Abstract
This study essentially aims to put forward the conceptual framework for a transmission project for safeguarding the traditional dances of the people of Circassian origin living in Turkey. Today, due to modernisation and urbanisation, these dances are less and less known and practiced by the members of younger generations, and therefore, a transmission project which would bring different generations together is required. When structuring such a project is in question, significant questions such as what kind of transmission approach is to be chosen and which values must be given importance and priority in this approach emerge. In order to provide answers to these questions, the article identifies as its guides the basic principles in UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, as well as the contextual approaches in dance studies which bring up criticisms regarding certain points in the convention. According to the convention, safeguarding intangible cultural heritage elements such as tradi-tional Circassian dances begins with safeguarding the conditions that ensures the viability of these elements. Besides, UNESCO places particular emphasis on the involvement of local communities, which have until now kept these elements viable and have considered them as part of their identity, to this process of safe-guarding. The article first discusses how these dances are viable within the Circassian community at their habitual cultural context, and deduces that these dances are shaped by the concepts of play and xabze that are peculiar to Circassian community. Xabze is the name given to unwritten rules and regulations, which determine almost all social behaviours in Circassian community. With the purpose of maintaining a social order that is based on respect, love and kindness, xabze sets forth strict rules, but it also has a flexible structure that is open to the transformation of these rules in order adapt to changing conditions. Being determined by xabze to a great extent, Circassian dances also provide a convenient environment for the transmission of xabze through generations. On the other hand, the dances in question are referred to with the term “play” both in Circassian languages and Turkish, and the way they are practiced bears the primary qualities of play and playing. As a result, in a project for safeguarding Circassian dances, this study proposes to embrace a transmission approach which prioritises before anything else the safeguarding of the two fundamental contextual elements that shape these practices: xabze and playfulness. At the end of the article, a proposal for a transmission project which follows this conceptual framework and which will be led by the members of Circassian community is presented in outline. In this proposed project, the researchers would act as catalysers of the communication of dance knowledge through generations rather than authorities who exercise control over this knowledge. In conclusion, the article aims to contribute to the fields of dance studies and intangible cultural heritage studies, as well as suggesting a conceptual framework for prospective transmission projects for safeguarding traditional Circassian dances and/or similar cultural elements.