Armenian dance has a long history and is one of the oldest in the Near East. It is divided into dances accompanied by instruments and song-dances. Common folk instruments include drums, oboes, flutes, and tambourines. Dances often occurred at celebrations and events like weddings, with musicians playing instruments like the tar, oud, and kemenche. Armenian dance traditions are still performed today to preserve the country's cultural heritage. Basic dance steps involve holding the hands of neighbors in a circle and stepping forward while raising the toes.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_dance

2. The Armenian dance is divided into two parts: dances with musical instruments ,
and song-dances.
In the village the most common instruments were a large drum and primitive oboe .
Other popular village instruments are shepherd's flutes and tambourine. There is a
stringed instrument which played in the west part of Armenian called the sax.
In the Black Sea The (fiddle) was used as a folk instrument.
http://www.phantomranch.net/folkdanc/articles/history_armenian_dance_lind-sinanian.htm

3. ARMENIAN DANCE BEFORE 1915
The Armenian dance is one of the oldest dance and has variety .most varied in the Near East.
About 650 before Christ (B.C).The Armenians place themselves in Armenia .
When the Urartian Empire broke down . The position located at a major crossroads and placed between
empires and .
Armenian people could kept their own culture and identity .
DANCE TYPES
There are groups of musicians playing in orchestras .
The musicians played tar, oud, kanoon, snatur, nagar, kemenche, daf, dumbeg, and mandolin.
In the 19th century they started playing clarinet, piano, violin, and other European instruments.
The Armenian music influenced by (Arabic, Persian, and Turkish) music.

4. THE ROLE OF DANCE
The modern dance perform with a band playing , etcetera and they called it a dance/party and there was not
traditional dance. A wedding is a major event or festivity.
In the cities there were European balls for different classes of Armenian but these had little in common with
the village festivals. In village there were not a band playing if they wanted to dance, they singing a dance –
song , but the dance was not amusement. Any event, such as an engagement has a special music, songs, and
dance.
A dance often combined several functions simultaneously. International folk dancers familiar with Pontic Greek
dancing or Turkish Black Sea dancing.
How to Learn Armenian Dance
It is very important for Armenian people to Keep folk dance traditions alive. The Armenian Dancers perform
song and dance and teach them to the schools in the capital city of Yerevan.
There is some instruction for how to do Armenian dance.
1) Hold up your hands to shoulder level
stand up straight very relax
2) Hold a handkerchief with your right hand and stand at the end of right side as a leader the dance .
then stand in an open circle and hold the little finger of the people which are on either side of you.
3) Put your right foot and step forward .
step your left foot crosses your right and step forward again with your right foot.
4) When you slightly raise left toe and kick to your front . Repeat with your right foot.
5) Repeat the complete sequence till the song finished.

5. http://www.barynya.com/gd/dance.htm

6. http://www.phantomranch.net/folkdanc/articles/history_armenian_dance_lind-sinanian.
http://www.ehow.com/how_6698632_learn-armenian-dance.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_dance
All these reference are reliable and all the information is true and
done by the professional people .