A research on Ardahan folk dances

Ardahan is one of the border (serhat) cities located in the Northeast of Turkey. Due to its geographical location, communities with a cultural and sociological structure have lived in the region in the historical process and this has enabled the region to take on a rich cultural structure. Especially the development of oral music and its transmission from generation to generation is an important value that the tradition of minstrelsy adds to this region. In addition, this region, which plays a significant role in the upbringing of many minstrels, is also very valuable with its folk songs and folk dances. In the first chapter of our study, firstly folk dance, the concept of folk dance, and dance have been discussed in their historical context, and then the development process of folk dances from the past to the present has been described. In the second chapter, the basic movements in folk dances have been determined, the basic concepts in the folk dance description have been explained, the movement classification studies carried out in the field of Turkish folk dances from the past to the present have been examined, and in the light of these studies, a new structural analysis for folk dances has been proposed. Within the scope of this proposal, it has been recommended to use the concept of "slice", which is one of the analysis titles we propose in our study. On the other hand, folk dances (or dances) performed in the context of Ardahan culture have been examined with a table called "folk dance tag" and a method called "movement chart", and the descriptions of the folk dances have been supported with photographs. In the third chapter, information about Ardahan music culture has been given, folk dances performed in the region have been compiled, a "folk dance music tag" has been created explaining 26 folk dance music in detail, and the music of these folk dances has been notated. In the fourth chapter, two different types of folk dance clothes, jewelry, and accessories worn by men and women in Ardahan city center and Damal, one of the districts of Ardahan, have been photographed one by one. In this chapter, it has been tried to determine the connections of shaman clothing and clothes of the Seljuk Period with clothes in the region in historical context, since the seashells used in shaman clothing are seen on some women's belts in the region and the caftans of the Seljuk Period are similar to the caftans worn in the region in terms of shape and style. It is our greatest wish that this study will also be a source for other researches aiming to serve Turkish folklore and Ardahan culture. Keywords: Folk dance, dance, Ardahan folk dances, movement analysis, slice, music, clothing