Kolbastı

Kolbastı is a popular Turkish dance. It was originally created in the 1930s in the seaport of Trabzon on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey. Loosely translated, 'kolbastı' means 'caught red-handed by the police.' According to legend, the name comes from nightly police patrols of the city to round up drunks, who made up a song with the lyrics: 'They came, they caught us, they beat us' (in Turkish: 'Geldiler, bastilar, vurdular').

In the past few years this dance has grown very popular and is spreading in popularity outside the region. These days this dance is mostly used for weddings or by youngsters who like to show off and attract girls.

The origin of the dances are swinging and energetic or hyperactive movements (this is why this dance is really exciting). Once it's started most people will get dragged into the dance and will start dancing until the music ends. Because the beats and the movements are fast and steady not all of them will know how to perform the dance properly unless they have had a lot of practice and maybe born or lived in Trabzon.

Kolbastı never disappeared from Trabzon. It's always been part of local culture. What's new, though, is that people from outside the region have taken to the dance.