Affectionate dance video provokes dispute over restrictions for tourists in North Ossetia

In North Ossetia, tourists should be handed booklets with a story about local customs and bans, and in case of violations, a public apology must be sought, Instagram users note while commenting on a video with an affectionate dance in mountains of the republic.

In a video posted on the “Ossetia” Telegram channel, a young woman in a knee-length dress is performing an affectionate dance paired with a bearded man wearing pants and a shirt. The couple is dancing against the backdrop of mountains and a traditional ancestral stone tower.

The video provoked indignation among readers of the Instagram public account “northossetia”, who position themselves as residents of North Ossetia. “Why do you display something like that?!” wrote user dzeranovanelli. Some users noted that the filming was carried out in a special location. “This is considered a holy place. We visited it and brought three pies there,” noted user tsopanovazaika, who referred to the traditional Ossetian rite of bringing pies and other food to revered places.

The dance video calls into question the development of tourism in North Ossetia, Instagram users claim. “And should we open tourism for such people?! The people who do not even want to ask what can be done and what cannot be done in the Caucasian republic! I think that they would not allow themselves doing something like that in an Arab country,” suggested user zlata_2038. “If Ossetia intends to develop tourism, then there is probably a need to issue booklets with the national customs and [an explanation] what should not be done and to hand such booklets to tourists upon their arrival to the republic,” suggested user eva_flowers_vld.

Some Instagram users openly called for the suppression of such behaviour. “Don’t let them behave like that. Today, they do something like that there, tomorrow – at our place, and the day after tomorrow – throughout the Caucasus,” wrote user ingush_tamerlan. “Find them and let them apologize in front of a video camera,” suggested user ganoev_official.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 25, 2021 at 03:09 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.