Govend

The govend is the Kurdish circle dance: dancers joined hand to hand or shoulder to shoulder, moving as one line that curls into a circle, led by a dancer waving a cloth. It is community made visible, danced at weddings, at Newroz and at every celebration worth the name. Each region has its steps and its tunes, from the stately to the explosive, and a good govend singer or zurna-and-def pair can hold a floor for hours. Related dance families such as halparke in Başûr and Rojhilat, and named steps such as Delîlo, belong to the same great tradition. Search interest in govend and its dances runs to tens of thousands a month across languages: the dance floor remains the strongest living channel of Kurdish music.