The Sukhishvili Georgian National Ballet - Khorumi

The Khorumi ( ka, ხორუმი) is a

war dance A war dance is a dance involving mock combat, usually in reference to tribal warrior societies where such dances were performed as a ritual connected with endemic warfare. Martial arts in various cultures can be performed in dance-like settin ...

that originated in the region of Guria/Adjara, which is located in the southwestern region of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. The

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

was originally performed by only a few men. However, over time it has grown in scale. In today's version of the Khorumi, thirty or forty dancers can participate. The dance was inscribed on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Georgia list in 2013. Although the number of performers changed, the content of the dance is still the same. The dance brings to life the

Georgian army The Defence Forces of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს თავდაცვის ძალები, tr), or Georgian Defence Forces (GDF), are the combined military forces of Georgia, tasked with the defense of the nation's indep ...

of the past centuries. A few men who are searching the area for a

campsite A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight using te ...

and enemy camps perform the initial " prelude" to the dance. Afterwards, they call the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

onto the

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

field. The exit of the army is quite breathtaking. Its strength, simple but distinctive movements and the precision 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

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

s throughout its

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

, Khorumi is a call from the past and reminds us that in order to have

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

, we must be ready for war.

Musical features

Unlike the bulk of Georgian traditional dances, which are usually accompanied by choral polyphonic singing and clapping, Khorumi is traditionally accompanied by instruments, and is not accompanied by clapping. Drum ( doli) and the bagpipe (

chiboni ), (russian: Волынка) (Ukraine, Russia) * Swedish bagpipes (Sweden) * Ney anban (Iran) The gudastviri ( ka, გუდასტვირი) is a droneless, double-chantered, horn-belled bagpipe played in Georgia. The term comes from the ...

) are two key instruments to accompany Khorumi. Another unique element of Khorumi is that it has a specific rhythm, based on five beat meter (3+2).

References

External links

* *
Short description
on the Georgian National Ballet website {{Georgian folk dances Dances of Georgia (country) War dances

Musical features

See also

References

External links