Traditionally, it is performed in weddings. It can be performed both by women and men. Different Armenian varieties of the dance recorded in Shirak region are also known as Old Mirzayi (Armenian: Հին Միրզայի) and Tarakyama-Mirzayi (Armenian: Թարաքյամա-Միրզայի). In Azerbaijan, the dance is called "Vagzaly" (Azerbaijani: Vağzalı).
The dance in culture
The dance was performed in the SovietArmenian drama film Pepo, which was considered the 'most outstanding' film in Soviet cinema before the outbreak of World War II. Uzeyir Hajibeyov used this dance in "If Not That One, Then This One" operetta composed by him. Mashadi Ibad, a main hero of the comedy, performs "Mirzayi" in his wedding, in the fourth act of the comedy.
↑Shamamyan N. (2016). Uzundara solo dance: An attempt of a historical-ethnographical research (in Armenian). Yerevan: "Gitutyun" Publishing House of NAS RA. pp.204–208. ISBN978-5-8080-1258-5.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
↑Азербайджанская музыка / Абасова Э. А. // А — Гонг. — М.: Советская энциклопедия: Советский композитор, 1973. — (Энциклопедии. Словари. Справочники: Музыкальная энциклопедия: [в 6 т.] / гл. ред. Ю. В. Келдыш; 1973—1982, т. 1).
↑Азербайджанская Советская Социалистическая Республика // Большая советская энциклопедия: [в 30 т.] / гл. ред. А. М. Прохоров. — 3-е изд. — М.: Советская энциклопедия, 1969—1978.
↑Мирзаи / под ред. Филиппова А.В.. — Краткий словарь танцев. — М.: ФЛИНТА, Наука, 2011. — С. 122.
12Мирзәји // Azerbaijan Soviet Encyclopedia, 1982. — V. VI. — P. 592.