Mavilim is a circle folk dance choreographed in Central-Anatolian Turkish style to the Turkish folk song Mavilim Mavişalim. The dance is one taught by the touring folk dance instructor, native of Türkiye, Ahmet Lüleci. Many recordings of Mavilim (Mavişalim) have been made in various styles. Ahmet uses an upbeat one by Aysegül (Yordam) off her first in a series of albums entitled Güzelleme (1994), which incorporates Western instruments and styles with the traditional Turkish. I provide the lyrics to Mavilim (Mavişalim) below. The translation is from an actual Turkish-speaking human, rather than a Google bot. However, it is still strange. Something about wanting to run away and make love…
| Dance Name: | Mavilim |
| Country or Style: | Turkey |
| Region: | Central Anatolia |
| Dance Type: | Circle/Chain/Line: non-partner |
| Dance Category: | Modern RIFD |
| Folk Status: | Arranged Folklore |
| Skill Level: | Easy |
| Energy Intensity: | Moderate |
| Pronunciation: | MAH-vee-lim |
| Translation: | My Blue One/Blue-Eyed |
| Presented in USA: | Ahmet Lüleci |
| Year: | ≥ 1994 (music date) |
| Song: | Mavilim Mavişalim by Aysegül |
| Time Signature: | 2/2 |
| Dancer Formation: | Open Circle |
| Hand Hold: | W-pos or Pinkie-pos |
| Leads to: | R w/ R |
| Date Taught: | 7/2/2024 |
| Teacher: | David |
| Published: | June 25, 2024 |
| Updated: | June 25, 2024 |
But the Arms!
The footwork of the dance is quite simple for all to glean. It seems the difficult part of the dance is for dance note authors to figure out how to describe the timing of the arms. Fortunately, we have an excellent video provided by Dale Adamson of Ahmet teaching the dance at the 2014 Lyrids Folk Dance Festival in BC, Canada, and a video is worth a jillion words. The confusion is that the arms swing freely in the natural way you get from bouncing and letting your arms swing by the physics of pendulum motion: The arms, connected at a pivot, are acted upon by gravity and the alternating addition or subtraction of bouncing body acceleration. Is that clear now? You should watch the video for yourself, but my characterization is this:
The arms are moving from back to front on count 1, and on the actual count 1, the arms/hands are passing by the hips (you could pat your hips on the beat). Sometime between count 1 and count 2 (the & of the beat) gravity will stall your arm swing, and the direction changes to backward travel in such timing that your arms pass by your hips on count 2. You really just need to let your arms do the swinging on the beat and not worry about what's going on with your feet. It's a walking-and-chewing-gum situation.
Ahmet Lüleci Dancing Mavilim
Teaching by Ahmet Lüleci
Other Dancing Examples
Music: Mavilim Mavişalim
Lyrics: Mavilim Mavişalim
Translation from LyricsTranslate, Grup Abdal version #1 EnglishAysegül's Arrangement of Mavilim
Mavilim mavişelim, mavilim mavişelim
// Tenhada buluşalım mavilim //
Kurban olduğum Allah, kurban olduğum Allah
// Tez gönder kavuşalım mavilim //
[Instrumental 1x]
Mavilim herg ediyor, mavilim herg ediyor
// Hergini terk ediyor mavilim //
Hergin başını yesin, hergin başını yesin
// Yârim elden gidiyor mavilim //
[Instrumental 2x]
Mavilim mavişelim, mavilim mavişelim
// Tenhada buluşalım mavilim //
Mavilim kalk gidelim, mavilim kalk gidelim
// Feneri yak gidelim mavilim //
[Taksim (ending)]
Feneri yak gidelim mavilim
Feneri yak gidelim mavilim
[Extra verse, not in Aysegül's recording]
Bizimle gelen olmaz, bizimle gelen olmaz
// Sılayı terk edelim mavilim //My Blue-Eyed Let's Make Blue*
* in this song "make blue" means "make love"
My blue-eyed, let's make blue
Let's meet somewhere desolate (my blue-eyed)
Oh the God I adore
Send her quickly and let us come together (my blue-eyed)
My blue-eyed plows the field
She is leaving the field (my blue-eyed)
May the field cause you many troubles
I am losing my love (my blue-eyed)
My blue-eyed, let's go away
Light the lantern and let's go away (my blue-eyed)
Nobody else will be coming behind us
Let's leave the home (my blue-eyed)