Kazakh Kalajiaoleiha
01 · Historical Records
Qara Jorqa is Kazakh, meaning "the black pacing horse". In Kazakh life the horse is an indispensable companion; once mounted on a black pacing horse, the human body rises and falls together with the horse's body, as though entering an artistic realm in which the human dances and the horse dances too, so that "Qara Jorqa" changed from a name for the black pacing horse into the name of a folk music-and-dance form. This music and dance is handed down through the generations in the Kazakh pastoral areas: herders, following the rhythm of the dombra, imitate the walking, running and leaping of the black pacing horse, and then weave labour movements such as rolling felt, milking, embroidering and pulling noodles into the dance, gradually forming a body of typical repertoire such as the bear dance, the eagle dance, the felt-rolling dance, the milking dance, the embroidery dance and the noodle-pulling dance. Because the dance methods vary with the performer and the place, the movement vocabulary of Qara Jorqa kept expanding as it was transmitted, and it became the most representative folk dance of the Kazakh people.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Qara Jorqa is the most representative folk dance of the Kazakh people, widely transmitted in the Kazakh-inhabited areas within Xinjiang. Qara Jorqa is Kazakh for "the black pacing horse". The horse is an indispensable companion in Kazakh life, and mounting a black pacing horse is like entering an artistic realm in which the human dances and the horse dances too, so that Qara Jorqa became the name of a Kazakh folk music-and-dance form. Qara Jorqa can be performed both at large festive gatherings and in a small yurt; it can be danced solo, by two dancers facing one another or by a group; the dance methods likewise vary with the performer and the place; the dance movements are saturated with the flavour of everyday life and the performance content is rich, with typical repertoire such as the bear dance, the eagle dance, the felt-rolling dance, the milking dance, the embroidery dance and the noodle-pulling dance. The men's movements in Qara Jorqa are light and powerful, vigorous and robust, and the dancing steps that imitate the walking, running and leaping of the black pacing horse are well controlled in their tension and relaxation; the women's movements are graceful and expansive, lively and reserved. Dancers may give free rein to their own standard, continually adding new material and movements, and they often blend movements with striking character drawn from labour and daily life into the dance, making the movement vocabulary and performance content of Qara Jorqa richer and more varied still. Qara Jorqa is accompanied by the dombra, the traditional Kazakh instrument, with the musicians changing the tempo to match the speed of the dancers' movements; the bright and lively music has a very strong sense of rhythm, and its melodies are like a steed galloping across the grassland.
The gaits of the black horse
The men's movements are brisk and vigorous, imitating the walk, run and leap of the black horse, while the women's are graceful and lively.
Bear, eagle, felt and milking dances
Typical items include the bear, eagle, felt-rolling, milking, embroidery and noodle-pulling dances, most drawn from pastoral work and daily life.
Dombra accompaniment
Accompanied by the dombra, the player shifts tempo with the dancer's movements, the lively melody galloping like a horse across the steppe.
Yurt and gathering
It is performed both at large celebrations and inside small yurts, as a solo, a duet or a group dance, with the manner varying by dancer and place.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Qara Jorqa is widely transmitted in the Kazakh-inhabited areas within Xinjiang, and protection is undertaken by the Culture and Art Research Institute of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. It can be performed at large festive gatherings and it can also be danced in a small yurt; it can be danced solo, by two dancers facing one another or by a group, with musicians changing the tempo to match the speed of the performers' movements. The Kazakh pastoral areas of Altay and Tacheng and other places each have their own "black pacing horse"; the men's movements are light and powerful, vigorous and robust, the women's graceful and expansive, lively and reserved; the localities differ from one another in their treatment of the dance steps and in their ornamental variations of the music, and dancers may also add new material freely according to their own standard.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
As modernisation proceeds apace in Xinjiang, this Kazakh folk music and dance of such great traditional cultural value as Qara Jorqa is gradually being supplanted by modern song and dance and urgently needs protection.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。