THE ERZURUM KOÇER? (GÖÇER?) BARI

Abstract

Folk dance is the expression of the concepts such as emotions, thoughts, beliefs and lifestyles of the society with the usage of music and rhythm. The figures that form the folk dance have a long history. Every movement has a meaning, a basis and a past. The cultural assets brought by the Turks during their transition from Central Asia to Anatolia were intertwined and merged with Anatolian culture, which has been home to many civilizations since the early ages. The geographical conditions, climate and livelihoods of the said geography affected the culture of the dance as well as the way of life. As a result of this interaction, variety of dances as well as dance types were developed. These species are named as bars, halay, horon, zeybek, karsilamas, karsilamas with spoons, hora, yalli. It was found that our subject matter koçeri, one of our bar type dances, was played in many parts of Anatolia and even among Armenian folk dances under the name of kochari. Koçeri which is played in bar and halay type dances is known with such names as koçeri, köçeri, koççari, koçç?, göçeri. The dance starts with closed embrace and then continues with an open embrace by clamping the palms of the hands and ends with the open embrace in Erzurum. It is found to be a dance with animal imitation among the Erzurum folk dances. Written, visual and electronic sources and literature related to the subject are reviewed and Erzurum koçeri bar is examined.