Sandraq [сандракъ] (or Sandraqe [сандракъэ]) refers to two ancient Circassian ritual dances, mentioned in the Nart epic. In one, pairs of men and women performed dance rites in veneration of the Supreme God Theshxwe. The dance is unusually lively and of fast tempo, almost orgiastic in its intensity. In this dance, performed in the yard, two men or women hold hands crosswise and move their feet in unusually rapid steps, gradually moving forwards and round the hut. The accompanying dance music is extremely lively and energetic. In the other version, young women wishing to have children performed fertility rituals, including dancing the Sandraq in front of a stone idol, revealing their chests. 

Sandraq, the dance and melody, became extinct in the last century. Though the Circassians lost the lore associated with the dance, it has been preserved, and is still performed, by the neighbouring Balkar, Karachai, Imeretians, and Ossetians, who acknowledge that it was borrowed from the Circassians.

Remarkably, the English ethno-musicologist Edmund James Pearse (1882-1958), on a musical expedition sponsored by the Gramophone Company, recorded the music of the sacred dance in Armavir during his expeditions to the North Caucasus in 1911 and 1913. He made many records containing dozens of musical pieces and melodies played by the band of the famous Circassian minstrel Mihamet Haghewij [Хьагъэудж Мыхьамэт] (c. 1850-1918) of the Kweshhable village in present-day Adigea. The Adigean musicologist Alla Sokolova managed to bring a number of these records back from London to Adigea, where they are kept in the National Museum. Some of the musical pieces on these records, including Sandraq, have been revived by the bands “Zchiw” and “Yislhamiy”. Thus, the ancient Circassian Sandraq melody has been restored. 

Haghewij is one of the first musicians to introduce the accordion in Circassian music and to spread its use in the 1890s. He, however, met a tragic end, as he and all the adult males in his village were shot dead by the Russian army in 1918. One recording of Haghewij survives in the IMC record (NSA Ref ICS0055110). 

Sandraq: Circassian Ritual Dance  [by Mihamet Haghewij]

"Who told you that we Circassians will become extinct?!" 
[«Хэт фэ къыв­жезыIар, адыгэр ды­кIуэ­­ды­жыну?!»]

Composed and sung by Albert Lhache [Лъачэ Альберт; Альберт Тлячев].

This is a song that expresses the Circassian collective yearning towards unity of all the Circassians, everywhere, in Circassia and all the Diaspora countries. It embraces optimism and negates the narrative of the doomsayers who predict the extinction of the Circassian nation. 

Lhache is a prolific Adigean singer and songwriter. He composed many songs on Circassian villages, towns and clans in Circassia and the diaspora, emphasizing Circassian unity. "Who told you?!" well represents his fine art of composition. The artist is a good representative of modern-day Circassian bards.

Sandraq: Circassian Ritual Dance [by Mihamet Haghewij]

Amjad Jaimoukha

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