance
This dance spreads in western Anatolia, and this dance has several names, as it is called Simen in central Anatolia, and it is called the Tikka dance in Bor Dor Vithibh , and in the Zeybek region it is called the Banki dance.

This dance can be performed collectively, individually or bilaterally, where male dancers bend their knees frequently between steps and it is believed that the Zeybek dance was performed for the first time by Zeybek warriors who tried to simulate the movements of falcons and eagles.

The Zeybek dance begins with very slow melodies and ends with melodies on a fast scale, where it is performed on the melodies of some musical instruments such as the drum and the flute, and two drums are used, where one plays the basic rhythm while the other plays the other accompanying rhythm.

2-Bar Dance
This type of dance is widespread in eastern Anatolia, and it’s performed collectively, where the dancers stand side by side with their hands placed on the shoulders of their colleagues and are performed in large places.

The bar dance for males differs from the bar dance for females. Some musical instruments such as the daffoul and zurna are used for this dance, which are known here as the tabla and the oboe, in addition to the clarinet, which is used to play the bar dance for females, so this dance is surprising.

3-Hala Dance
Hala dance is one of the oldest folk dances and is performed collectively, where the group wears a uniform and performs the movements together.

4-Huron Dance
This type of dance is widespread in the regions located on the Black Sea coast, and this dance is performed collectively, where Wen wears black clothes with silver trimmings.

But the Huron dance differs from any other folk dance, as this dance uses fast-paced play, which makes the melodies fast as no other instrument can play it. In addition to the chora instrument that accompanies this type of dance, which is known here as tabla.

5-Kilic Kalkan Dance
This dance was known in the city of Bursa, and it is a very old dance that dates back to the Ottoman era. Kilic Kalkan dance is performed only by males who wear Ottoman clothes and carry weapons and armor in the dance.

6-Çayda Çıra Dance
This dance is spread in Central Anatolia, in an area called Sivas, where a group of girls wears silver and gold embroidered caftan and dance in the dark while holding lit candles in their hands. This dance is not performed by girls only, but also by males.

7-Kafkas Dance
This dance is considered one of the folk dance in Turkey, but the origin of this dance goes back to a region called the Caucasus region, and through the dance, we see that a type of Caucasian dance is more than Turkish dance.

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