Dance

What do dancing customs look like in the various cultures here? Are circle dances the norm? Is coupling up seen as normal to some and scandalous to others?

Dancing customs in Avaria would more or less correspond to similar forms found in the appropriate real-life cultures. So a great many dances of the Sirdabi caliphate are circle or chain types, though these could incorporate a large number of different dance styles. Dances of small groups of either men or women would also be common. Most dances would either be specific to men or women, or would be dance types shared by the sexes but performed separately by men and women. Groups of female and male dancers might face off against one another, or dance sequentially, but it wouldn't be very common for women and men to dance mingled informally together.

There would be vanishingly little in the way of true couple dancing. The Razmani (those perennial oddballs) would come the closest, as they do have a traditional style that's a little like contra dancing, with women and men facing one another in lines. The Razmani dances involve less execution of elaborate patterns than in contra/country dancing, and more in the way of fancy footwork, performed both facing off against one another and arm-in-arm. So while this isn't exactly a dance involving set couples, it's probably the only common form that is designed specifically for men and women to dance with one another (and in contact with one another) purely socially and for fun. Most Sirdabi caliphate cultures would probably consider true couple dancing weird, wrong-headed, and occasionally deeply inappropriate.

Other types of group dancing would include sword dancing and similar martial dances, designed to teach form, footwork, and discipline to warriors. Training exercises in the traditional Irzali gymnasium would make use of music and dance in training warriors, and these kinds of exercises would likely be found in academies teaching dueling as well. Dance for meditation and to prime oneself to the rhythm of the Song is also a thing, and this could be performed as part of a coordinated group, or on one's own.

There is plenty of solo dancing around the caliphate, also in a huge variety of styles. Many solo dances are performed by professional dancers for an audience, but this isn't necessarily the case. Belly dancing forms are common and popular, and women enjoy these dances in female-only gatherings as well as performing them for (often but not exclusively male) audiences. There are male performers who dance in a similar style, the youthful kuchak dancers. Solo dances in refined Irzali and Jalanit styles are common too.

Since there's so much variety across a very wide world, people are definitely welcome to come up with their own dances that fit into the general styles of the region they're from! It would be pretty fun to have "traditional" dances with consistent steps or style that characters could learn from one another, and make into a real part of in-game Avaria culture.

Thank you for this! It gives me a lot to chew on <3