Document Type

Book Chapter

Department

Dance (Pomona), Theatre (Pomona)

Publication Date

1998

Keywords

group dance, solo improvisational dance, professional dance, ritual and religious dance

Abstract

The Kurds are a nomadic people whose homeland (Kurdistan) and population (of some 10 million) are now divided among mountainous rural regions of Syria, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Armenia; small numbers live in Israel and the Republic of Georgia, (and a separatist movement is headquartered in Paris, France). They speak an Iranian (a Persian) language, and some believe them to be the descendants of the ancient Medes. Without a state of their own, the Kurds place great importance on such cultural forms and identity markers as dancing.

Comments

Shay, Anthony. "Kurdish Dance" in Selma Jeanne Cohen, Ed., International Encyclopedia of Dance, Vol. 4, pp. 78-79, 1998, produced by permission of Oxford University Press.

This encyclopedia entry is also available from Oxford University Press at: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/international-encyclopedia-of-dance-9780195173697?cc=us&lang=en&#

Rights Information

© 1998 Oxford University Press

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