SHE WAS YOUNG WHEN SHE CAME AND YOUNG WHEN SHE LEFT

She loved to share her memories (I am reluctant to use the expression "like all elderly people" with regard to her - Author). She lived through her past life with such rapture, those years were recalled with the pride that they deserved. But you couldn't help detecting the sorrow in her voice, deeply reflected in her eyes. Her room was reminiscent of a museum. Here, after the stormy years of her life, the dancer Amina Dilbazi [1919-2010] found consolation in her memories. She raked over the ashes, extinguishing the fire, so to speak.

"Amina is my son Cavansir"

She did not like to complain. Even at odd times her material situation did not cause her the slightest dissatisfaction. She would say: "I don't need money. What do I need it for? I need care and attention." The traces of her art are not only preserved in the decorative albums and the photographs hanging on the walls, but also in the energetic movements of the more than 90-year-old dancer, in her face and her smile. It would not be right to assert that she has been consigned to oblivion. Sometimes, on public holidays people in the arts would drop in on her as she herself would like to put it. But no-one could replace for her that other world of friends and relatives that has already passed by. It is probably for this reason that she has turned her room into a museum in order to find consolation and not feel sad is moments when she missed the past. But sometimes even the photographs would not help her. She would say that she missed the people in them and those times very much.

Although old age had taken its toll, she did not lose her memory. Amina Dilbazi was born in Qazax on 26 April 1919. Thanks to her tenacious memory, she remembered all the people with whom she met right from childhood and all the events in her life. She recalled with a laugh how mischievous she was, how she would climb trees and how she would have fights with her coevals. She said: "All those friends who had come off worse in fights used to come to me, and I would set out to teach the offender a lesson." The sudden illness of her older brother Cavansir, when she was just five years old, compelled the family to move to Baku. But that did not help and they lost him. Her brother's death shocked her father. Seeing him constantly grieving depressed little Amina. She tried to distract him with her mischievousness and her unique displays of affection. Once her father hugged her and said, "Dear little daughter, I see that you will be able to take Cavansir's place for me." He took her to the hairdressers, got her hair cut like a boy's, bought her some boy's clothes and brought her home. "From this day on, Amina is my son Cavansir," he said. Then he ordered a Circassian coat and a Circassian fur hat for her, as well as a beautiful dagger.

…With the advent of the hot weather, they headed for Qazax. The trips to the mountain plateau in those years were also among Amina Dilbazi's most vivid memories. From early morning she would play with children of her age in the meadow, would run after the birds and the butterflies. She said that later on, when she had already become a famous dancer, it was as if she had immersed herself in those days again and was aware of the same feelings. They used to spend the whole summer in Qazax. Amina was in no way inferior to the boys either in her pugnacity, sportiness or ability to climb trees.

In 1926, she was put into an Azerbaijani school to begin with and then a Russian one. Suddenly becoming ill, Amina was forced to miss lessons. As she had become frail during the illness, the doctors did not advise sending the girl back to school. But neither the doctors nor her parents could persuade her, which indicates what a strong character the little girl had and how stubborn she was. So, she continued to go to school. 

In 1932, she suffered yet another heavy blow, Her father, for whom she had boundless love and who had displayed great concern for her and affection towards her, passed away. For many years she could not come to terms with the loss of her father.

So she became a girl

Her father had brought her up as a boy. This is probably why she took an interest in sport. She would win in district competitions and light athletics. Then came 1935. One day the school's headmaster summoned her to his office where he introduced her to a man she did not know. Then they gave her an address and told her, "Go to this address tomorrow." Dressed in what she thought was her smartest sports outfit, she set out for the address she had been given. But what she saw there was not sports activities at all. 

Children were dancing to the accompaniment of the tar and the kamanca. When her turn came and she was asked "Which music would you like to dance to?" She objected. "I won't dance. I am a sportswoman. I have been invited here by mistake." They told her that she had to dance. The music began to play. But she did not know how to dance. She requested that they play the obsa. They replied that there was no such dance. She began to hum and dance, performing in her own boyish way. She came to herself when everybody in the room burst out laughing. The members of the commission laughed until they cried. Confused, she grabbed her coat and tried to run away as fast as she could. All the way home she swore that she would never dance again. She told the headmaster the same thing, "I'm not going there anymore. There are no sports competitions there, only dancing. I don't understand it at all. The headmaster calmed here down, "Since you don't want to, you don't need to go there anymore." 

A few days later, the headmaster unexpectedly summoned her again. Seeing the man who had been in the office the last time, she wanted to run away, but they stopped her. The visitor said, "They approved of your dancing. That's why I have come to see you." She was amazed, "Do you approve of people who don't know how to dance? I am a sportswoman." The school's headmaster had to intervene and persuade her to give her consent.

When Amina entered the room, one of the members of the commission congratulated her and said that she had been accepted into the new dance ensemble. Once again she refused. They talked her round, promising a grant of 200 roubles. At that time, her mother was working in three jobs in order to feed three children. This is what Amina xanim [term of respect used to address Azerbaijani women] told us: "At that time, 200 roubles was big money. I thought about what would be best. Mama could stop working nights and we could see much more of her. The members of the commission said I needed my mother's permission. I asked my mother if she would stop working nights if I could bring her 200 roubles every month. She nearly went crazy, asking where I would get that sort of money. Who would give it to me? My mother feared that they would deceive me. I told her everything. When she learned that I would continue my schooling, she agreed."

Talent spotters

This is how Amina Dilbazi took up dancing. From January 1936 she began to pursue a career in dancing which she regarded as absolutely alien to her and not at all what she wanted to do. In those days she was most pleased that she could make her mother's life easier. In handing over the envelope containing 200 roubles every month, it was as if she were giving her the whole world. Three months later her grant was increased by another 100 roubles.

Later on, Amina learned that all these efforts were aimed at setting up the first folk dance ensemble in Azerbaijan. The man who had come to get her from the school was the ensemble's director, Asraf Safarov. Ilya Arbatov, the member of the commission who announced to Amina that she had been successful in the competition, subsequently became her teacher. Thanks to the efforts of these talented masters, the first Azerbaijani Folk Dance Ensemble was set up under the People's Commissariat for Education.

One day they were told that they were to perform for the then leader of Azerbaijan, Mircafar Bagirov. So that was the day that she waited for with such excitement. Bagirov's favourable comments on the ensemble's performance opened up new horizons for it. In October 1936, on his instructions, this young people's dance ensemble was made part of the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Society.

Amina Dilbazi's name appeared on the list of musicians who were to head for the Decade of Azerbaijani Literature and Culture which was to take place in Moscow in 1938. But, shortly before the trip, she learned that her name had been taken off the list, along with those of several other participants, because she was descended from a bay [noble] stock. But, taking into account the negative impact that this would have on the performance of the programme, they were included in the ensemble once again. After this, success accompanied her everywhere in the form of applause, heaps of flowers in the enormous salons and popularity with audiences… 

There was no corner of Azerbaijan where Amina Dilbazi had not performed in a concert programme. She went on guest tours to distant lands. Although she did not have higher education, she was famous as a splendid performer of folk dances. She also staged her own first dance "Collective Farm Fields" to music by composer Uzeyir Hacibayov. Dilbazi herself danced the part of Basti Bagirova, a cotton-grower who was well known at that time.

The meeting with Uzeyir Hacibayov

One day Uzeyir Hacibayov watched her dancing. After the concert, Amina was told that the composer would like to see her. This is what Amina Dilbazi had to say about the meeting: "I said I would not go. I was afraid that Uzeyir bey had not liked my dancing. I feared that he would ask why I had made so bold as to set the dance to his music. Her fellow dancers encouraged her. She went to see Uzeyir bey together with Qilman Salmanov. When he saw me, he immediately said, "Little one (that's how he addressed me), I think I know you." I said that in 1928 my mother had taken me and my sister to see him. At that time, we were accepted at the music school.

After my father's death, we were not able to continue our music studies. Uzeyir spoke to me: "Little one, you have talent. You set a beautiful dance to my music. Keep on producing dances," I was so overcome with emotion that I wanted to start sobbing, Right there and then the great composer rang up and ordered my dance to be included in the state concert. This event really inspired me. A short time later, I produced the dance "Beauty of the Mountains" to [Azerbaijani composer] Niyazi's music and the dance "Alagoz" to the music of Qilman Salmanov. To be honest, I've already lost count of how many dances I have staged."

Amina Dilbazi used to say that the art of dance has its own specific quality in that you come to it when you are young and you are still young when you leave it, i.e. you spend 20 years of your life in that art, "I have been a dancer for 60 years now. I have lived three lives in that art. But there are not many like me. As a rule, dancers come into the profession at the age of 16 years and leave at the age of 36. Getting married and having children gets in the way of this profession. Firstly, a dancer has to take a break from dancing for three years after giving birth to a child. On the other hand, both the family, the child and the art demand care. If we take a look at the lives of famous dancers in the world, we see that they have had neither family nor children.

The absence of a family gives rise to various rumours, most of which are not true. People say what comes into their heads. I used to think that, if I was a gifted dancer, so why should having a family get in my way? I settled down to married life and had children. I never took a break from my profession for long. I always advised my students not to be afraid of the difficulties that might arise from having a family. Art cannot deprive one of the happiness that a family gives us. But you need to think about who you settle down with. I was lucky that I married a splendid person like the composer Covdat Haciyev. We became friends through our art.

The love story

They had an interesting love story. Amina Dilbazi laughed when she described it: "Jovdat did not approach me to tell me he loved me and to ask me to marry him. It was during the war years. On the insistence of the relatives (of the composer Fikrat Amirov - Author), I agreed to marry Fikret. I wrote a letter to Covdat: "I love you alone, but I will marry Fikrat." When I returned from a trip to Ganca, Covdat picked me up at the station and took me straight to the Registry Office. We got married. [The Azerbaijani and Soviet poet] Samad Vurgun and [my cousin, poetess] Mirvarid Dilbazi attended the marriage ceremony."

They were absolute opposites in character. Amina Dilbazi was a proud and emancipated woman who was very outgoing and loved to mix with people, while Covdat Haciyev stood out for being unsociable. He composed works without thinking whether they would ever be performed or not. But there was everlasting love between these two completely different people. According to Amina Dilbazi, "Many people tried to break us up. But they did not manage to achieve what they wanted. I created the conditions for Covdat to spend time composing. When he was studying in Moscow under [Russian composer] Dmitri Shostakovich, I managed to get him a job in the circus so that he could continue his studies. I sent him money every month for five years."

They also had arguments. Most of all, Covdat Haciyev did not like Amina Dilbazi going away on frequent guest tours. When his wife set off on long guest tours abroad, all the responsibilities relating to the children fell on Covdat Haciyev's shoulders.

Success

Amina Dilbazi was a participant in the 1947 Ist World Festival of Youth and Students in Prague and in the VIth World Festival in Moscow in 1957. In 1954, she was awarded the title of "Merited Artiste" and in 1959 that of "People's Artiste". In 1999, she was awarded the [Azerbaijani] "Istiqlal" order.

For many years she was the head of the girls' dance group of Azerbaijan's State Song and Dance Ensemble. She was the head of the "Cinar" dance collective organised at the Azerbaijan Medical Institute in 1959 and of the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Society's "Sevinc" dance ensemble for girls. She set up the "Gunel" dance group in the Arts Gymnasium.

She started her teaching activity in 1939 at the Theatre Technical School. From 1949 onwards she was teaching at the School of Choreography. She spent many years as a lecturer at the Arts Gymnasium attached to the Azerbaijan conservatory.

The repertoire of the dancer who performed folk dances in a masterful manner included "Vagzali", Turaci", "Tarakama". "Naz elama" "Innabi"; it also included Russian, Ukrainian, Uzbek, and Arab dances. She also staged the dances in such works as "Leyla and Mecnun". "Arshin Mal Alan". "O Olmasin, bu Olsun" and so forth.

Amina Dilbazi passed away on 30 April 2010 at the age of 91. The great dancer believed that her dancing skills are being passed on by her pupils.