#kintouri

[atwd-cultural-corner]

andthenwedanced Instagram

[batri-jopa]

Found on kublashvili on Instagram:

არც ისე დიდი ხნის წინ, დიდი ქართველი მხატვრის - ლადო გუდიაშვილი უცნობი ნამუშევრები, მათ შორის კოსტიუმების ესკიზები გამოქვეყნდა. სამწუხაროდ, ეს კოსტიუმები არ განხორციელებულა.

ხომ საინტერესოა, როგორი იქნებოდა რეალურად? თითოეული ესკიზის გვერდით არის ჩემი ვიზუალიზაცია, თუ როგორი შეიძლებოდა ყოფილიყო კოსტიუმი, რეალურად რომ შეკერილიყო

[ Google translation of the text above: "Not so long ago, unknown works by the great Georgian artist Lado Gudiashvili, including sketches of costumes, were published. Unfortunately, these costumes were not realized. It's interesting to see what it would look like in real life, isn't it? Next to each sketch is my visualization of what the costume could look like if it were actually sewn." ]

[junawer]

Levan Akin and Levan Gelbakhiani about Kintouri

And Then We Danced / და ჩვენ ვიცეკვეთ (2019, Levan Akin)

[batri-jopa]

Another fanart of And Then We Danced / და ჩვენ ვიცეკვეთ (2019) dir. Levan Akin

I know most of you would simply put Merab and Irakli dancing together above that text BUT in my opinion it would be a sin not to use Irakli's dance-coded nonverbal message to Merab since it fits "KEEP CALM" so damn well!!!

Well, dear fellow ATWD fans - It seems like I'm starting another art series! Its working title is: "ideas so obvious I can't believe nobody did that before me"

In other words - this is so uncreative and style-lacking that my own brain doesn't even recognise it as my art... But I couldn't not let it exist once I got that idea, right? Somebody should've made it years ago! - so if I can't find it then let that "somebody" be me, that's all🤷

[batri-jopa]

I found more* of Bachi and Levan giving dance lessons!!!😍❤️❤️

Source: andthenwedanced on Instagram

* till now I thought there was only this YouTube video below:

Bachi Valishvili and Levan Gelbakhiani - actors starring in swedish-georgian movie And Then We Danced / და ჩვენ ვიცეკვეთ (2019) dir. Levan Akin

[batri-jopa]

I'll be talking about #ATWD kintouri trail now.

It goes like this: you watch the movie And Then We Danced (2019, dir. Levan Akin) for the first time. Maybe even stay for the whole End Credits because of that enchanting beautiful music... And you notice the very last song in the credits is a little different. Sounds really old, unclear and... well generally not so very great. Probably been put in end credits to correspond with those old films of georgian dances the movie begins with, you think. Yeah, fair enough, you think.

Only a tiny detail more: its name is Kinto's Song.

Rings a bell? Like: hey, wait a minute, wasn't the dance that boys were dancing also named kintouri?

So, yeah, you've found the connection, you can be proud of yourself! Now if you decided not to be obsessed with ATWD you feel satisfied enough already and just go on and live your life...

Otherwise - you start to dig.

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First of all: what does kinto (კინტო) mean?

In old Tblisi (end of XIX century, beginning of XX) Kintos were small merchants, often street fruit sellers, usually carrying their goods on their heads around the city.

Their lifestyle was not like the rest of the georgian society and their traditional clothes were different from other Georgians as well: instead of chokha Kinto was wearing black outfit with baggy pants and a silk shawl hanging from his silver belt - the shawl was to wrap the fruits and vegetables in them to weight.

Sources (read if you're interested): [X], [X], [X]

So, young males and rather poor ones. And without families in the very family-centred georgian society... I don't think it's very surprising to learn that homosexuality wasn't rare among their community (although that's the part you won't find on georgian wikipedia). Even less knowing that when you're on the bottom of the social ladder it's finally where nobody around cares about your life anymore🤷 (I only wonder if it was rather the primal reason for anyone to leave his home and choose a life like this or if it was finding out ones orientation due to mainly interacting with other men. I suppose it might have worked both ways?)

Then we come to the "traditional georgian dance" issue: Kinto's traditional dance is kintouri (or Kintauri, კინტოური) also known as shalakho (შალახო) and it is said to be informal and light natured. I've also read that some of its parts (like hands movements) are of Persian origin. A female Persian dance specifically. [X]

Of course when Kintouri became a part of official Traditional Georgian Ballet - it went through some changes. As was mentioned in And Then We Danced in the last 50 years it became more "masculine", just like adjaruli and other Georgian Dances. So before that I believe it could have been more like this?

It's Fridon Sulaberidze (ფრიდონ სულაბერიძე) who was born in 1941 but I have no idea what year the film is showing😕 probably 1970's?

Now finally: what is the Kinto's Song? It is the song recorded on X-ray plate almost hundred years ago and found in 2018. Illegal song: song of a man loving two other men. I guess Levan Akin must have found the song quite recently before making And Then We Danced (2019).

Knowing all that historical and cultural context - I can not imagine any better fitting song for the end of the movie about struggling between your tradition and culture and your love to another guy...

That movie is a masterpiece in every little detail!🥰❤❤

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Of course it's just a beginning - what I wanted to indicate just now is that the song in End Credits is a hint to kintouri being a trail to follow throughout the movie. Furthermore I want to show you how it may lead to see few movie scenes in a little bit different light (like here), so expect me talking more about #ATWD kintouri trail from time to time

[batri-jopa]

Muxe / muxhe - "third gender" in Mexico [x]

Kinto (კინტო) in Georgia [x][x]

[batri-jopa]

Khastegi (2008) dir. Bahman Motamedian [gif author: @celluloidrainbow ]

And Then We Danced / და ჩვენ ვიცეკვეთ (2019) dir. Levan Akin

Examples of hands and hips movements in persian dance in Tehran (Iran) and kintouri / კინტოური in Tbilisi (Georgia)