Tamzara

Tamzara is both known as a song and as a dance. It is a man’s name. There are many varieties of this dance, because it was known in many regions in various forms. In Arapkir (former West Armenia) the name is said to be derived from the following anecdote. The leader of a village offered his guests his hospitality and always called for his daughter-in-law Zara to serve them “tan” (yoghurt mixed with salt and water). Therefore he called her by saying: “Tan, Zara!” According to the ancient storytellers, from then on the village name was changed to Tanzara.
How the name of the dance fits into the story remains kind of a mystery. Fact is that all Tamzaras are in a 9/8 beat (short-short-short-long). This version was taught by Paylak Sarkisian, and adapted by Tineke van Geel.

Presented by Tineke van Geel in 2008. View pdf here.