During its 1,500-year history, Tbilisi has been a major cultural, political and economic center in the Caucasus. It was located at the crossroads of important trade routes and was occupied by external enemies about twenty times.
The proximity and coexistence of different traditions and cultures in Tbilisi, as well as the multi-ethnic nature of the population, influenced the creation of an extraordinary cultural phenomenon — urban folklore.
With their original plasticity and eclectic dance techniques that have an oriental influence, urban dances create a sharp contrast with the traditional Georgian choreography of the regions.
According to a well-known legend, back in 458 A.D. King Vakhtang I Gorgasal He hunted in the forests on the banks of the Kura River and wounded a pheasant (according to another version, a deer). The animal ran to a sulfur spring and was immediately healed with hot water. The king was amazed at the healing properties of the spring and decided to build a city here. This is how Tbilisi appeared, whose name translates as “warm”, and the sulfur springs were replaced by the famous baths that can be seen in the city today.
In the 19th century, Tbilisi began to grow rapidly and became the largest cultural center in the Caucasus. The Georgians themselves often called Tbilisi (Tiflis) simply “Kalaki”, which translates as “city”.
As a result of the constant influx of residents from other regions, representatives of different nationalities, cultural exchange and cultural integration took place. This also affected the language: an urban language has been formed, Tbilisi, which has its own specifics. The urban language was formed by mixing Arab-Iranian and Armenian words, and by the end of the 19th century, Russian words.
Tbilisi's population was heterogeneous not only in terms of ethnicity, but also in status. Society was divided mainly into lower, middle and upper strata.
The first one included:
To the second:
To the third:
People from different backgrounds had different traditions, including dance traditions.
Karachokheli or “black-skinned” (“kara” from Turkish is black, “chokheli” from Georgian is wearing chokha) were representatives of the city's circle of craftsmen and, as a rule, were members of a workshop (artel) - amkari (Iranian for “cooperation”). Only men participated in the workshop.
The Karachokheli had their own code of honor and the philosophy by which they lived.
Amkari were artisan unions and differentiated by individual professions: shoemakers, butchers, silver craftsmen, etc. Each workshop had its own set of rules, its own heraldry. At city festivals, you could see workshop representatives marching under its own banner and symbolism. For example, winemakers used bunches of Vigograd on the coat of arms, butchers used images of Abraham and the sheep, carpenters used Noah's Ark, etc.
In addition, Each Amkari had his own patron. Prophet Elijah was the patron saint of shoemakers, and, for example, leather processors were under the auspices of the Mother of God.
He played an important role Ustabashi - head of the artel. He was elected unanimously by all members. During controversial issues, he was entitled to 1.5 votes. Shegirdi (“student” from Georgian) studied the craft for about 5-6 years, having completed the final work upon graduation. On this day, the entire workshop, led by Ustabashi, checked the product and issued its own verdict on whether to transfer it from the rank of “shegirdi” to the rank of master - “ostatati” (from Georgian, he is a master of his craft).
The Karachokheli were guided by rules set by their leader, Ustabashi. According to these rules, everyone Karachokheli was obliged to:
The Karachokheli dressed in the same uniform - the constant black chokha, under which the black akhalukhi (shirt) was dressed. Wide black trousers were tucked into pointy boots, and the head was crowned with a pointy lamb hat, “tsitsaka” (Georgian for “pepper”), considered a symbol of their dignity. A distinctive element of the costume was also a silver belt, passed down from generation to generation. In addition to its practical function, this belt had an “airbag” function, a kind of insurance. For example, if the artel did not have funds for the funeral of its friend, then this belt was sold and the proceeds were enough for a decent funeral and help the family.
Karachokheli could only be men, but The only exception was a woman named Sona. Having fallen in love with one of the artisans who soon dies from an incurable illness, as a sign of mourning, Sona dresses all in black and puts on a silver belt, paying tribute to her beloved. She passed all the laws that were specific to Karachokheli, opened her own dukhan (a small restaurant, a tavern), owned a hurdy-gurdy and loved to sing.
Many of Karachokheli were noted for their eloquence and talent for oral improvisational poetry. This is where the second common name for dance comes from - Mukhambazi. In Arabic, “mukhamas” means a five-line verse form.
The cult of wine, poetry and beautiful women, which is common among the Carcioheli community, is reflected in choreographic miniatures in a peculiar way. Among the Karachokhelians feasting, dressed in black chokha and tall, pointy hats of the same color, with burning bowls in their hands, as if out of nowhere, as if from a dream, a maiden in a red dress appears as a figment of the imagination, like a scarlet flame. Her dance combines Georgian classical refinement and oriental flair. Her sudden disappearance is as spectacular as her sudden appearance.
The exact opposite of the type of Karachokheli were Kinto.
Kinto is a street vendor selling small goods, mostly fruits and vegetables. He carried the goods on a tabakhi (tray) placed on his head. According to one version, this is where the name Kinto comes from. Kintsi from Georgian, a neck that literally “wears a neck”. Kinto wrapped his constant “for all occasions” Baghdadi (handkerchief) in a belt and weighed his goods with it. By the way, named after the Baghdadi scarf, the Kintouri dance is also called Bagdaduri.
In fact, the quinto could come from a Karachokheli background. But as a failed craftsman, he was forced to put his skills in small trade to use. In fact, this is the image of a single man without a family who was ready to use all sorts of tricks to get himself a piece of bread. He was a man who lived for a day.
If there were two categories of kinto in Iran, Tbilisi kintos combined all the features that these two categories had in themselves, that is, the Georgian kinto was both a merchant and a servant.
The Kinto existed in Tbilisi until the 1930s.
According to researchers, kinto clothes refer us to Persian culture.
As for the kintouri dance, there are two versions of its origin.
The first says that the Kintouri dance has its roots in ancient Persia. It is even suggested that Kintouri was originally a women's dance, and men only began to perform it in the 19th century.
The second version says that the Kintouri dance developed from ritual dance — Ialis Tamashi. In its form, it echoes other dance games, such as “Oh Hoy-nano” from Adjara or “Melia-Telepia” from Svaneti. This masculine dance was accompanied by a leader, “tawmosame”, holding a cane. Using it, he instructed the dancers about subsequent movements, direction, and pace of performance, and corrected movements. A characteristic element of Ialis Tamashi was the undressing of dancers. At the leader's command, the participants danced off one piece of clothing from the seed until they were naked to the waist. It is important to note that after undressing, the process necessarily went in reverse order. By the end, the pace of the dance accelerated. Undressing is related to the cult of the God of fertility, as in the Rachin comic ritual Gonjaoba.
It is not easy to understand the intricacies of the origin of this dance! On the other hand, we know for sure that Kintouri became an integral part of the city's dance culture in the 19th century.
The dance is playful and very vividly conveys Kinto's character - cunning, cheating, playfulness.
The second part of the article will be devoted to the upper stratum of the population - the aristocracy, their culture and dance traditions.
The third part of the article will be devoted to the “Jeirani” dance.