ADanceIndependent states
Bar dance (Erzurum)
The open-air group dance of Eastern Anatolia — Erzurum, Kars, Artvin and Bayburt — performed shoulder to shoulder.
Bar is usually danced in open squares, with men and women dancing separately. Dancers form a straight line holding hands or shoulders and stamp their steps in rhythm.
Erzurum's bars — Hançer Barı, Tamzara, Sarı Çiçek, Temirağa — are especially famous. In some, dancers hold daggers and swords and act out battle scenes.
Bar is accompanied by davul and zurna and shows close kinship with the folk dances of Azerbaijan and the Caucasus.
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Updated: October 2, 2026