Ejmiatsin

In the early 1960s, a version of Ejmiatsin dance was recorded by the renowned Armenian choreographer Zhenya Khachatryan from Galust Injoyan in Tsughrut village of Akhaltsikhe region and Hayk Vardanyan from Akhaltsikhe.
The version that is widely performed today was recorded in the late 1990s by Gagik Ginosyan, from dance instructor Hripsime Karapetyan and Arusyak Injoyan, inhabitants of Tsughrut village. The dance originates from the city of Karin and its surrounding regions. It was brought to Akhaltsikhe by refugees from these areas and subsequently spread to neighboring villages.

The dance “Ejmiatsin” borrows its name from the main cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Its roots trace back to pre-pagan eras. Unfortunately, the dance’s original name has been lost to history through the passage of millennia.

According to narrators, the dance was performed on mountain slopes. With faces turned to sunrise, the dancers raised their hands as the sun rose, and began dancing with their arms lifted above the shoulders. This gesture was as if an ode, a homage to the sun.

Originating in the era of sun worship, the dance evolved over centuries, adapting to changes in religion and societal norms. Eventually, it took on the name of St. Ejmiatsin, the main spiritual altar of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Over time, the dance’s symbolism transformed, aligning with Christian traditions and customs.

Notably, each of the three parts of the dance carries significant symbolic meaning rooted in ancient times:

First part:
The dance circle closes, reducing in radius due to dance steps, only to return to its original size and shape through reverse movements․ This imitates the sun’s disk and symbolises sun worship. These positions can be explained by the natural course of the sun: the sun rotates to the right during the day, that is, it moves towards sunset. During the night, the sun continues its circle so that the next morning it rises from the same point, in the east.
This backward movement represents the sun’s invisible circle during the night, reflecting ancient Armenian beliefs of a dying-and-reborn deity. During the right and forward steps, the dancers’ bodies bow deeply, glorifying the sun, the primary celestial source of light for humanity. While bowing, the arms move backward, forming rays of the sun, visually completing the sun’s disk traced by the dance circle.
In the Christian interpretation, this part symbolizes procession towards the altar, and the meaning of the bowing during the dance is the prostration towards the altar, before the image of Christ.

Second part:
The dance circle rotates to the right with six- pair steps and then returns to the left with another six-pair steps. This symbolizes the sun’s increasing position in the sky during the day from January to June. The lengthening of the day halts when it reaches the sixth month, and accordingly, the dance also stops — the movement to the right ceases at the sixth step, and the body, which had been continuously bowing, comes to a stop in an upright position. At the sixth dance step, representing the summer solstice, the circle’s rotation to the right is halted and resumes in the opposite direction. On the sixth leftward step, the rotation stops again.
Here, the 6 dance steps symbolize not only the 6 months but also the 6 zodiac constellations through which the Earth orbits around the sun. During the 6 rightward months — corresponding to 6 dance steps — the day lengthens, while during the following 6 leftward months — corresponding to another 6 steps — both the dance circle and the Earth rotate, passing through the other 6 zodiac constellations, causing the day length to shorten until December.
The six rightward and six leftward steps in the second part are interpreted during the Christian period as reverence and bowing before the images of Christ’s 12 apostles. In Armenia, there are churches where, on the altar depicting the image of Christ or the Virgin Mary, the images of the 12 apostles are placed on both the right and left sides of the altar — six apostles on the right and six on the left.

Third part:
This part consists of four pairs of rightward and leftward steps performed nearly in place. These movements symbolize the shortest days of the year during the winter solstice (December 21–25), when daylight is at its minimum.. In Armenian folklore, this is the period when “the sun has gone to its mother,” or “the sun has died,” awaiting its rebirth.

Following these steps, the dance resumes, heralding the sun’s rebirth on December 25, which corresponds to the pagan Armenian festival of Mihr (Mithra), the god of the sun.

The dance’s final part, in Christianity, represents the period of Lent, a time of spiritual preparation and fasting before Easter, when people are awaiting the resurrection of Christ. The Armenian word “Zatik” (Easter) in Christian teachings symbolizes Christ’s resurrection and the separation of the soul from the body. However, the word has a much more ancient origin, with a pre-Christian meaning also related to separation. In that context, it symbolizes the resurrection of a dying-and-reborn deity, marking the separation of the reborn nature from the dead nature — essentially, the separation of spring from winter.

During the Lenten period, the altars in Armenian churches are covered, and no rituals are performed. The relatively passive movements in the third part of the dance symbolize this period of stillness and anticipation. The dance then resumes, symbolizing the resurrection of Christ, marking a renewal of life.

Except for the dance, narrator Arusyak Injoyan remembered the first lines of the song accompanying the dance and the third part, which proves that Ejmiatsin is a song-dance. Musicologist Lusine Nazaryan later adapted and completed the text of the song, based on records by Komitas, Kara-Murza, and Arshak Brutyan.
The time signature ( measure) of the dance and song is 6/8, with a “moderate” tempo. Despite its long enough duration, the counts of musical and dance phrases align perfectly, with equal durations for melodic sections and dance parts.