Dancing girls, Turkey

A lovely surprise that came from dear Pinar. And Im even more touched and honoured that she chose to send me this card...she knows why :)

The card shows Dancing girls from the Black-Sea region in Turkey. The dance itself is called Horon. The origin of the horon dances of the Black Sea coast is the ancient koron-horon of pagan worship. This word comes from hur-kor, meaning sun. Researchers have identified over fifty variations on the horon in a single region. These dances demand exceptional speed, agility and skill in the dancers, who are generally accompanied by the kemence. It is a dance style of Pontus, where pontian dance retains the aspects of Persian and Greek dance styles. A unique aspect of Pontian dance is the tremoulo, which is a fast shaking of the upper torso by a turning of the back on its axis. Many Pontian dances are almost identical in steps to Greek dances. Pontian dances also resemble Persian and Middle Eastern dances in that they are not led, with no single leader in the dance formation. This is different from Greek dances but is a widespread aspect of Persian and Middle Eastern dances.

The rapid shoulder and upper body movements from the waist is said to have evolved from the modern Turkish version dating to recent centuries. These movement are said to have derived from the shimmying of the little silver anchovy fish (Turkish: Hamsi) found in mass abundance in the Black Sea, which has worked its way into an inseparable part of northern Anatolian culture. As Pontian populations of a Greek and Persian mix were exposed to these dances later, it is said that long sea journeys and merchant exchanges, or perhaps throughout the migration of troops as far away as Ireland en route to the Holy Land were also exposed to these dance styles. It is thought the Irish jig and even its modern version, the River Dance, may have its roots from this exposure.

The stamps are more than beautiful as well! The come from a mini sheet of 4 stamps issued in 2008 representing Global Warming, in honour of the World Environment Day.

thank you Pinar once again!!! For thinking of me!