Watch Georgian Dance "Khevsuruli" (Xevsuruli)

Watch Georgian Dance: Khevsuruli (ხევსურული) – This mountain dance is probably the best representative of the Georgian spirit. It unites love, courage, and respect for women, toughness, competition, skill, beauty, and colorfulness into one amazing performance. The dance starts out with a flirting couple. Unexpectedly, another young men appears, also seeking the hand of the woman. A conflict breaks out and soon turns into a vigorous fighting between the two men and their supporters. The quarrel is stopped temporarily by the woman’s veil. Traditionally, when a woman throws her head veil between two men, all disagreements and fighting halts. However, as soon as the woman leaves the scene, the fighting continues even more vigorously. The young men from both sides attack each other with swords and shields. In some occasions, one man has to fight off three attackers. At the end, a woman (or women) comes in and stops the fighting with her veil once again. However, the final of the dance is "open" –meaning that the audience does not know the outcome of the fighting. As a characteristic of Georgian dances, Khevsuruli is also very technical and requires intense practice and utmost skill in order to perform the dance without hurting anyone.