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Washington DC Turkish Folk
Dance Troupe
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Adiyaman
| Adiyaman is an ancient city
located in southeastern Turkey. Folk dances of Adiyaman usually depict
daily life or cultivation of the land. The dance symbolizes, as one
of the best examples, the solidarity between man and woman: besides her
housework, the woman also helps her husband. The live music for the
dances is usually provided by a drum and a Turkish oboe, called Zurna.
In dances that are more forceful and rigorous, the performers are shoulder-to-shoulder,
tightly clasping hands with the dancers on either side. For lighter numbers
the dancers join each other by hooking their little fingers together.
The following are the Troupe's dances from this region. |
Simsime is a dance
performed on horseback in village weddings by young men only. During the
dance, men depict bravery and strength in order to impress the women. The
dance is therefore a rigorous one, requiring stamina and strength from
those who perform it. The basis of the dance is an old Turkish game called
cirit. During the dance young men chase each other on horseback to "hunt"
others with their javelins.
Sevda depicts the bounty of
nomadic life. After the milking of livestock, young women return to their
tents in a merry mood. They start to dance chanting "tilili". Other young
people join the dance, turning the dance into celebration.
Halay is performed by the families
of a couple aboutto be married. The families show their joy of the impending
event by dancing together. |
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Tirge named after a mountain
in the region. According to the legend, Tirge was a young woman who fell
in love with a man, but was forced to marry another one. Having no
other choice due to the tradition she prayed to God and asked to be turned
into a stone. Her wish was granted and she was turned into a mountain.
The mountain is considered sacred today with young women tying wishing
ribbons around the trees on the mountain.
The final dance is Galuc. This
dance depicts the struggle of the villagers fighting a poisonous weed called
Geliç. Village men get up early in the mornings before planting
season to do away with the weed from the fields. At noon their women bring
their lunch in buckets and water in gourds. After lunch is consumed, men
get back to work. When finally the field is cleared of the weed, men celebrate
the occasion by performing the dance. Women join them too. Women carry
the gourds on their shoulders during the dance and men go through the symbolic
motions of chopping the weed with their sickles. |
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