The geographic location encouraged commerce and exposed the Armenians to many other peoples: Phyrgians, Assyrians, Persians, Hellenic Greeks, Romans, Laz, Jews, Byzantines, Arabs, Kurds, Seljuks, Mongols, Osmanli, Georgians, Asiatic Albanians, Russians and countless others.

Ancient Armenia was a feudal society with each district ruled by a Nakharar (feudal lord). These noble houses jealously protected their perogatives and limited the possibility of national unity. The unruly autonomy of these princely houses also hindered the rule of would-be conquerors. As a result, this ruling class was gradually destroyed by invading armies to facilitate their own rule. The destruction of the Nakharar class also destroyed the "high" culture of the native elite. The only surviving institution was the Armenian Church, which became the dominant political, religious and social focus of Armenian life. The ecclesiastic orientation of Armenian culture today reflects this phenomena.

Although centuries of Ottoman subjugation changed or destroyed much of Armenia’s "Great Tradition" (elite culture), the "little tradition" of the peasantry remained relatively unchanged for millenia. The rich dance heritage remained a living tradition into the 20^th century. The Turkish massacres and deportations of 1,500,000 Armenians during World War I and the subsequent dispersion of the survivors irrevocably destroyed much of the dance heritage of Western Armenia, leaving scattered fragments of some dances. Many of these surviving fragments have since been lost due to modern cultural assimilation and urbanization.

The destruction of most of the material culture has made it difficult to study the dance historically. Similarities in the poses found in Armenian dance with poses found on ancient Sumerian and Urartian artifacts have been cited as evidence of a direct relationship. These similarities do suggest the continuity of certain motifs, but these motifs are also shared by neighboring ethnic groups. Most of the written records that have survived are ecclesiastically oriented (e.g., illuminated manuscripts), and make little mention of the dance. These writers were clerics who viewed the dance as pagan in origin and generally ignored or suppressed it. The references that do exist indicate that many Armenian dances were originally totemic, imitating animals or nature.

Thanks to Gary Lind-Sinanian of ALMA for the contribution of this article.

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