United States At the University of Wisconsin, through the efforts of Afghanistan’s former presidential spokesman Najib Azad and his wife Sarwat Najib, the traditional Pashto language was taught. Dance has been introduced as a course in the dance department of the university.
After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, Najeeb Azad left the country with his wife and moved to the United States, where he now teaches in the political science department at the University of Wisconsin.
Atnar Dance Traditional Pashto Dance is, which was done in the past, including marriage, to boost the spirit of military men in wars. It Afghanistan is also considered a national dance, which requires regular practice and skill.
Najeeb Azad told Independent Urdu that the story behind the introduction of the course was that a dance event was held in the university’s fine arts department, which featured dances from different cultures, including classical dance from India and belly dance from Egypt. Performed.
He said: ‘Meanwhile we talked to the professors there about the Atnar dance and told them some of its history and they liked it.’
According to Najeeb Azad, Atnar was later included in the dance course of the department. There are up to two hundred students in this department and all are now learning this dance.
Regarding those who teach dance, Najeeb Azad said that his wife is also a graphics and fashion designer and she helped the department in researching this dance and later it was introduced as a course.
Najeeb Azad said: ‘It is a six-month course and after completing the course, students can take this dance as a research paper subject. In the dance department, each student chooses a dance of his choice and writes a research paper on it.
What is the history of Atnar dance?
The Atnar dance is considered an important part of the Pashtun musical tradition and is often performed at joyous festivals, weddings and other events. Dance is performed, which is performed by young and old women as well.
In the wedding ceremonies in the tribes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the elders of the area stand in a circle and perform this dance to the beat of the drum and receive applause from the rest of the people. It is an important part of weddings there.
Rehan Muhammad belongs to Karam district. He told Independent Urdu that Atnar dance is not considered wrong by elders and youths there but consider it as a part of the culture there and on the occasion of happiness, Atnar dance is held regularly in the morning.
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Rehan said: ‘Apart from men, women also perform the Atnar dance to the beat of a drum, which is called ‘Babrira’ in the local language of Karam district, in marriage ceremonies inside the houses.’
According to historians, Atnar dance is about two thousand years old.
The pace of this dance is slow in the beginning, but with the beat of the drum, its speed also increases. Apart from this, Atnar dance is performed differently in each region, for example: In Waziristan, Kurram and other districts this dance is performed differently.
It is called by different names such as Mehsudi Atnar, Kabuli Atnar, Waziristani Atnar, Khatki, Herati, Paktiaki, Mazari, Shenwari, Kandahari, Sastani, Pishai and Nooristani Atnar etc.
According to a research paper on the dances of Afghanistan by the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-Operation in Switzerland, a variant of the Atnar dance is called ‘Ghabarg’ Atnar, which was performed by both men and women together.
In Ghabarg Atnar, men used to sing love songs and while dancing, women responded with love songs, but now the Atnar dance is mostly confined to men.
When and where did Atnar dance begin?
According to the Swiss Agency’s research paper, Atnar dance has its roots in Greece as Atnar dance was performed in plays for the Greek god Dionysus. The dance steps and music in this Greek drama are very dance-like.
According to the paper, it is not yet clear how this dance then moved from Greece to Afghanistan, but historians believe that the word Atnar is derived from ‘athens’, which was the name of the Greek god of ‘wisdom and wisdom’.
After that, there is no clear history of the migration of Atnar from Greece to Afghanistan, but it was introduced in Afghanistan from the time of the Aryan nation and later spread to different regions of Afghanistan.
In an article about the Atnar dance, the national dance of Afghanistan, Cup writes, ‘The symbols, structure, rhythm used in this dance. Pashtun Tribes are represented, but at the national level there is nothing to call it the national dance of Afghanistan.
According to the same paper, Atnar also has a Khatak Atnar, which is called the traditional Atnar dance of Afghanistan and dates back to about 2200 years, but there is no formal historical evidence for this claim. Khattak is considered to be a very old variant of Atan, but it is no longer performed.
According to the paper: ‘Khattak dance is also known as warrior dance which is still preserved by some people and especially Ghilzai tribe people perform this dance. Khattak dance was also performed during the Mughal era and is mostly performed with a sword in hand.’
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2024-08-04 02:02:07