Kochari

Kochari (Armenian: Քոչարի, Azerbaijani: Köçəri, Greek: Κότσαρι Kotsari, Kurdish: Koçerî‎; Turkish: Koçari), is an Armenian and Azerbaijani folk dance, danced today by Armenians, Assyrians, Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Pontic Greeks and Turks. It is a form of circle dance.

Kochari is a type of dance, not a specific dance. Each region in the Armenian Highlands had its own Kochari, with its unique way of both dancing and music. One type of "Yalli", a dance common to Azerbaijanis, Assyrians, and Kurds has different forms known as Kochari.

Etymology

• In Armenian, Kochari literally means "knee-come". Koch means "knee" and ari means "come".
• In Azerbaijani, "köç" means "moving" used both as a verb and as a noun, with the latter used more in the context of nomads' travelling. "Köçəri" is also both an adjective and a noun, meaning a "nomad" and "nomadic" simultaneously.
• In Pontic Greek, from the Greek "κότσι" (in Pontic Greek "κοτς") meaning "heel" (from Medieval Greek "κόττιον" meaning the same) and "αίρω" meaning "raise", all together "raising the heel", since the Greeks consider the heel to be the main part of the foot which the dancer uses.
• In Kurdish, the word for nomads is Koçer, thus the name Koçerî makes it "Nomadian".

Versions

John Blacking describes Kochari as follows:

Group dancing, when dancers imitate jumping goats, is known as kochari. Dancers stand abreast, holding each other's hands, The tempo of the dance ranges from moderate to fast. Squatting and butting an imagined opponent are followed by high jumps.

Armenian

A part of Armenian kochari

Armenians have been dancing Kochari for over a thousand years. The dance is danced to a 2/4 rhythm. Dancers form a closed circle, putting their hands on each other's shoulders. This may symbolize the alienation that this minority community felt at the time of the dance's birth.

The dance is danced by both men and women and is intended to be intimidating. More modern forms of Kochari have added a "tremolo step," which involves shaking the whole body. It spread to the eastern part of Armenia after Armenians were driven out of Anatolia because of the genocide caused by Ottoman Empire. This movement is appropriate for its name, which in various Turkish languages signifies "nomad"

Azerbaijani

It is one of the widely spread dances known as Yalli (Halay) in Azerbaijan, especially in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and surrounding areas. This dancing is included to the dancings of the Azerbaijani people. The “Kochari” dancing, consisting of slow and rapid parts, is of three variants. In the men or women lining up one after another or one woman after one man position, a yallihead (holder) holds a stick in his / her hand. This stick isn’t to punish the dancers but factually it has a dancing importance.

Today this dancing is played in the ancient Nakhchivan land of which Sharur, Sadarak, Kangarli, Julfa and Shahbuz regions’ folklore collectives and it gives a stimule to the weddings.

Kurdish Koçerî

Koçerî is a special form of the "Delîlo" or "Şêxanî" kurdish dance, and as the name says, it is very common and more frequently danced by the Kurdish nomads. Koçerî simply means "nomadian" in Kurdish, where "Koçer" means nomad, thus the term is used by Kurds for the dance that nomads dance. Among Kurdish nomads however, this is a specialty, not the only dance they know of.

Pontic Greek kotsari

The Pontic Greeks and Armenians have many vigorous warlike dances such as the Kochari.

Unlike most Pontic dances, the Kotsari is in an even rhythm (2/4), originally danced in a closed circle. The dance is very popular today; however, it is often danced differently from the original. There is a consistent, vicious double bounce, also referred to as tremoulo. It is danced hand to shoulder and travels to the right. There are few variations which may be added to the step. It's a dance that tries to scare the viewers. At the start, it is danced by both men and women. Then, men go in front and do their figures.

See also

• Kalamatianos
• Tsamiko
• Sirtaki
• Omal
• Horon
• Khigga
• An Dro
• Tamzara
• Hora
• Dabke
• Yalli
• Assyrian folk dance
• Faroese dance

External links

• Kochari music - Pontic sample; Armenian sample; Assyrian sample; Turkish sample
• Kochari dance - Pontic variant, Azeri variant, Armenian variant