Halay is the national dance ofTurkey. It refers to all traditional circular and line dances performed across the country. The term is used amongTurks,Kurds, andAsia Minor Greeks (particularlyPontic Greeks,Karamanlides,Cappadocian Greeks).
Circular and line dances in Turkey are commonly performed at weddings and festive gatherings, traditionally accompanied by thezurna anddavul, or sometimes by the singing of the dancers themselves.[1] In recent years, electronic instruments have increasingly been used in place of traditional musical instruments. Halay dancers typically form a circle or a line, holding each other by the fingers, hands, or shoulders. The first and last dancers may also hold a handkerchief known as amendil. These dances usually begin slowly and gradually speed up in tempo, and their name, style, and musical characteristics vary from one town or village to another.[1]
The termhalay is derived from a Pontic Greek folk dance called "Χαλάι" (Khalái), who emerged inCentral Anatolia (Cappadocia) in the early 20th century whenPontic Greek miners migrated from theEastern Black Sea to the district ofAkdağmadeni inYozgat Province.[2] The name of the dance was taken from the refrain of aTurkish folk song popular among the community that accompanied the dance, suggesting that these Pontic Greeks were Turkish-speaking.[3]
It was a slow-paced, semi-circular dance, characterized by intense bending movements and rhythmic foot strikes. Dancers would start with their right foot, taking the first three steps diagonally to the right. On the fourth step, they would extend their feet toward the center of the circle, then step backward with the left foot on the fifth step, placing the toe inward and the heel outward. They would return to the position of the fourth step on the sixth step, then repeat the sequence, moving in unison to the accompaniment of musical instruments, such as theviolin,oud, zurna and davul.[2]
The dance soon became widely recognized among other communities inCappadocia, who began using the term to refer to all circular and line folk dances throughout the country.[2] Variants later spread to the provinces ofSivas,Çorum,Kayseri, and other areas of northern Cappadocia, each developing distinct local characteristics while maintaining the fundamental structure and rhythm of the original dance.[4]
The historical documentation ofhalay dates back to the early 20th century. The earliest known written definition of the wordhalay appears in the 1932 ethnographic compilationAnadilden Derlemeler byHamit Zübeyir Koşay and İshak Işıtman, wherehalay is defined as a hand-held line dance fromCentral Anatolia, accompanied by the zurna and davul.[5][6] However, an earlier reference to the dance itself, explicitly identified ashalay, is found in the 1928 edition ofDârülelhan Külliyatı: Anadolu Halk Şarkıları, which includes a record of the folk danceÇenber (also spelledÇember orÇemberim) from theSivas Province, listed under this designation.[7]
Halay comes from the Turkish wordalay, meaning “group”, “crowd”, or "celebration", and in this context, "a large number of people gathered together for a ceremony or demonstration".[8] The Turkishalay originates from theByzantine Greek termalágion (αλάγιον).[9]
An alternate etyomology has been proposed bySevan Nişanyan in hisEtymological Dictionary of Contemporary Turkish suggesting thathalay originates from theKurdish (Kurmanji) wordhildan, meaning "to lift".[10][11] However, on 24 July 2022, Nişanyan put doubt on this revealing that he doesn't know the origin of the word.[12]
Although commonly known by its Turkish namehalay, this category of folk dance is also referred to by different names among other ethnic groups in Turkey:govend ordîlan in Kurdish,ḥiggā (ܚܓܐ) inSyriac,yallı inAzerbaijani, andšurǰpar (Շուրջպար) inArmenian.[13]
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