Lazgi: the dance of Khorezm and where to see it in Uzbekistan

Lazgi starts with the fingers. The music begins, the dancer stands almost still, and the first movements are tiny: a finger, a wrist, an elbow. Then they spread to the shoulders, the neck and the whole body, the tempo climbs, and at full speed the dance stops dead. This is the dance of Khorezm, the region around Khiva, and since 2019 it has been on UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage.

We are a tour operator in Tashkent, and we put Lazgi into a trip in one of three ways: the festival in Khiva, a folk show for groups, or a drive to the clay palace city where paintings of the dance were found.

What Lazgi is

The name comes from a word for “tremble”, and that is how it looks: quick, shivering movements of the wrists, fingers, neck and shoulders. The music is in 6/8, with a short introduction and three parts. Men dance it in a bold, heroic manner; women dance it lyrically, often with humour.

UNESCO describes two forms. One is a staged dance in which each movement stands for a feeling; it is performed at national holidays and folk festivities. The other is improvised, with a rhythm and steps that keep changing, and this is the Lazgi of family and neighbourhood celebrations. Musicians, singers and dancers work as one, and the songs are about love and kindness. At a good performance the audience does not stay seated for long: people get up and join in.

Instruments and versions

Lazgi is played on the dutar, a two-stringed lute; the surnay, a loud reed pipe; the doira frame drum; the chang, a struck zither; and the garmon, an accordion. Several of them gave their names to versions of the dance. Khorezm knows eight: the Dutor, Surnay, Changak and Garmon Lazgi, and the Qayroq, Masxaraboz, Saroy and Khiva Lazgi. From the middle of the 20th century singers added songs with words, called yalla.

The instruments on their own, and the classical music of Bukhara and the Fergana Valley, are in our guide to the music of Uzbekistan.

A legend and a painted wall

Khorezm has more than one story about where Lazgi came from. In one, a body is shaped from clay, and it comes alive when a soul, charmed by divine music, enters it. That music was called Lazgi. In another, people danced it to keep warm in the cold.

Archaeology gives a firmer date. When UNESCO inscribed the dance, it pointed to paintings of it at Toprak-Kala, the clay palace city that was the capital of ancient Khorezm in the 2nd–3rd century AD. Toprak-Kala stands in the desert on the road from Khiva to Ayaz-Kala, about 32 km from it. Our trip to Ayaz-Kala comes with a guide and entrance tickets, and we add Toprak-Kala on request. The other fortresses nearby are in desert fortresses of ancient Khorezm.

The Lazgi festival in Khiva

Since 2022 Khiva has hosted the International Lazgi Dance Festival every two years, from 25 to 30 April. The opening and closing ceremonies take place in Itchan Kala, the walled old town, and the competition runs from 26 to 29 April in three categories: solo, ensemble and choreographed dance. The third festival opened on 27 April 2026 with more than 300 dancers and specialists and guests from over 30 countries. The next one falls on 25–30 April 2028.

If you want to be in Khiva for the festival, tell us early, and we build the trip around those days: the train or flight to Khiva, a hotel close to the old town, a guide in Itchan Kala and every transfer. You can start from a ready tour with Khiva or from our 8-day classic tour and move its dates to the festival.

Lazgi at dinner: a folk show for groups

Between festivals, the simplest way to see Lazgi live is our folk show for groups: 30 minutes and nine performers, added to a dinner or an evening event in Samarkand. The programme moves through dances from across the country, from the jug dance and the Andijan polka to a wedding rite and a Bukhara dance, and the Khorezm Lazgi is part of it. We arrange it on request for tour groups and company events; more on those in corporate events in Uzbekistan.

For an evening in Khorezm itself, there is an evening in the Karakum desert near Khiva, with the “Desert Sunset” show and a Khorezm dinner, or a dinner with a local family in Khiva. In Tashkent, the Alisher Navoi Bolshoi Theatre staged a ballet called Lazgi in 2021, and we check its playbill for your dates. For the old town by day, read Khiva in 1 or 2 days.

In short

• Lazgi is the dance of Khorezm: it starts with the fingers and wrists, takes over the whole body and stops abruptly. UNESCO inscribed it in 2019.
• It is played on the dutar, surnay, doira, chang and garmon, and Khorezm knows eight versions of it.
• Paintings of the dance were found at Toprak-Kala, on the road to Ayaz-Kala; we add it to our Ayaz-Kala trip on request.
• The International Lazgi Dance Festival is held in Khiva every two years, 25–30 April; the next one is in 2028.
• Between festivals, groups see Lazgi in our folk show in Samarkand, arranged on request.