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Thread: Zeybek warriors and their eagle dance

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    Default Zeybek warriors and their eagle dance

    Zeybeks

    Zeybeks were irregular militia and guerrilla fighters living in the Aegean Region of the Ottoman Empire from late 17th to early 20th centuries.
    Before the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, large concentrations of Zeybeks could be found in the Ionian coast of Asia Minor and more particularly in western Anatolia, near the city of Izmir.
    They acted as protectors of village people against landlords, bandits and tax collectors. A leader of a Zeybek gang was called Efe and his soldiers were known as either Zeybeks or Kızan. Kızan was generally used for newly recruited or inexperienced Zeybeks. There was generally a tribe democracy in group. Decisions were taken in a democratic way, after the decision was taken Efe has an uncontroversial authority. They followed definite rituals for all actions; for example, the promotion of a kızan to zeybek was very similar to Ahi rituals.
    Zeybeks had a special dance in which performers simulated hawks and eagles. Romantic songs about their bravery are still popular in Turkish folk music. The yatagan sword was their primary weapon, but most of them carried firearms as well.
    The Zeybeks fought against the Greek invasion of Western Anatolia during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922. Their guerrilla warfare gave time for Turkish resistance to form a defense. After the formation of a Turkish national army, most of them joined and continued their resistance.

    Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeibeks
    Zeybek dance

    The zeybek is a form of folk dance peculiar to Western, Central and southern Anatolia in Turkey. It is named after the Zeybeks.
    All zeybek dances have a common characteristic form, but the positioning of the arms and body differ according to the different regions. The rhythm is also very characteristic, a pattern of nine slow beats: 9/4 = 2+2+2+3 beats or 3+2+2+2 with occasional variations.
    Zeybek melodies can be divided according to their tempo: ağır (slow) and kıvrak (fast). The ağır zeybek have rhythmic patterns of 9/2 or 9/4, which begin with an introduction called gezinleme in free style where the dancers wander freely before starting to dance in time with the rhythm. There is, however, no gezinleme introduction in female zeybek dances. Kıvrak zeybek have rhythmic patterns of 9/8 or 9/16.

    Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeybek_dance
    Some nice examples of zeybek dance:

    Yağar Yağmur Zeybeği
    [YOUTUBE]MLqfPSZWzbk[/YOUTUBE]

    Tavas Zeybeği
    [YOUTUBE]wtvFC6VIxPg[/YOUTUBE]

    Koca Arap Zeybeği
    [YOUTUBE]Rydj8BTpof0[/YOUTUBE]

    Kostak Ali Zeybeği (solo)
    [YOUTUBE]a-Tp9MiZu30[/YOUTUBE]

    Kostak Ali Zeybeği (group)
    [YOUTUBE]nBFcFWOODMQ[/YOUTUBE]

    Tekeler Zeybeği & Kostak Ali Zeybeği
    [YOUTUBE]29S5_1PuAMo[/YOUTUBE]

    Maltepe Askeri Lisesi Zeybek Ekibi
    [YOUTUBE]s9BIBDkLhVM[/YOUTUBE]























    Last edited by TheMagnificent; 12-15-2012 at 09:05 PM.

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    Interesting! Were they a tribal group, originally? Original Turks? And if, did they preserve their ethnic purity for centuries?

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    Default

    I was in folk team in highschool prep. We were doing doing similar figures like shown by Maltepe millitary.. It's quite magnific and vigorous, though the costumes they gave us were all same size and quite small :/

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    Cok guzel

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    Default Strange,

    I notice a similarity between the Zeybek dances and some of the Hopi Kachina dances. Perhaps the similarity lies in the fact that they are both emulating eagles.



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    Quote Originally Posted by Wild North View Post
    Interesting! Were they a tribal group, originally? Original Turks? And if, did they preserve their ethnic purity for centuries?
    Zeybeks was the Robin Hoods of Turkey because they were stealing rich people`s money and properties, giving it to the poor Turkish villagers. They became as some kind of heroes among them and thats why, these villagers composed folk songs for them. Thats how Zeybek music and dances has been born.

    Their fate has been changed after the Greek invasion of Anatolia because when Turkey had no army between 1919-1921, these Zeybek groups was doing guerrilla warfare against the Greek army and they played a key role for the Turkish resistance. After Ataturk formed a new army, they joined him and fought as a soldiers too.

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    As a side note, Greeks also have this type of dance and they call it as "Zeybekiko"!

    Zeybekiko is some kind of variation of Turkish zeybek dance of Aegean Anatolia. Anatolian immigrants brought this dance to Greece along with all the instruments and music style too. After that, they created a faster and more vibrant dance called "Sirtaki" by using zeybek dance figures as base.

    The dance style of the famous movie "Zorba the Greek" is also a zeybek dance.

    Greeks claims this music and dance as their own, like they claim for most of the Turkish stuff but their self-claimed Greek national dance is in fact a ripoff from Turkish zeybek.

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    [YOUTUBE]uY2YQPS2vo8[/YOUTUBE]

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    Thanks for the input, Onur; very informing.

    Çakal Çökerten Zeybeği ('the zeybek that makes jackals kneel')
    [YOUTUBE]mZLtZzOosXU[/YOUTUBE]

    İnce Hava Zeybeği
    [YOUTUBE]hHP4iGY-yig[/YOUTUBE]

    İnce Hava Zeybeği, another great performance of the same zeybek
    [YOUTUBE]VSfrz2JxmzE[/YOUTUBE]

    Seymens, the Zeybeks of Central Anatolia:

    Seymen

    Seymen is the name of an irregular militia tradition in Central Anatolia, not unlike Zeybeks of the Aegean Anatolia.

    Originally, Seymen was a rank in the Seljuk military, introduced at the time of the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. After their triumph, they became protectors of Turkish tribes who had started to settle all around Anatolia. They were the police force in Konya for a time, but after the Mongol Invasion, Seymens were disbanded. However, the Ottomans reintroduced Seymens in the 13th century.
    In the Ottoman society, the Seymen tradition continued to exist as a paramilitary youth organization. They were known for their unique uniforms and arms.
    During the Turkish Independence War, Seymens took up arms once again and fought against the invading forces. Ankara, the stronghold of Seymens, ultimately became the capital of the new Turkish republic.
    The traditional Seymen dance, also associated with the province of Ankara, is known as Misket.

    Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymen
    [YOUTUBE]70DwVJCisSo[/YOUTUBE]

    [YOUTUBE]hOWRgn9Pm6I[/YOUTUBE]












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    Talking

    Quote Originally Posted by Onur View Post
    Greeks claims this music and dance as their own, like they claim for most of the Turkish stuff but their self-claimed Greek national dance is in fact a ripoff from Turkish zeybek.

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