One of the best ways to learn about culture when visiting a foreign country is experiencing and taking part in its dance, music and local attire.
And when those cultural articles are recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as intangible cultural heritage items, you know they must be worth checking out!
Albanian Night is home to three of Albania’s unique and fascinating UNESCO World Heritage items, each of which represent the heart and soul of Albania’s ancient and indigenous culture. All of these UNESCO-recognized traditions provide insightful glimpses into the country’s social norms, history and values.
These are 3 UNESCO World Heritage Items to explore on your next trip to Tirana at Albanian Night:
K’cimi i Tropojës – The Dance of Tropoja
Known for its energetic and vigorous movements, Albania’s newest addition to the list is K’cimi i Tropojës, a lively and stirring folk dance originating in northern Albania. This popular dance represents the rugged terrain and warrior spirit of the Tropoja region and is usually performed at traditional gatherings like weddings, birthdays and community celebrations accompanied by tupane, traditional Albanian drums.
This highly festive dance involves swooning movements and raising and dropping one’s arms and dancing face-to-face without touching. Sometimes, participants will wear colorful traditional costumes. Performed by both sexes, women typically wave a red handkerchief as they twirl around each other in this dance performance.
This ancient dance is associated with springtime celebrations and also symbolizes the flight of eagles – a particularly potent symbol of Albanian identity, as reflected by the double-breasted eagle on the national flag.
K’cimi i Tropojës is played every night during our signature nightly show, which recreates a traditional Albanian wedding. To give visitors to Tirana a taste of the entire country’s cultural offerings, we perform dances from Albanian’s southern, central and northern regions. We chose to represent the north with K’cimi i Tropojës well before its inclusion in the UNESCO list just two months ago due to its colorful and cheerful portrayal of Albania’s secluded and rugged north and its hearty, proud and welcoming inhabitants who continue to embody its ethos today.
Albanian Folk Iso-Polyphony Singing
Another UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage item on display at Albanian Night is the Iso-polyhonic singing tradition, an ancient form of song typically performed at weddings, funerals and other key social events in Albanian society.
Iso-poliphony is an ancient form of group singing from Southern Albania, characterized by a drone-like harmony. It plays a crucial role in dance performances, providing a rich vocal accompaniment that enhances the emotional and rhythmic complexity of dances.
In this customary singing form, multiple voices sing in harmony, with one holding a continuous pitch known as the “iso,” or drone. This musical method may trace its origins back to the Illyrians, an ancient people believed to be the ancestors of modern-day Albanians.
The Iso-polyphonic performance every evening at Albanian Night is a deeply moving experience. The powerful singers’ voices evoke strong feelings of loss and grief. This inspiring and dramatic vocal arrangement takes the listener back to the distant lands where the yearning for one’s home and people was born.
Due to Albanians’ migration from villages to larger cities and other countries, this melodious art form is in danger of being forgotten. This concern has led the government – as well as the United Nations – to work to preserve this beautiful tradition. Cultural initiatives like Albanian Night and the Gjirokastër Folk Festival are keeping the notes of Iso-polyphonic singing alive and thriving in the 21st century, ensuring it can be shared with generations to come.
Xhubleta – Traditional Highlander Dress
The xhubleta (pronounced “jupleta”) is a traditional Albanian women’s costume, particularly associated with the highlands of northern Albania.
This beautiful costume has been passed down through the generations and is still used today in remote parts of the country. Foreign travelers and scholars from the 18th-19th centuries have documented its importance in communal life and ceremonies, noting this garment’s ubiquity in the highlands of Shkodër, Rugova in Kosovo and eastern Puka district.
Historically, the xhubleta would vary according to the wearer’s age: white for young girls, red for brides and black for elderly women. The bridal xhubleta is the most decorated and beautiful, with a bridal dowry at times including several xhubleta, each with varying levels of decoration for different occasions.
Each xhubleta is a mini museum of Albanian culture and sociology in and of itself: highlanders used names derived from natural elements for the parts of the xhubleta, such as “valleys” for the felt pleats. It wasn’t uncommon for a xhubleta to be decorated with cosmic motifs such as the sun, moon, and stars as life-giving elements, or embroideries of flowers and animals like eagles and snakes. In many Albanian poems and epic songs, xhubleta is compared to the Albanian alps themselves: grand, imposing and majestic.
At Albanian Night, we are lucky enough to have procured three authentic black xhubleta dresses from Malësia e Madhe and Dukagjini on display at our Costume Hall. Visitors to Tirana are welcome to drop by any time they’d like to admire their grandeur on the bottom floor of the cultural center.
Making just one of these beautiful bell-shaped dresses can take months at a time. With local traditions being abandoned as more and more Albanians stream to urban centers, this craft is also in danger of being forgotten. At Albanian Night, we are dedicated to preserving the ancient art of producing xhubleta, working with the few remaining Albanian artisans who still possess the requisite knowledge to make these traditional garments.
The best way to learn about Albanian culture and tradition isn’t to just read about it – join us at the Albanian Night show to witness these UNESCO-recognized traditions come to life through music, dance and storytelling.
