Zeybek Dance: The Origin

The dancer performed figures from traditional "Zeybek Dance". Titles tells about bravery and justice in a poetic way.
To read some more interesting articles about Zeybeks:
en.wikipedia.or...
en.wikipedia.or....
en.wikipedia.or....
Zeybek and Zeibekiko:
www.rebetology.....

[@Aquarian55]

Its much older than 16th century just became more known to the world then. Its in the Aegean more due to Turks conquering those regions first. But it is a Turkish dance.

[@Atillakaan51]

Peçeneklerden geliyor Oğuz Türklerine ait

[@AthosEric]

What does it mean? Fascinating! Do the movements have meaning? Can anyone explain? Love it!

[@Yarenoglu]

The origin of the word has been mostly forgotten, but it is likely a combination of Zeyrek (clever/witty) and old Turkic word for lord Beg (Bey in modern) So it could be Zeybeg, which morphed into Zeybek with the modern Turkish. But that's just a theory. The movements are shamanic in nature, probably leftover from the Tengrism days of Turkic nomads that arrived in Anatolia. Even in the 16th century, a lot of Turks were not Muslims, or newly converted Muslims that still practiced many old traditions, and many new waves of Turks kept coming from the east during this period. The zeybek culture kind of took off after the arrival of Afshars in the region. I am also a descendant of a Zeybek lord (Efe) and I come from Afshar tribe. Their movements are supposed to show off balance, and co-ordination. It shows friends and foes that the warrior is very nimble and agile. It looks simple, but its very difficult to keep your balance on one leg and pull off some of those moves. Every song has its own dance. So, even if you never met someone before, if you know the song, you can do a choreographed dance with them in a circle. That is also common in other regional dances in Turkey.