women’s dance
Qamazhai
Flowing arms and shoulders, dignity and strength. The sun stands for life and warmth, the snake for wisdom and renewal.
Impact project · Qamazhai & Qara Zhorga
Qamazhai — The gesture the world will know Kazakhstan by
How two folk dances are becoming the country’s calling card — in five seconds.
Act I · A country without a gesture01 / 15
Ask someone to show you Korea — they’ll make a finger heart. Ask them to show you Kazakhstan — there’s nothing to repeat.
Act I · A country without a gesture02 / 15
Countries are recognized by gestures people want to repeat.
![A rugby player in a wide haka stance, fist raised]()
New Zealand
Haka
The rugby team’s pre-match ritual.
![A fan in the stands clapping with hands raised overhead]()
Iceland
“Huh!”
The fans’ thunderclap — after Euro 2016, the whole world copied it.
![A heart made by crossing thumb and index finger]()
Korea
Finger heart
A gesture from K-pop and K-dramas that needs no translation.
Kazakhstan has no such gesture yet — so the world fills in our image for us.
Act II · The gesture is already alive03 / 15
But it already exists — in two folk dances every Kazakhstani knows.
One movement — in a yurt and on stage, in costume and in a hoodie.
Act II · The gesture is already alive04 / 15
Qamazhai — the sun and the snake. Qara Zhorga — an ambling horse’s gait and a circle open to all.
the ambler’s dance
Qara Zhorga
The step of an ambling horse and the work of the shoulders. It is danced in a circle — and anyone can join that circle.
This reading of the symbols is the Qamazhai project’s interpretation.
Act II · The gesture is already alive05 / 15
People already dance it on their own — no ads, no us.
Qamazhai in the stands of an MMA tournament in Almaty
Female fans danced it right in the stands — the video spread across social media.
Source: Sports.kz, 28 Sep 2024
Qara Zhorga in the WHO hall
Delegates of the 73rd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe in Astana warmed up to Qara Zhorga — the whole hall danced.
Source: Informburo.kz, 25 Oct 2023
Act II · The gesture is already alive06 / 15
We tested the idea on almost no budget: people repeat the gesture the first time they see it.
Turkistan Marathon 2024
A warm-up at the start of a race with 3,000 runners from 40+ countries.
AIGA tournament, California
Female fans cheered athletes on with Qamazhai moves.
Track and video
A phonk version and a video where two dances and two eras merge into one movement.
Act III · How a gesture becomes a symbol07 / 15
The formula: a track, five seconds of movement and a meaning you want to share with a friend.
Trackplays in the feed next to the hits
5 secondsyou remember it after one look
Meaningyou want to explain it to a friend
gesture
Act III · How a gesture becomes a symbol08 / 15
The gesture spreads where people are already together.
- Standsstadium screens, half-time, race starts
- FeedTikTok, Reels, Shorts — a video you want to repeat
- Schools & universitiesflash mobs, graduations, festivals
- DiasporaKazakhstanis abroad, culture days
Act III · How a gesture becomes a symbol09 / 15
Kazakhstan → CIS → the world: from our own people to those seeing us for the first time.
- Kazakhstanarenas, schools, marathons
- CIS & diasporaregional neighbors, Kazakhstanis abroad, students
- WorldKorea, Indonesia, China, USA
Act III · How a gesture becomes a symbol10 / 15
First wave: 160 creators, over 1,700 videos, a target of 70 million views.
- 10major bloggersaudience of 3M+ · 2 videos each
- 50community pages30 videos each
- 100micro-bloggers2 videos each
= 1,720 videos
70M
views — the first-wave target
Act III · How a gesture becomes a symbol11 / 15
When a country has its own gesture, more changes than reach.
- Tradition lives in the feed, not in a museumSDG 4.7 · 11.4
- A women’s dance becomes a symbol of strengthSDG 5
- People move moreSDG 3
- The world gets a reason to learn about KazakhstanSDG 8.9
- Kazakhstanis around the world share a common sign
How we measure
- views and reach
- viewer videos with the gesture
- offline event participants
- countries
- share of women creators
Act IV · An invitation12 / 15
The gesture is open and free — forever. The money goes into what makes it spread.
We fund
- music & rights
- production
- creators
- events
A public good
What sustains it
- brands
- sport
- music
- tourism
Act IV · An invitation13 / 15
The project is led by its authors — and here is why.
“I want a foreigner who hears ‘Kazakhstan’ to think not of Borat but of Qamazhai — and to repeat our gesture the way the whole world repeats the Korean finger heart.”
“David and I told ourselves: Korea has its own gesture — let’s create ours. Today artists are already picking up the Qamazhai moves on their own: the gesture lives without us.”
Act IV · An invitation14 / 15
We’re looking for partners who care how the world sees Kazakhstan.
- Impact investors & foundationsimpact you can measure
- Brandsa role in a cultural movement, not in an ad
- Sport & mediastage, screen and reach
Appendix
Questions we get asked
Why would an investor back a gesture that can’t be sold?
The gesture is a public good, like the haka or the finger heart. Around it grows what brings both impact and income: music, production, events, brand campaigns. An impact partner gets measurable results; a brand gets a role in a cultural movement rather than in an ad.
Won’t this become state propaganda?
No. Qamazhai is an independent initiative of a creative team. The gesture comes from the ground up: from the stands, from creators and viewers. We welcome support, but we set the format ourselves.
Whose dance is Qara Zhorga, if neighbors argue about it?
Qara Zhorga is danced in Kazakhstan, in Kyrgyzstan and by the Kazakhs of China — it is shared Turkic heritage. We don’t argue about who was first: a gesture that unites is stronger than one that divides.
How is the impact measured?
Views and reach, the number of viewer videos with the gesture, offline event participants, the countries where the gesture has appeared, the share of women creators. Partners get a report after every wave.
What if the gesture doesn’t take off?
We have already seen it take off on its own — in the stands and in the WHO hall. The first wave is built to show within a few weeks which formats work, so we can shift our effort.