Baku, March 4, AZERTAC 

Sharur is the third largest region of the Nakhchivan Autonomus Republic. Sherur is a land of ancient history and culture of Azerbaijan. Its antiquity is not measured by the archaeological material culture samples. It also its yalli - a masterpiece of folk dance, which is considered the pearl and the oldest type of Azerbaijani culture.

Nakhchivan is known as the homeland of yalli not only in the Caucasus and the Middle East, but also for European nations.

National leader Heydar Aliyev named yalli the "crown of Nakhchivan". Yalli is also called the symbol of Sharur's antiquity, stamp of Oghuz. Great Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibayov said that Sharur is the cradle of Azerbaijan's folk culture.

Well-known dancer Amina Dilbazi wrote in her memoirs: " Yalli originates in Nakhchivan, in the land of Sharur".

So the establishment of Sharur People Yalli ensemble testifies to the fact that since the ancient times this land has been the cradle of yalli - the pearl of Azerbaijan`s culture.

Sharur Yalli features more than 100 types

Yalli is danced with specific skill and enthusiasm in the region. Charchiboghan village is believed to be the place where yalli emerged. Dance band "Nurani" is made up of the elders of this village. The youngest performer in the group is 61, while the oldest one is 80 years old. Merited culture worker Sattar Ahmadov, who is over 60, is a member of Nurani band of Sharur People Yalli Ensemble. A veteran dancer, he has been in love with yalli since childhood years. He teaches young people the secrets of this ancient dance. “Today it is hard to imagine Sharur weddings without yalli. Everyone, young and old, with great pleasure dance it,” Sattar Ahmadov says.

Director of the ensemble Kimya Babayeva says that there can hardly be some villages in Sharur where someone cannot dance yalli. “Once there were more than 100 kinds of yalli here. Çolağı, Üç addım, Köçəri, Dönə Yallı, Qaz-qazı, El Yallısı, İki ayaq, Qaladan-qalaya, Şəranı and etc. Many of these countless dances have been restored and included in the repertoire of the ensemble.”

Yalli continues to live today

Isgandar Aliyev, a naghara player, says travelling from village to village, from settlement to settlement they collected, studied and included dances in the repertoire in order not to lose our national yalli.

The ensemble was founded in 1924. The ensemble then stepped onto the big stage, travelling from village to village. Art director Afsar Novruzov says that the band participated in the artistic amateur festivals held in many countries around the world and was awarded diplomas and prizes. Yalli is not just an ordinary dance. Yalli is a symbol of unity.

These dances are the expression of the past, the present and national traditions of our people. It requires a great effort to preserve this folklore heritage called a symbol of antiquity, Oghuz stamp, which was passed throughout the centuries to the present days. We wish everyone who has contributed to this work success.