The art of Georgian Folk dancing

Kartuli - The dance Kartuli many times reminds the audience of a wedding . Kartuli is a truly romantic dance. It is performed by a dance couple and incorporates the softness and gracefulness of a woman and dignity and love of a man. It shows that even in love, men uphold their respect and manners by not touching the woman and maintaining a certain distance from her. The man’s eyes are always focused on his woman partner as if she was the only being in the whole world. Furthermore, at all times, man’s upper body stays motionless. On the other hand, the woman keeps her eyes downcast at all times and glides on the rough floor as a swan on the smooth surface of a lake. The utmost skill, which is necessary to perform Kartuli, has earned the dance a reputation of one of the most difficult dances. There were only a few great performers of Kartuli. Some of these are Nino Ramishvili and Iliko Sukhishvili, and Iamze Dolaberidze and Pridon Sulaberidze.

Khorumi – This war dance has originated in the region of Achara, which is located in the southwestern region of Georgia. The dance was originally performed by only a few man. However, over time it has grown in scale. In today’s version of Khorumi, thirty or forty dancers can participate. Although the number of performers changed, the content of the dance is still the same. The dance brings to life Georgian army of the past centuries. A few men who are searching the area for a campsite and enemy camps perform the initial "prelude" to the dance. Afterwards, they call the army onto the battlefield. The exit of the army is quite breathtaking. Its strength, simple but distinctive movements and the exactness of lines create a sense of awe on stage. The dance incorporates in itself the themes of search, war, and the celebration of victory as well as courage and glory of Georgian soldiers. Since Georgia has seen many wars throughout its history, Khorumi is a call from the past and reminds us that in order to have peace, we must have war.

Acharuli – Acharuli has also originated in the region of Achara. It is where the dance gets its name from. Acharuli is distinguished from other dances with its colorful costumes and the playful mood that simple but definite movements of both men and women create on stage. The dance is characterized with graceful, soft, and playful flirtation between the males and females. Unlike Kartuli, the relationship between men and women in this dance is more informal and lighthearted. Acharuli instills the sense of happiness in both the dancer and the audience.

Khanjluri – Historically, Georgians tend to strive for excellence. This trend is portrayed in our folk dances. Thus, many Georgian dances are based on the idea of competition. Khanjluri is one of those dances. In this dance, shepherds, dressed in red chokhas (traditional men’s wear) compete with each other in the usage of daggers and in performing complicated movements. One performer replaces another, and the courage and skill overflows on stage. Since Khanjluri involves daggers and knives, it requires tremendous skill and practice on the part of the performers. 

Kintouri – Kintouri is one of the city dances portraying the city life in old Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. The dance takes its name after "kintos" who were small merchants in Tbilisi. They wore black outfits with baggy pants and usually carried their goods (mostly food) on their heads around the city. When a customer chose goods, a kinto would take the silk shawl hanging from his silver belt and wrap the fruits and vegetables in them to weigh (Sited from The Georgian National Ballet). Kintos were known to be cunning, swift, and informal. Such characteristics of kinto are well shown in Kintouri. The dance is light natured and fun to watch.

Samaia – The dance Samaia is performed by three women and originally, was considered to be a dance of Pagan times. However, today’s Samaia is a representation of King Tamar and her glory. King Tamar in many sources is mentioned as a Queen of Georgia. However, she was considered to be the king of the United Kingdom of Georgia in 12^th-13^th centuries and was the first woman king in Georgia’s history. There are only four frescos that keep the much-revered image of King Tamar. Simon Virsaladze based the costumes of Samaia on the King’s clothing on those frescos. In addition, the trinity idea in the dance represents King Tamar as a young princess, a wise mother and the powerful king. All these three images are united in one harmonious picture. Moreover, the simple but soft and graceful movements create an atmosphere of beauty, glory and power that surrounded the King’s reign.