Shalakho

Dance in the Caucasus

Not to be confused with Shalako, a Native American harvest festival.

Shalakho

Shalakho dancers

Genre| Folk dance
Origin| Caucasus

Shalakho (Armenian: շալախո, Azerbaijani: Şalaxo, Şələqoy or Şalaqoy, Georgian: შალახო or კინტოური) is a dance famous throughout all of Caucasus.[1]

## Performance

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In a broadly spread version, two men dance in order to win the favour of a woman. The dance can be performed by one or more dancers, men or women, in a free, Caucasian style of performance. Motions of women can be slow and lyrical. Music of the dance is rapid, which is reflected in the expansive and energetic motions of men.[2]

## In Theater and Records

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The dance melody was first recorded and arranged for piano by the Armenian composer Nikoghayos Tigranyan in 1895.[3]

"Shalakho" performed by Azerbaijani dancer Khanlar Bashirov

The dance was performed in a 1940 Azerbaijani ballet Maiden Tower by Afrasiyab Badalbeyli.[4] In 1942, it was performed in an Armenian ballet called Gayane by Aram Khachaturian.[5]

## References

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1. ^ Katherine St. John, Lloyd Miller, Mahera Harouny (1987). Radif-e raqs: collection of dance sequences of the Persian tradition. — Society for Preservation and Propagation of Eastern Arts.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

> SHALAKHO is a 6/8 dance popular throughout the Caucasus. The folk versions varied, in some areas being a woman’s solo dance, and in others a man’s solo. The most well known stage version depicts two men competing for a woman’s favors. It can be performed with one or more dancers, male or female, dancing freestyle in the Caucasian manner. The movements for women can be soft and lyrical, and include little grapevine steps and hand gestures typical of the solo dance. The actual music is fast and spirited, and the male dancing reflects this, being expansive and vigorous.

2. ^ Katherine St. John, Lloyd Miller, Mahera Harouny (1987). Radif-e raqs: collection of dance sequences of the Persian tradition. — Society for Preservation and Propagation of Eastern Arts.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

> SHALAKHO is a 6/8 dance popular throughout the Caucasus. The folk versions varied, in some areas being a woman’s solo dance, and in others a man’s solo. The most well known stage version depicts two men competing for a woman’s favors. It can be performed with one or more dancers, male or female, dancing freestyle in the Caucasian manner. The movements for women can be soft and lyrical, and include little grapevine steps and hand gestures typical of the solo dance. The actual music is fast and spirited, and the male dancing reflects this, being expansive and vigorous.

3. ^ Хачатрян Ж. Шалахо // Армянская советская энциклопедия (арм.). — Ер.: Академия наук АрмССР, 1982. — Т. 8. — С. 413.
4. ^ Галина Микеладзе (2009). "Композитор, дирижер, музыковед, публицист" [Composer, conductor, musicologist, publicist] (in Russian). Каспий.
5. ^ Ю. В., Келдыша (1972). История музыки народов СССР [Music history of the peoples of the USSR] (in Russian).

> Genuine examples of folk music are widely represented in "Gayane": labor, comic, lyrical, heroic songs and dances. Among the folk melodies used by the composer there are such wonderful examples as "Pshati par" (in "Gathering cotton"), "Gna ari man ari" (in "Dance of the Cotton"), "Shalakho", "Uzundara" (in the fourth act), etc. ...