{"id":2716,"date":"2011-06-24T18:51:02","date_gmt":"2011-06-25T01:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/?p=2716"},"modified":"2012-06-03T19:52:55","modified_gmt":"2012-06-04T02:52:55","slug":"robyn-friend-dancing-roof-of-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2011\/06\/24\/robyn-friend-dancing-roof-of-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Dancing on the Roof of the World"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"topphoto\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/art53\/graphics53\/robynfriend\/sharpPeaksSM.jpg\" alt=\"Sharp peaks\" width=\"300\" height=\"163\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Community Festival in Tajikistan<\/h2>\n<h3>by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/aboutuspages\/robynfriend.htm\">Robyn Friend<\/a><br \/>\n<span class=\"footnotes\">posted June 24, 2011 <\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A swift-running river backed by high mountains, a leafy green park with ancient trees, a wading pool where all the local children play to escape the  heat, and in front, a stage for musicians from some of the most remote and  exotic places of the world.\u00a0 Welcome to the <span class=\"company\">Roof of the World Music Festival<\/span>!<\/p>\n<p>After all my many travels to Tajikistan, filled with the frantic bustle of dance lessons, rehearsals, teaching, doing trip logistics, hunting for  traditional bits and bobs for costuming, and getting fitted for stage costumes,  I finally decided to try being a more-or-less normal tourist in one of my favorite places on Earth, the Pamir mountains of Badakhshan, eastern  Tajikistan.\u00a0 This time I also brought my dear  husband, <span class=\"artist\">Neil<\/span>, whose previous trip to the Pamirs mostly consisted of  watching me engaged in the above activities.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/art53\/graphics53\/robynfriend\/map.jpg\" alt=\"map\" width=\"299\" height=\"190\" align=\"left\" \/>My friend, <span class=\"artist\">Samandar Pulodov<\/span> \u2013 singer, musician, and all-round  great guy \u2013 had for the two previous years put on a festival in Khorog, regional capital of Badakhshan, to celebrate traditional and contemporary music among  peoples in mountainous Central Asia.<\/p>\n<p>Neil  and I decided that this would be our year to go to this festival, visit  friends, and just hang out at our \u201chome-away-from-home\u201d by the rushing waters  of the Gund River.\u00a0  We also wanted to tour around the southern part of Badakhshan, along the  Oxus River <a href=\"#footnote\">(1)<\/a> and towards its source high in the Pamirs, and see  some sites we had not been able to get to in previous years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sectiontitle\">The  Roof of the World Festival<\/p>\n<p>It  seemed that all roads led to Khorog that day, as we met one friend after another while walking into the park.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The  festival opened with a procession led by local women in traditional Pamiri  clothes playing<em> kakhoy daf<\/em>, interlocking rhythmic patterns played on  various-sized frame drums.\u00a0The participants in the festival included groups from Kyrghyzstan,  Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China,  as well as performers from several areas in Badakhshan and other parts of Tajikistan.<\/p>\n<table width=\"459\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\">\n<tr>\n<td width=\"455\">\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"425\" height=\"349\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7kNME_koDcI\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p class=\"sectiontitle\">Kyrghyzstan<\/p>\n<p>The  first to perform was \u201cUstatshakirt\u201d <a href=\"#footnote\">(2)<\/a>, a group of musicians from Kyrghyzstan, with  traditional songs of the Kyrghyz pastoral nomads, including a performance of one portion of the Manas epic, the national historic epic cycle of the Kyrghyz  nomads.\u00a0 Performed traditionally without any musical accompaniment, the <em>manas-chi<\/em>  <a href=\"#footnote\">(3)<\/a> emitted a kind of inhaled gasp that punctuated each  phrase.<\/p>\n<table width=\"462\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\">\n<tr>\n<td width=\"462\">\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"425\" height=\"349\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/K_6_cMR0Ydk\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sectiontitle\">Northern Tajikistan <\/p>\n<p>In  looking at the political map of Central Asia, one must always keep in mind that the national borders were drawn by <strong>Josef Stalin<\/strong> <a href=\"#7\">(4)<\/a> to keep the various ethnic groups \u2013 Uzbek, Tajik,  Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Shugni, etc. \u2013 from being too decidedly a majority within any one Soviet Republic.\u00a0 For example, the fabled Tajik cities of  Samarqand and Bukhara were placed inside the  border of Uzbekistan, rather  than inside Tajikistan.\u00a0 And the western part of the Ferghana Valley,  peopled largely by Uzbeks, was placed within the border of Tajikistan.\u00a0 Thus, the most northern part of Tajikistan is  actually predominately populated by speakers of Uzbek.<br \/>\nIt  is from this northern, Uzbek, portion of Tajikistan that the ensemble <span class=\"company\">Dilnavoz<\/span> comes.\u00a0 This group of  young boys played songs from the classical Shashmaqam repertoire, as well as  beloved folk songs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"sectiontitle\">Pakistan<\/p>\n<p>A  group from Chitral, Pakistan, led by dancer <span class=\"artist\">Israr  Uddin<\/span>, performed music, song, and dance.\u00a0Israr\u2019s dancing was subtle, elegant, and delightful.\u00a0 In the introduction for this group, we were  told that the community from which these performers came is made up of Tajiks that had long ago emigrated south from what is now Tajikistan, and that until a few  years ago, they had spoken, read, and written in Tajiki.<\/p>\n<table width=\"474\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\">\n<tr>\n<td width=\"474\">\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"425\" height=\"349\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7puEP-HJ2uI\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p class=\"sectiontitle\">China <\/p>\n<p>The  big buzz on the first day of the Festival was that a group from China was  delayed at the border with visa issues, that they would arrive late on Friday, and that they would perform on Saturday.\u00a0  I am not sure what I expected a group from China  to be, but they turned out to be ethnic Tajiks from Toshqurghan in Sinkiang  province of western China.\u00a0 It was fascinating to find dance and music  both familiar, but also different.\u00a0 The  ensemble included six musicians, three singers singing to lushly orchestrated  modern recordings, and a group of six dancers, men and women, dressed in  lavishly lovely costumes.<\/p>\n<p>One  of the dances was an eagle dance.\u00a0 I was  fascinated because I had seen a Mongolian eagle dance performed some years ago  by <span class=\"company\">Het Internationaal Tanstheater<\/span> in Amsterdam.\u00a0  The basic idea was similar, but the execution was quite different.\u00a0 In the Mongolian version, the male dancer,  with bare chest, moved in agonizingly slow motion, with almost unbelievable  control.\u00a0 The dancer from Toshqurghan,  dressed in a costume with strips of fabric along the sleeves to depict wings,  performed very similar movements, but at a much quicker tempo.<\/p>\n<p>At  one point in the Toshqurghan performance one of the singers, a man with a huge  mustache, long hair, and shiny red suit, invited the audience to dance to his  songs.\u00a0 One man got up and danced,  followed by lots and lots of little kids.\u00a0  One of them, a one-year-old toddler, danced with great precision,  energy, and taste.\u00a0 She continued to  dance, not only with the singers, but with the dancers as well!\u00a0 I was amazed to see so many small children  dancing so well.\u00a0 Later on in our trip, I  learned how they do it \u2026.. <\/p>\n<table width=\"469\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\">\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"425\" height=\"349\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3Jn3A_O7mIA\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p class=\"sectiontitle\">Badakhshan<\/p>\n<p>As  you might expect, there were several performing groups from various river  valleys in Badakhshan.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p><span class=\"company\">The Children\u2019s Ethnographic, Music, &amp; Dance Ensemble.<\/span> \u00a0One of my  Pamiri dance teachers, People\u2019s Artist of Tajikistan <span class=\"artist\">Zaragol  Iskandarova<\/span>, led a group of young girls and a boy doing traditional Pamiri  dances.\u00a0 The children were so cute and  such good dancers!\u00a0 Clearly, there is a  future for Pamiri dance.\u00a0Zaragol, who performed with them,  dances with joy, and is always a delight to behold.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"company\">The Rushan Folk Group<\/span> from  the Bartang Valley performed traditional Pamiri  songs and dances.\u00a0 In particular, they  performed songs from the <em>maddoh<\/em> repertoire, the music and singing  performed at Pamiri Ismaili spiritual gatherings and ritual occasions that  features songs based on classical mystical Persian poetry.\u00a0 Two of the musicians also performed a dance  to the rhythm I know as \u201cKish Kish\u201d, facing one another as they move around a  circle, whirling and posing. <\/p>\n<p>From the time I first began to research the music and dance culture of the Ismailis  of Badakhshan I had heard about <em>maddoh. <\/em>The song texts are all from the  classical Persian mystical poets; as such, they are sung in Persian, rather than  in the local <em>Shughni<\/em> language.\u00a0  The musicians take turns leading the songs, which can be quite lengthy  and are sung with a deeply passionate expression, each verse and each song  beginning on an ever-rising pitch, and with ever increasing verve.\u00a0 I had heard different ideas of how dance fits  into <em>maddoh.\u00a0 <\/em>I wanted to see for  myself.<br \/>\nAnd  at last I got the chance; the Festival included a <em>maddoh<\/em> arranged as  part of a live stage play.\u00a0 Men entered  one by one into a space made to look like the interior of a typical Pamiri <em>cheed<\/em> <a href=\"#footnote\">(5)<\/a> house.\u00a0 They  acted the sharing of a meal <a href=\"#footnote\">(6)<\/a>, then the <em>pir<\/em> <a href=\"#footnote\">(7)<\/a> began to lead songs, as various of the men rose to  their feet and began to dance.\u00a0 The music  and the dance continued rising toward a crescendo for quite a long time,  reached a fever pitch, and abruptly stopped.<\/p>\n<p>I  later asked my other Pamiri dance teacher and friend, <span class=\"artist\">Makhingol Nazarshoeva<\/span>, about the play.\u00a0 She said that it was a  fairly accurate depiction of <em>maddoh<\/em>, though she herself had  choreographed the dancing.\u00a0 The words to  the songs were all from the <span class=\"company\">Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi<\/span>, by <span class=\"artist\">Mowlana  Jallal al-Din Rumi<\/span> <a href=\"#footnote\">(8)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>At  the end of the festival I was struck by how alike the various Tajiki-Persianate  peoples were, whether from Tajikistan,  Pakistan, Afghanistan, or China:\u00a0 their music and dance were similar, and their  languages were close enough to understand one another.\u00a0 The music and dance presented from these  groups was clearly a \u201cdialect\u201d of the same \u201clanguage\u201d.\u00a0 In contrast, the groups representing Turkic  cultures \u2013 those from Kyrghyzstan and northern Tajikistan \u2013 were clearly  different.\u00a0 For example, all the Tajiki  groups played songs in 7\/8 rhythm, to loud applause and impromptu dancing from  the local audience.\u00a0 On the other hand,  Ensemble \u201cDilnavoz\u201d played only one song in this rhythm, and \u201cUstatshagirt\u201d  played no music in this rhythm at all.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p>It  was also delightful to see and hear these artists speaking with the local  Shughnis of Khorog, not only in Tajiki, but also in their own Shughni  dialect.\u00a0 At one point during a singer\u2019s  performance, one of the singers from Toshqurghan began dancing in the  background with Zaragol  Iskandarova.\u00a0 The performers\u2019 passports  may have said \u201cTajikistan\u201d, \u201cPakistan\u201d, \u201cChina\u201d,  or \u201cAfghanistan\u201d,  but these were all clearly Pamiris.<\/p>\n<p>All  in all, the Festival was a great success.\u00a0  Beautiful music, fascinating dance, lovely handicrafts, a green setting,  pleasant weather, and delicious food.\u00a0  What more could you want!<\/p>\n<h6 align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/art53\/graphics53\/robynfriend\/rugtrees.jpg\" alt=\"Felted Rugs\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><br \/>\nKyrghyz felted wool rug<\/h6>\n<p><a name=\"footnote\" id=\"footnote\"><\/a>Footnotes<\/p>\n<h6>1- Known in Central Asia by its Tajiki name, Amu Darya,  and also as the Pamir   River.<\/h6>\n<h6> 2- Ostad (Arabic, \u201cmaster\u201d) and shagird (Arabic, \u201cstudent\u201d)<\/h6>\n<h6> 3- The title of a master at recitation of the Manas  epic.<\/h6>\n<h6>4- At the time, Minister of Minorities under Lenin.<\/h6>\n<h6> 5-<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2009\/09\/30\/robyntajikistan\/\"> See  previous article in Gilded Serpent to learn about the <em>cheed<\/em> house<\/a>.<\/h6>\n<h6>6- The Alevis of Anatolian Turkey, another a Shiite sect, also  begin their regular spiritual gatherings with the sharing of food, and end with  ecstatic dancing.<\/h6>\n<h6> 7- Spiritual leader.<\/h6>\n<h6>8- A famous 13th-century poet, best known in  the west as the founder of the Whirling Dervishes.\u00a0 The work of Rumi\u2019s that is used most often  for <em>maddoh<\/em> is from his <em>Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi<\/em>.\u00a0 For this reason, Rumi (as he is known in the  west; in Iran, he is simply  called <em>Mowlana<\/em>, \u201cour teacher\u201d) in Tajikistan is usually referred to  as <em>\u201cShams-e Tabrizi<\/em>\u201d.<\/h6>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/graphics\/acommentbox.jpg\" alt=\"use the comment box\" align=\"right\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"ready4more\">\n<p>Have a comment? Use or comment section at the bottom of this page or <a href=\"mailto:editor@gildedserpent.com\">Send us a letter!<\/a> <br \/>\nCheck the &quot;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/let2ed.htm\">Letters to the Editor<\/a>&quot; for other possible viewpoints!<\/p>\n<p>Ready for more?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--end ready4more --><\/p>\n<div class=\"articlelist\">\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"articledate\">10-17-08<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/art45\/robyntajikistanp1.htm\">Tajikistan: The Land of Dance, Part One<\/a><span class=\"articleauthor\"> by Robyn C. Friend, Ph.D.<\/span><br \/>\nVideo features: #1-Introduction by author, #2- A Map Tour on an ancient and modern map. <br \/>\n&quot; Communication with the outside world is difficult and expensive, and nearly impossible during the winter.&quot;<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"articledate\">9-30-09 <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2009\/09\/30\/robyntajikistan\/\">Tajikistan\tPart II: Land of Dance<\/a><span class=\"articleauthor\"> by Robyn Friend, Ph.D<\/span><br \/>\nAfter a performance of daf soz (songs with frame drum accompaniment), the musicians played maddoh, followed by raqs-i aspak (&ldquo;horse dance&rdquo;), in which a man dances wearing a costume which makes it look like he is riding a horse.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"articledate\">5-30-11<\/span> <span class=\"articlelink\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2011\/05\/30\/carl-rakkasah-fest-2011-sunday\/\">Photos from Rakkasah West 2011, Sunday A- L<\/a><\/span> <span class=\"articleauthor\">photos by Carl Sermon<\/span><br \/>\nAdira, Anisa, Ashley Lopez, Orchids, Damascus, Danielle, Desert Dream, Diana, Dondi, Dancers of the Desert, El Asaab, Evangaline, Fahtiem, Fatima, Ghawazee, Alexandria, Jamilla, Joweh, Karavansary, Lisa<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"articledate\">5-25-11<\/span> <span class=\"articlelink\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2011\/05\/25\/shema-inverting-gaze-part3\/\">The Transformation of Beauty, Inverting the Gaza, Part 3<\/a><\/span><span class=\"articleauthor\"> by Shema<\/span><br \/>\nAs women and performers, why cannot we see beyond physical representation, when we, too, are trying our hardest to achieve such beauty in our own lives? Such hypocrisy ensures that we can never escape the limitations that society and, thus, we place these same limitations upon our own bodies.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"articledate\">5-24-11 <\/span> <span class=\"articlelink\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2011\/05\/24\/belly-dancer-year-2011-contestants\/\">Belly Dancer of the Year 2011 Contestants! Who Will Win This Coming Weekend?<\/a><\/span> <br \/>\nSneak preview of who you will see this weekend at this year&#8217;s contest <\/li>\n<li><span class=\"articledate\">5-20-11 <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2011\/05\/20\/samia-nasser-iraqi-dancer\/\"><span class=\"articlelink\">Iraqi Ra\u2019qisa\u2019s Life in America, North Beach Memories and More!<\/span><\/a> <span class=\"articleauthor\">by Samia Nasser<\/span><br \/>\n\u201cWhen I was watching you dance, I thought I was watching an Egyptian movie!\u201d<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"articledate\">5-19-11<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2011\/05\/19\/amina-walk-egyptian\/\" class=\"articlelink\"> Walk Like an Egyptian<\/a> <span class=\"articleauthor\">by Amina Goodyear<\/span><br \/>\nBefore I learned to &quot;walk like an Egyptian&quot;, I wanted to drum like an African! Since my early teens, I  had been collecting African drum LPs (as well as conga and bongo drums) and was either dancing like a possessed child or trying to make rhythms happen on drum skins.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"articledate\">5-17-11<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2011\/05\/17\/nada-el-masriya-moulid\/\" class=\"articlelink\">A Moulid in an Egyptian Village<\/a> <span class=\"articleauthor\">by Nada El Masriya and David Krysco<\/span><br \/>\nAfter the feast, the traditional Sai\u2019eet (story teller), who could be a man or a woman, started telling stories accompanied by a full traditional orchestra. The entire village enjoyed stories about life, love, religion, and wisdom. Throughout history, the Sai\u2019eet has been the educator, entertainer, and critic of life.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Community Festival in Tajikistan by Robyn Friend posted June 24, 2011 A swift-running river backed by high mountains, a leafy green park with ancient trees, a wading pool where all the local children play to escape the heat, and in front, a stage for musicians from some of the most remote and exotic places of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2716"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2716\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}