The dance dialect of Racha (historiographic sources)

Abstract

Georgian folk choreography as an object of cultural heritage occupies an important place not only in the Georgian but also in the world cultural space. Georgian dance is admired abroad for its special dialectical variety, rich in expressive means. Despite the fact that the language of some dance dialects has been lost and only a theoretical part has been preserved, such as the dance dialect of Imereti and Letshkhumi, the remaining dialects are presented at least by one example, which continues their existence. In addition, the stage art of the urban folklore is added, which was also based on the folk dance art.

On the colorful palette of Georgian dance dialects, the folk choreography from Racha forms a special scale, which has been preserved in theory and practice (as solo dance, but also as couple dance and round dance) on a large scale. It is worth noting that the Racha dance art, after the Svaneti dance art, is characterized by its variety, but also by the syncretism - (like the Svaneti dances) the dance text, music and choreography. One could say that the dance patterns from Svaneti and Racha are precisely the works that are absolutely free from any infl uence. They are even held as the supposed common language of Georgian choreography.

The choreographer and choreologist Awtandil Tataradze is the author of the only research work to date on the dance dialect of Racha. In this book the theoretical and practical information is summarized as one complex and therefore this book has a great value. In the course of time, static material has accumulated, which allowed us to fi ll in the gaps in order to be able to assess the dance dialect in a more complete way.

Some of the historical sources about the dance dialect of Racha stand out - especially important for us is the information given to us by the supervisor of the Mikhailov - Racha’s school, the priest N. Mindeli. According to his tradition we get the whole picture of the typology and language of Racha’s dance. There were two types of dance - the dance dance and the dance of the leader. The fi rst type had a round shape, the second type - a straight form. Racha’s round dance is characterized by a variety of genres: Hunting round dance, historical round dance, hero round dance, patriotic round dance, religious-ritual round dance, love round dance, round dance with scenes depicting the class struggle.

The following dances represent the hunting round dance: “My little dog”, “Amirani”, “Avtandil went hunting”, “To an unknown lady” (also called “Shushana”), “Violet on the mountain” (the latter round dance has lost its religious-ritual meaning and became a love ballad).

In the folklore of Racha an important layer is formed by the historical and camp rounds, of which the following dances have a special place: “The Veziren, Digori and Bassiai, Too High Mountain, as well as the historical-epic dances “Shavlego”, “The Dance of Tamar”, “Tsereteli has commanded”, “Djamata”, “Osije”, “The Great Sultan has left” - each of these dances is characterized by total syncretism.

The round dance “Drizzling rain” and “The observer from the mountain” were connected with the spring rites. Actually, the traditional rite of the two rounds - “Schruschana” and “ Drizzling rain” - is almost identical, so here we are dealing with the diff usion of the genre. In the spring round robin, the Easter round robin “Mercy be the happy messenger” is out of the ordinary. The “Tale of Zviad Lobjanidze” contains the motif of social injustice. The rounds - “Raeo”, “The water of the river Kvedrula has risen”, “You little bride’s friend Ano”, “Once on the way to the mill”, “Drink, my Lord”, “Odela and Odelia”, “You house built for celebration” - have diff erent contents and belong to diff erent genres. The ethnomusicologist Tornike Skhiereli gives the following examples of round dance songs: “In Mravaldzali and Skhvava”, “Happy Feast of the Three Brothers”, “Round dance of Tatuki”, “This Grigol had Bekmia”, “I looked and thought it was a sand strip”, “In the villages of Sheubani and Tchala”, “I went to Aghzevani”, “The river Sontarula has reported”, “Dodisani”, “The Violet Woman”, “High Mountain, let me descend”, “Mushvani has descended”.

As one can see, the art of Racha’s dancing is presented in quite a variety of ways. It should be noted, however, that some of these dances have lost their syncretic character and have been preserved only incompletely - only the text and the musical part are available. But there are also dances which, although they belong to diff erent genres, are characterized by one and the same choreographic image.

The second direction of Racha’s dance dialect is represented by the round dance, which exists as a solo part or a couple dance, i.e. it does not form part of the round dance.

The examples of Racha’s vocal folklore (“Rado-Rado”, “Gastakuni”, “Crisscross and Crooked”, “Oridili dili, dili”, “The snow fell on Sakao”, “The poplar tree”, “If you let me go, I will let you go”) are the patterns according to which the Rachinian dance is performed.

The “Old-young dance” belongs to the mountainous regions of Racha.

The rich folk dance art of Racha is dialectically connected with Svaneti, in the dance part - with East Georgia. The interactions of the dance language and the spoken language are determined by the research of the dance style and movements.