AFGHAN DANCE

Afghan dance be for information only and not to be misrepresented by night club or show dancing but only to be further studied to be possibly eventually performed by very serious folk and ethnic dancers in a respectful egoless manner. No part of this copyrighted material which is drawn from publications by Eastern Arts may be used in any way without written permission from Eastern Arts, Thank you.
TERMINOLOGYPASHTUN - people of southern area of Afghanistan
TAJIK - Asiatic people in the north
TURKOMEN - people of the northwest
LOGARI - type of dance from Logar valley
SHAUQI - amateur musician, dancer; unpaid hobbyist
SAMOWAR - tea house where musicians meet and play
KESPI - professional (musician or other)
REBAB - skin-covered stringed instrument native of Afghanistan
TAMBUR - long necked stringed instrument
ZERBAGHALI - single headed clay goblet drum
DHOL - double headed wooden barrel drum
ATAN - national circle dance of Afghanistan
DOIRA - round frame drum
KHAGHAZBADBAZI - kite dance
CHOPBAZI - stick dance
NAZ - flirtatious or coy attitude
MAIDA - tiny shuffling footwork

AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan was one of the first stops for Indo-Aryan tribes on their way to India and Persia. It is the area where the original Vedic and Avestan hymns were developed and from whence most of the great Persian poets hail including Molana Jalalladin Rumi. Afghanistan was on the path of Buddhism which found it's way to Central Asia and China with Bamyan as a major Buddhist center with it's huge statue of the Buddha carved in a cave which was recently destroyed because is was considered a pagan a graven image. Afghanistan is a land of three main ethnic groups: the Pashtuns who inhabit the southern half, the Tajiks who are said to be the former inhabitants of the area and the Asiatic people of the north (mainly Uzbek), and Turkoman in the northwest. The southwest is inhabited by a minority group known as Baluchi who spread over from Iran and into Pakistan. The western border area of Afghanistan, Herat province, is inhabited by people similar to those living on the other side of the border in Iranian Khorasan. Music in Afghanistan seems to be divisible along these ethnic lines: Pashtun, Herati, Uzbek and the less predominant Baluchi and Turkoman styles. Logar province, south of Kabul is known for it's musicians and dancers and has a special style of it's own. In recent decades, Indian classical music has influenced the Kabul area.