MiddleEastExplorer Home > Turkey >
Karilama
Found in: Turkish words and phrases Turkish music Turkish dances Iranian music Iranian dances
Karilama is a Turkish dance of unsure origins found in the Balkans and Anatolia. It literally means "face-to-face greeting".
Karsilamas is a couple dance that is still danced in what was the former Byzantine and Ottoman empire, from Persia to Serbia, and in the Macedonia and Thrace regions of Northern Greece.
Today it is a raucous, bordering on the erotic, couple dance between men and women where the dancers face one another. Hands are held in the upright position about eye level, fingers snapped to the beat of the music, hips swaying.
The meter is 9/8, and the basic move is danced in four small steps with durations 2,2,2,3 respectively. The style and mood vary depending on the region.
Rumeli Karilamasi, Trakya Karilamasi, Merzifon Karilamasi, Edirne Karilamasi, Gumulcine Karilamasi, Tarakli Karilamasi, Bilecik Karilamasi, Old Karsilamas (Palios Karsilamas), Pigi Karsilama(Pigki), Aye Karsilama (Iskender bogazi)(Aise)(I Agapi Einai Karfitsa)(, Aptalikos Karsilamas (Aptalikos),. Asia Minor Karsilamas (Melinos karsilamas), Mastika.
Mastika is also the title of a Karilama in Turkish Roma music. Popular in some Balkan regions.
Sample
From a female version of the lyrics: "If you collect all the stars in sky and throw them on my lap,
in return I'll give you nine kids to have. // A-a-a, Mastika, mastika... // If you paint my body all in honey, I'll let you love me from my head to my toes... // A-a-a, Mastika, mastika..."
External links
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Karilama