The tradition of many centuries contributed to the development of the rich diversity in Armenian dance. The dance itself is divided into two categories: dances (barer in Armenian), which were executed to the accompaniment of musical instruments, and song-dances (bari-yerker in Armenian), which were performed to vocal accompaniment. Dances were usually accompanied by musical instruments. In the village, the most common instruments were davoul/ tahul (a large drum), and zourna (primitive oboe). Other popular village instruments used were the dudek, sheeve, mey (shephard's flutes), and daf (tamborine).
The sax was a stringed instrument commonly played in Western Armenia, with the tar being its Eastern counterpart. The kemenche (fiddle) was used as a folk instrument on the Black sea, but elsewhere was used to accompany the songs and poetry of the wandering ashoog (troubadour). A village ensemble often consisted of no more than two or three instruments.
While the dancers danced to instrumental music of dance-songs, the spectatotors would always clap for accompaniment. This clapping was considered an intrinsic part of any dance. Girls were expected to keep their eyes modestly downcast while dancing. This custom prompted the men to cajole them, crying "Zhabid" (smile), to tease them into ignoring the properties. Armenian dance has a wide variety of formations.
The dances are often performed in an open circle, with the little fingers interlocked. In general, the dances moved to the right, although there are a few areas that moved to the left. The basic structure of the dance could be either men only, women only, or mixed lines. The number of dancers also varied: group/line/circle dances, solo dances or couple dances. In rural Western Armenia, the couple dances were commonly done by members of the same sex (e.g. Womens duet from Chamokhlu, men’s combat dances). In the urban areas of Eastern Armenia, a man and woman dancing together as a couple was more typical, where the Armenian female played a sensuous role in the Armenian dance with hand movements.
Armenian dance could also be broken down into two distinct styles of dance, Western Armenian (Anatolian), and Eastern Armenian (Caucasian). These two major styles are also subdivided into regional styles (e.g. Van, Lori). In Eastern Armenia, the style of the Transcaucasus Mountains displays ballet-like movements and acrobatics in its original folk form, particularly the men’s dances. This is the style usually performed by most Armenian dance groups today, who are influenced by the repertoire of the State Dance Ensemble of Armenia.
Western Armenia is the native style of most of the original Armenian immigrants in America, who settled here after the destruction of Western Armenia. The Western style is far less flamboyant, with little of the leaps or bold gestures that characterize the eastern style. Western Armenian dance is noted for its heavy earthy movements. However, the Western Armenian style is far less dramatic than the Eastern Armenian, and consequently is rarely performed by stage groups, or seen in the public.
