{{Short description|Folk dance of the Armenian Highlands}} {{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{Infobox dance | name = Kochari | image = Kochari - Armenian folk dance.png | alt = | caption = Young Armenians dancing kochari in Yerevan | native_name = Քոչարի | etymology = | genre = Folk dance<br />Circle dance | instruments = | year = | origin = Armenia }} {{Infobox intangible heritage | ICH = Kochari, traditional group dance | State Party = Armenia | ID = 01295 | Region = ENA | Year = 2017 | Session = 12th | List = Representative }}
'''Kochari''' ({{Langx|hy|Քոչարի|translit=K'očari}}; {{Langx|az|Köçəri}}; {{Langx|el|Κότσαρι|translit=Kótsari}}; {{Langx|tr|Koçari}}) is an Armenian folk dance originating in the Armenian Highlands.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kochari|url=https://www.bennettpilgrimages.org/kochari/|publisher=Bennet Pilgrimages|access-date=11 December 2023|date=11 April 2014}}</ref> It is performed today by Armenians,<ref>{{cite web |last=Elia|first=Anthony J.|title=Kochari (Old Armenian Folk Tune) for Solo Piano|url=http://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:160871|publisher=Center for Digital Research and Scholarship at Columbia University|access-date=6 November 2013|year=2013|doi=10.7916/D8S75QNP |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Great Soviet Encyclopedia|year=1953|publisher=Soviet Encyclopedia|location=Moscow|page=[http://bse2.ru/book_view.jsp?idn=030288&page=170&format=html 170]|edition=Second|editor=Vvedensky, Boris|volume=23|language=ru|quote=КОЧАРИ — армянский народный мужской танец.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Yuzefovich|first=Victor|title=Aram Khachaturyan|year=1985|publisher=Sphinx Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8236-8658-2|page=217|quote=..and in the sixth scene one of the dances of the gladiators is very reminiscent of Kochari, the Armenian folk dance.}}</ref> while variants are performed by Assyrians,<ref>{{cite web|last=BetBasoo|first=Peter Pnuel|title=Thirty Assyrian Folk Dances|url=http://www.aina.org/articles/tafd.pdf|publisher=Assyrian International News Agency|access-date=6 November 2013|date=30 April 2003}}</ref> Azerbaijanis,<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|last=Gottlieb|first=Robert|title=Astaire to Zopy-Zopy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/26/books/astaire-to-zopy-zopy.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921213703/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/26/books/astaire-to-zopy-zopy.html|archive-date=21 September 2013|access-date=6 November 2013|newspaper=New York Times|date=26 July 1998|author-link=Robert Gottlieb|quote=I find it difficult to imagine someone without a predisposition to read about such matters as Azerbaijani folk dance (''One type of yally has various forms known as kochari, uchayag, tello, and galadangalaya; another type is a dance mixed with games called gazy-gazy, zopy-zopy, and chopu-chopu'') browsing profitably through Oxford's many hundreds of pages of such information.}}</ref><ref name="unesco"/> and Pontic Greeks.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kotsari |url=http://www.pontian.info/dance/kotsari.htm |publisher=Pontian.info |access-date=6 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016041345/http://www.pontian.info/dance/kotsari.htm |archive-date=16 October 2012 }}</ref> It is a form of circle dance.
Each region in the Armenian Highlands had its own Kochari, with its unique way of both dancing and music.<ref>{{cite book|title=Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia Volume 4|year=1978|publisher=Armenian Encyclopedia Publishing|location=Yerevan|language=hy|page=[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%8D%D5%B8%D5%BE%D5%A5%D5%BF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B6%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%A3%D5%AB%D5%BF%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B6_%28Soviet_Armenian_Encyclopedia%29_12.djvu/page496-3840px-%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%8D%D5%B8%D5%BE%D5%A5%D5%BF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B6%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%A3%D5%AB%D5%BF%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B6_%28Soviet_Armenian_Encyclopedia%29_12.djvu.jpg 476]}}</ref>
==Etymology== *In Armenian, "Kochari" literally means "knee-come". Գուճ (gudj or goudj) means "knee" and արի (ari) means "come".<ref>{{cite book |last=Cholakean|first=Hakob |date=2016|script-title=hy:Ավանդական ուղղագրություն |location=Yerevan}}</ref>{{page needed |date=December 2023}} *In Azerbaijani Turkish, "köç" means "to move" used both as a verb and as a noun,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://obastan.com/k%C3%B6%C3%A7/22210/?l=az |title=KÖÇ |access-date=2020-12-05 |archive-date=2023-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805114301/https://obastan.com/k%C3%B6%C3%A7/22210/?l=az |url-status=dead }}</ref> with the latter used more in the context of nomads' travelling. "Köçəri" is also both an adjective and a noun, meaning a "nomad" and "nomadic" simultaneously.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://obastan.com/k%C3%B6%C3%A7%C9%99ri/22216/?l=az |title=KÖÇƏRİ |access-date=2020-12-05 |archive-date=2023-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805114259/https://obastan.com/k%C3%B6%C3%A7%C9%99ri/22216/?l=az |url-status=dead }}</ref> *In Pontic Greek, from the Greek "κότσι" (in Pontic Greek "κοτς") meaning "heel" (from Medieval Greek "κόττιον" meaning the same) and "αίρω" meaning "raise", all together "raising the heel", since the Greeks consider the heel to be the main part of the foot which the dancer uses.{{fact|date=November 2020}}
==Versions== John Blacking describes Kochari as follows: {{cquote|Group dancing, when dancers imitate jumping goats, is known as kochari. Dancers stand abreast, holding each other's hands, The tempo of the dance ranges from moderate to fast. Squatting and butting an imagined opponent are followed by high jumps.<ref>{{cite book|last=Blacking|first=John|title=The Performing Arts: Music and Dance|year=1979|page=71|publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-90-279-7870-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QKs16WBAaiIC&q=kochari+dance}}</ref>}}
=== Armenian === thumb|upright=1.75|A part of Armenian kochari Armenians have been dancing Kochari for over a thousand years.<ref>Kochari // Music encyclopedic dictionary / Yu.V. Keldysh, M.G. Aranovsky, L.Z. Korabelnikova — Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 1990. — p. 275.</ref> The dance is danced by both men and women and is intended to be intimidating. More modern forms of Kochari have added a "tremolo step", which involves shaking the whole body. It spread to the eastern part of Armenia after the Armenian genocide. The Armenian Kochari has been included to the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding of UNESCO in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/kochari-traditional-group-dance-01295|title=Kochari, traditional group dance|work=UNESCO|access-date=5 December 2020}}</ref>
=== Azerbaijani === Today this dancing is played in the Nakhchivan land of which Sharur, Sadarak, Kangarli, Julfa and Shahbuz regions' folklore collectives and it is performed at weddings.<ref name="nar">{{cite web|url=http://www.nakhchivan.az/portal-en/mil-reqs.htm|title=The National Dancings|publisher=Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic|access-date=6 November 2013}}</ref> Kochari along with tenzere has been included to the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding of UNESCO in November 2018 as versions of Yalli dance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.unesco.org/news/intangible-heritage-seven-elements-inscribed-list-need-urgent-safeguarding|title=Intangible Heritage: Seven elements inscribed on the List in Need of Urgent Safeguarding|website=UNESCO|language=en|access-date=2018-11-29}}</ref><ref name="unesco">{{Cite web|url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/USL/yalli-kochari-tenzere-traditional-group-dances-of-nakhchivan-01190?USL=01190|title=Yalli (Kochari, Tenzere), traditional group dances of Nakhchivan - intangible heritage - Culture Sector - UNESCO|website=ich.unesco.org|language=en|access-date=2018-11-29}}</ref>
=== Pontic Greek Kόtsari === The Pontic Greeks and Armenians have many vigorous warlike dances such as the Kochari.<ref>''Greece'' - Page 67 by Paul Hellander, Kate Armstrong, Michael Clark, Des Hannigan, Victoria Kyriakopoulos, Miriam Raphael, Andrew Ston</ref>
Unlike most Pontic dances, the Kotsari is in an even rhythm ({{music|time|2|4}}), originally danced in a closed circle.<ref name="pontos world">{{cite web |title=Kotchari |url=https://pontosworld.com/index.php/music/dances/585-kotchari |website=Pontos World|date=10 November 2019 }}</ref>
==See also== {{columns-list|colwidth=20em| *Kalamatianos *Tsamiko *Sirtaki *Omal *Horon *Khigga *An Dro *Tamzara *Hora *Dabke *Halay *Assyrian folk dance *Faroese dance }}
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Armenian National Dance in Aznavour Square (1).jpg|Kochari dance in Aznavour Square File:Armenian National Dance in Aznavour Square (2).jpg|Kochari dance in Aznavour Square File:Armenian National Dance in Aznavour Square (3).jpg|Kochari dance in Aznavour Square </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * Kochari music - [https://web.archive.org/web/20070630092123/http://hem.bredband.net/b218823/kochari.mp3 Armenian sample]; [http://www.qeenatha.com/music/Assyrian%20Folk%20Dance%20-%201961/Assyrian%20Folk%20Dances%20-%2013%20-%20Kochari.mp3 Assyrian sample]; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070809163753/http://www.qeenatha.com/music/Assyrian%20Folk%20Dance%20-%201961/Assyrian%20Folk%20Dances%20-%2013%20-%20Kochari.mp3 |date=2007-08-09 }} [http://www.scimitarmusic.com/pontos/grigoris.mp3 Pontic sample] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929150649/http://www.scimitarmusic.com/pontos/grigoris.mp3 |date=2007-09-29 }};[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927000012/http://www.artvin.gov.tr/h-ezgi/Akordiyon/kocari.MP3 Turkish sample] * Kochari dance - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvSVXd1lI5c UNESCO video]
{{Intangible Cultural Heritage in Armenia}} {{Turkish dances}} {{Greek dances}} {{Music of Southeastern Europe (the Balkans)}} {{Intangible Heritage Azerbaijan}} {{Circle dance}}
Category:Armenian dances Category:Music of Armenia Category:Assyrian dances Category:Azerbaijani dances Category:Circle dances Category:Pontic Greek dances Category:Folk dances Category:Group dances