Tajik and Uzbek Repertoire
Current Repertoire:
- Safaar-e Zamaan, Time’s Journey
- Uzbek Wedding Suite
- Kolyabi, Badakhshani, Ferghana, Bucharan, Shodiana, Chashmaqam, and various Tajik Contemporary dances
Many of the dances in Ballet Afsaneh’s Tajik & Uzbek repertory have been in our repertoire since the early days of the company history in 1986, when founder-director Sharlyn Sawyer began visits to Central Asia for dance studies in Uzbekistan. Starting in 2005 through the support of foundation partners Ballet Afsaneh dance artists have had the unique opportunity to study in depth and perform extensively in Tajikistan. Through the Tajik Dance Initiative program, lasting connections with master teachers and dance companies have been possible, resulting in a partnership that has benefited artists and communities on both sides of the world.
Tajikistan and its close neighbor, Uzbekistan, are home to many diverse ethnic groups. Although there are similarities in dance, poetry and music styles, each group has its own distinct forms. Often within each region there is a further distinction between urban and rural art forms.
Beginning in the early 1920’s, when this region at the heart of the Silk Road became part of the Soviet Union, the traditional performing arts were well-supported. An organized and concerted effort of historical research and preservation combined with a culturally isolating political environment were instrumental in preserving certain genre of women’s dances. As a result several highly developed and intricate styles of court dance are still performed to this day.
In contrast, for countries such as Iran and Turkey, an ongoing artistic dialog with Europe affected the demand for traditional repertoire from patrons of the privileged class. As a result Tajik and Uzbek dance have been a vital resource during the process of reconstruction and the preservation of traditional Persian, Herati, Moghul and Ottoman classical dance.
Laurel Victoria Gray, Central Asian dance historian once commented; It is interesting to note that public performances of women's dances in Central Asia, during the Islamic period in particular, were presented almost exclusively by young men dressed as women. This has caused some scholars to conclude that women did not perform dance. The question then being; just who were the young men imitating? When women danced it was most often for each other or close family members in the privacy of the home.