Armenia has come up with a formidable new defensive tactic. Plans are underway to teach Armenian military cadets traditional folk dancing as a way to raise morale and also preserve the country’s rich cultural heritage.
The idea belongs to a recently established song-and-dance organization, led by seasoned choreographer and ethnographer Gagik Ginosian. “Military men must know Armenian military dances, in practice as in theory,” commented Ginosian, a co-founder of the National Academy for Song and Dance, to Sputnik Armenia. “This is going to be a kind of test for the soldier. Dancing brings a sense of unity, a team spirit,” he said.
To start, traditional military dances will be taught in the Vazgen Sargsyan State Military Academy, based in the capital, Yerevan, but later will be included in military schools nationwide. Ginosian says Armenia has as many as 15 types of military dances.
As elsewhere in the Caucasus, folk dancing remains popular in Armenia, and, when performed by Armenian military men, looks like this.
But Armenia’s longtime enemy, Azerbaijan, was not impressed by its neighbor’s dance-plans, with some sarcastically scoffing that Azerbaijanis are now going to be shivering in their bones. “Perhaps it is going to be like Aram Khachaturian’s ‘Sabre Dance’ or a mix of dance and kung fu?” bristled one Azerbaijani news outlet.
However, Azerbaijani warriors have been known not to let an opportunity pass to break into dance. Similarly, soldiers in NATO-aspiring Georgia also got the moves.
Perhaps if Armenia can blaze the trail for its neighbors, the Caucasus, that eternal battlefield, could be turned into one big dance-floor.
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
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