Georgian Folk Dances
Presentation
Nino Kapanadze
Georgian is the oldest of the romantic couple dances that have survived to our time. At first it was performed as a danced dialogue. The dance has five parts. During the dance, the man is not allowed to touch the woman and must keep a certain distance from his partner. It shows that even in love, men must control their feelings. The man focuses his eyes on his partner as if she were the only woman in the whole world. 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. �
Mtiuluri is a mountain dance. It is based on competition. However, in this dance, the competition is mainly between two groups of young men and is a celebration of skill and art. At first, groups compete in performing complicated movements. Then, the girl's dance, which is followed by an individual dancer's performance of amazing "tricks" on their knees and toes. At the end, everyone dances a beautiful finale.
Acharuli also originated in Achara or Adjara, which is where it gets its name. 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. Unlike Kartuli, the relationship between men and women in this dance is more informal and lighthearted.
Dancers compete with each other not only in performing various and difficult tricks beautifully, gracefully and cleanly, but also in endurance. Lightning circles, often on the toes, light snaps, quick turns, landing on the toes from a jump and many other tricks of the movement are beautifully combined.
This is a characteristic dance. The lyrics of this dance song describe Rachuli traditions well.