Adjara - this is a region on the Black Sea coast of Georgia. From about the 16th century to the middle of the 19th century, it was part of the Ottoman Empire.
This left a big mark on the culture, oral folklore, music and dance art of Adjara.
The Gandagan dance, which originated in these parts, is characterized by elegant, effortless flirting between men and women. Unlike Kartuli, it demonstrates more relaxed and careless relationships between members of opposite sexes.
This dance is so popular that it is included in the repertoire of almost all children's, youth, municipal and state ensembles operating throughout the country. In the past decade, the popularity of Gandagan has spread far beyond Georgia. Even professional groups from the republics of the North Caucasus often include this dance in their repertoire.
Adjarian dances, which later formed the basis for “Gandagan” (or “Gandagani”), had an interesting feature. As a rule, they were not popular; they were performed solo and were competitive. The dancer tried to develop his own individual style of performance. Traditionally, each style of dance/movement/bundle was given its own name. Often these movements were inherited within the family.
In other words, there was no single dance name that combined all these original movement techniques. Mechibone (a musician who plays Chiboni, the Georgian equivalent of bagpipes) usually received an order to play Kolsama, Tofaleuni, Shekhtom, etc. These are not all dance names, but names for the technics/moves that were most popular. The rhythm and character of the music and the movements were the same.
Here are a few technics/movements that are widely known in Adjara:
Interestingly, during the performance, dancers compete not only in dancing skills, but in folding ditties.
This was often improvisational. As for women's dance, it existed, but it was quite primitive and could not compete in diversity with men's dance.
Another important feature of Adjara culture was that men and women did not sit together at festivals and other public events, but stayed in separate rooms and kept their distance. This is also due to Muslim influence in Adjara. The celebration usually took place on the second floor of the house in spacious rooms (opposite) connected by a spacious corridor. The girls started singing ditties. The men did not give in and answered back. This is how they would sing each other across rooms and compete in wit, rhyming... At one point, the doors opened and men and girls started dancing in the hallway, competing with each other. Due to established traditions, men and girls did not come close to each other, so the first such competition was awkward and the performers danced detached from each other, almost along the walls, and the movement was dominated by steps from side to side and different hand movements.
The first professional observations and recordings of folk dances in Adjara date back to the 1920s. At that time, Topan Meladze, Topuz Gabaidze, and Guliko Nogaideli were considered unrivaled performers of Adjarian folk dances, in particular Kolsama.
In 1946, it was necessary to present Adjarian dance at the Folk Dance Olympics in Tbilisi. In this regard, an expedition was made to the village of Khulo (Adjara), where choreographers collected the material necessary for staging the dance.
Professional Georgian choreographers began to create a stage performance based on traditional Adjarian dances, which they called “gandagana”. Enver Khabadze, a well-known Georgian choreographer, made a great contribution to this process.
He introduced Gandagan to a wide audience in 1946.
Guliko Nogaideli and Topan Meladze were the first Adjarian duet dancers.
Guliko's memories: “When we were rehearsing a performance for the Olympics, director Archil Chkhartishvili asked me why I was dancing so detached and from side to side? Is it really impossible to dance straight (move forward?)? And well, I answered, should I just dance and cuddle with him (with my partner)?! They laughed and called this dance “Gandagana”. (The word “ghani” means “width” in Georgian.)
And in 1948, a group dance was staged, where a duet between a boy and a girl became part of the mass dance.
As we understand, Gandagana has incorporated various dance techniques and traditions.
Let's see which ones:
Many versions of Gandagan are performed on stage today, but it usually consists of two parts. The first one is relatively quiet and includes Taranino, the second is quick and contains Mharuli elements. The latter means hand-wrapped dance and “Kolsarma”. It also uses elements of “Jakhtatin” (“Jakhtatan” or “Jakhtanan”).
The artist made a great contribution to the Adjarian stage costume Solomon (Soliko) Virsaladze. He put on the woman a men's headdress, a kabalakhi (women in Adjara wore a scarf or a veil), and also tied a colorful belt with a large characteristic bow.
The influence of Muslim Turkey on the Adjara region has determined the color scheme of Virsaladze's costumes, which are dominated by red, green and black.
In Islamic countries, color symbolism is of great importance. Thus, red is sacred, magical, and conveys “vitality”. Green symbolizes oasis, nature, life, and heavenly goods. And black is not so negative: night, darkness, shadow that complements the light.
Today, this version of the stage costume is recognized as canonical. However, some ensembles still refer to a more accurate historical appearance of Adjarian folk costume.
Summing up, we can say that the example of Gandagan clearly shows how very old folklore traditions can be updated. With proper processing and output, a big breakthrough can be made.
Thus, dance motifs that adorned one region became the property of all of Georgia and beyond.
In less than 80 years of its existence, Gandagan has won over a huge number of performers and viewers.
The Adjarian dance “Gandagana” has been awarded the status of a monument of Georgia's intangible cultural heritage. At the same time, both the dance itself and its folk foundations have been declared a monument: several Adjarian traditional dances — “Kolsama” or “Mharuli”, “Topalioni”, “Tarnanino”, “Jakdanana” and others.
There are also guardians of untouched dance folklore. Adjarian dance looks very bright and authentic when performed by the Bermukha ensemble, whose participants are up to 82 years old.
The following are considered exemplary performers of “Gandagan” in the 20th century: Jacob Khalvashi, Topan Meladze, Topuz Gabaidze, Temel Mikeladze, Fridon Sulaberidze, Guliko Nogaideli, Fatma Kobuladze, Latavra Pochiani and others.
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