Robots dancing Kara Jorga dance

By Zeena Urynbassarova

“Kara Jorga” - Black Horse Dance getting popular with robots and a man from Africa.

The Soviet negation of animistic dance practices has led to the disappearances of dance forms among steppe nomads of Central Asia. But ritual or entertainment dances such as "Kamazhai" (female dance) or "Bear" are among the rare survivors. At the turn of the 21st century, the Kazakhs and Kirgiz "discover" Kara Jorga - Black Horse. "Kara Jorga" was popularized by an elderly Kazakh émigré from Germany named Arystan Shadetuly who came forward in 1999 claiming that it was an old nomadic shamanic dance he learned from his father. "Kara-Jorga" is performed on dombra (two-stringed lute) music with same name, dancer energetically move hands and shoulders and slowly turning around a small space. It is also called “The Dance of Joints”. Sometimes dancer goes on his knees and bends back and forward. The words of the accompanying song are light and entertaining:

Without "Kara-Jorga",

there is no beauty to dance

Without a double skirt,

there is no beauty to a girl

Old men hang around in a merry mood

Light comes out from their faces

Let them dance on a steppe

Boast in front of there old women

Old women talk nonsense

Their white scarf flutter when they walk

They are winking to old men

Let them dance shaking (shoulders).