Khalai ( Azerb. Yalli , Armenian Շուրջպար "Shurch steam" or Armenian Խալե "Khale"; Kurdish Gowend, Turkish Halay , assy.: Khigga ܚ ܸ ܓ ܵ ܐ, Greek .αλάϊ ) - a popular folk dance in the Middle East . It is a national dance in Azerbaijan , Kurdistan , Turkey , Armenia and Iran . At Azerbaijani, Turkish, Turkmen, Assyrian, Arab, Persian, Kurdish, Armenian, Albanian and Greek weddings, pre-wedding parties, seeing off the army and all kinds of festivals, it often dances for several hours.
Traditionally played on zurn with the support of dawul . There should be at least three dancers in the hala; here it is not important whether this is a man or a woman. As a rule, when performing a dance, the performers form a circle or line, holding on to the little finger or on the shoulder of each other, or hand in hand. The first and last dancers are holding in their hands a piece of cloth called the mendil .