Armenian dance

 Among the Armenian cultural values, the leading position ​​occupies Armenian dance and its traditions. Armenian dance is inseparable from the lifestyle, expectations, and expectations of the Armenian nation.

 Numerous concepts from the Armenian folk dance, music and oral texts from the ancient times, as well as a number of theatrical terms preserved and widely used in Armenian, testify to the origin of the Armenian folk dances. Labor practices and numerous household items, turned into movements, were performed with very definite rhythm to the sounds of music.

General Description

Armenian dance is classified according to the nature of the performance. dances solely with songs, perm instruments, and dances with implements and songs.Folk dances are a mass (mixed), group (men, women, children), which include solo dances, duets, and round dances. Mass and group dances are performed in a variety of settings: round, closed and open, semi-circle, straight, they have a dance leader, a tailor with certain responsibilities to establish correct performance, directions, and so on. The solos are performed with folk instruments, circular dances, especially with the accompaniment of bagpipes or zurnas and dhol, along with the singing of dancers.

 The main direction of Armenian folk dance is on the right, but there are also left and backward steps and forms that emphasize the tragic meaning of certain rituals. Known moves: praise, cloak, overhead, back and forth, clap, dance, snakebite, leg kick, and jump, kochari, classified by content: epic, lyrical, quirky, domestic, working, hunting, funerals, weddings, weddings, martial arts, children, rituals and worship.

 Each genre has a style, performers, gender, age, manner of performance, place and time, singing and moving passage, personalized improvisation. Customs and styles have been traditionally done in light of the complexity of the performance. At weddings, public dances began with mourning, ancestral commemorative dances, followed by other dances that were considered to bring success and happiness. Then there were the specs, especially the fast ones, the jumps, and the applause.

 In lyrical, every day, production dances, similar movements depict kneading dough, spinning, weaving, doing laundry, pounding garlic, crushing grapes, and so on. The hunting and war movements are similar. Street dances were considered a way to avoid “evil spirits” and to get rid of evil deeds. Access to sanctuaries, summer houses, work, and weddings was accompanied by street dances. Apart from the reverse (that is, the one going to the left) and the funeral, special rituals performed on special holidays and ceremonies, all the others were performed at weddings. Many dances and choreography have a spiritual and totemic origin, combined with folklore. At the wedding and various ceremonies, dances were performed with masks of animals and imaginary figures. Most of the household dances were formed later.

General description of the Armenian ballet

 The Armenian ballet is an evolving circle of dance art. The first steps in the area of Armenian dance and ballet were made in the middle of the 19th century. A number of ballet plays were staged by famous ballet masters. They have created fertile ground for the development of Soviet Armenian dance art and its creative world. The dance art of the Soviet era is perhaps the brightest stage in Armenian dance history. During this period the performances have been staged not only in the territory of Armenia and enjoyed their popularity abroad.

The ballet of the Soviet period, as a dancing art, is considered to be the brightest stage in the history of Armenian dance. During this period, dance performances were staged that enjoyed their fame abroad. The Armenian ballet stands out in its performances with different types of symbols and symbols, which interpret the characters, events, different parts of the stage design, as well as the stage objects. The elements of folk dance are conveyed to the ballet with a unique description and folk dance-performance complete combination.

There is also a deep connection to the past, which is the degree of stage performances. Ballets, based on Armenian medieval history and literature, can be divided into the following main groups: direct (using the source) and mediated. The latter is based on the author’s work created in ancient or medieval Armenia. According to the interpretation, they occur directly when the content of the source is given in the presentation, and re-interpreted when the generalized symbolic presentation of the source is given.

Armenian traditional and European dance styles, combining and mixing, form a unique art that remains true to its previously adopted rules, while incorporating international experience as a modern cultural direction.