DuringQaytarma, a male dancer holds his arms apart and forms fists, making short, provocative movements with small jumps. His dancing partner, usually a woman, acts without sharp movements. Instead, she performs exact movements of her legs and shoulders, making smooth, rotational hand movements.[3] According to other studies, among them those conducted byYaya Şerfedinov [ru], only women should participate inQaytarma, or, if men participate, they should do so separately from women.[4]
The exact origins ofQaytarma remain uncertain, but two theories are dominant. The first, proposed by Anatolii Bohorod, suggests that it originates fromSufi whirling.[8] The second theory claims that the dance originated with the arrival ofSephardic Jews in Crimea following their expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula through theCrimean Roma.Qaytarma was first mentioned in 1793.[9][10]
In a 1925 archaeological and ethnographic expedition of Crimea, Crimean Tatar researchersUsein Bodaninsky,Osman Aqçoqraqlı, andAsan Refatov [ru] recorded 25 different versions ofQaytarma. Refatov further concluded in 1932 thatQaytarma was unique to the Crimean Tatars, without influence from Russian, Turkish, or Iranian culture.[11] In Zaichenko's 1995 study of Greek Ukrainian dances, he recorded further variations ofQaytarma practiced in the south-easternPryazovia region.[7]
The first written piece ofQaytarma music was created byAlexander Spendiaryan in 1903 during his stay inBilohirsk (then known as Karasubazar) as part of hisCrimean Sketches symphony.[12] Unlike most authentic pieces, Spendiaryan'sKhaytarma (Russian:Хайтарма) is in 3/8 time.[9]
In the 1930s,Ennan Alimov painted a piece about Qaytarma, titledGirl Dancing Qaytarma.[13]
^Oleinyk, M. A.Народная хореографическая культура крымских татар [Folk Choreographic Culture of Crimean Tatars] (in Russian). Simferopol:Crimean Federal University. pp. 87–89.
^Şerfedinov, Yaya (1978).Звучит кайтарма [The Sound of Qaytarma] (in Russian). Tashkent: Gʻafur Gʻulom Publishing House. p. 181.
^"Кіевъ" [Kyiv](PDF).Karaite Life (in Russian). Retrieved10 February 2023.
^abAltynkaynak, Erdogan (2003). "Музыкально-танцевальное искусство греков Приазовья, как источник изучения этнической истории" [Musical and dance art of the Pryazovia Greeks as a source of ethnic historical study].Cultures of the Pontic Peoples (in Russian) (46):198–201.
^Bohorod, Anatolii (2015). "Танцювальні ритуали і практики мусульман: релігієзнавчий аспект" [Dance Rituals and Practices of Muslims: the Religious Aspect].Gilea: Scientific Bulletin (in Ukrainian) (103):227–232.
^abKazachenko, B. N.; Bakshi, N. Yu.; Achikinadze, A. L."Музыкально-поэтическое наследие крымчаков" [Musical and Poetic Heritage of the Krymchaks].Art Criticism (in Russian) – via Cyberleninka.
^Святыни и проблемы сохранения этнокультуры крымских караимов-караев [Sanctuaries and problems of preserving the ethnic culture of the Crimean Karaites-Karaim] (in Russian). 2008. p. 15.
^Babiy, A. N. (2004). "Крымскотатарский народный танец в фольклорно-этнографических исследованиях 20-30-х гг. ХХ ст" [Crimean Tatar folk dance in folklore and ethnographic studies of the 1920-1930s].Cultures of the Pontic Peoples (in Russian) (51):75–78.
