Sabre Dance

"[14] Its brief middle section in 34 includes a prominent cello soli in tenor clef and alto saxophone,[14] and is based on an unnamed Armenian folk song.

[2][15] According to Tigran Mansurian, it is a synthesis of an Armenian wedding dance tune from Gyumri tied in a saxophone counterpoint "that seems to come straight from America.

"[19] Steven Poole notes that its "insistent xylophone-accented melody" has "become a kind of global musical shorthand for cartoonish urgency.

"[24] Other critics have called it "furiously paced",[25] "flashing",[26] "rollicking,"[27] "rousing",[28] "bustling,"[29] "blazing",[30] "high-tension, catchy and rhythmically insistent".

[53] "There's a rash of sabre dance disks based on the familiar excerpts from Aram Khachaturian's Gay[a]ne Ballet Suite."

In 1948 "Sabre Dance" was recorded by a number of singers and became a jukebox hit in the U.S.,[58] prompting Newsweek to suggest that it could be called the "Khachaturian Year in the United States.

"[65] New York Times critic Harold C. Schonberg agreed, calling it "enormously popular" and adding that the "little whirling piece occupies the same place in his output that the C sharp minor Prelude did in Rachmaninoff's.

[102][103][104] Films in which "Sabre Dance" was used include The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), One, Two, Three (1961),[105] The System (1964), The Seven Brides of Lance-Corporal Zbruyev (1970),[106] Amarcord (1973), Well, Just You Wait!

6th episode "Countryside" (1973), Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), Repentance (1987), Punchline (1988), Hocus Pocus (1993), Radioland Murders (1994), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994),[107][108] Don't Drink the Water (1994), I Married a Strange Person!

(1997), Vegas Vacation (1997), A Simple Wish (1997), Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), The Lion King 1½ (2004), Kung Fu Hustle (2005), Scoop (2006), Sicko (2007), Ghost Town (2008), Witless Protection (2008), Le Concert (2009), Pájaros de papel (2010), Sabre Dance (2015).

[98] In his frenzied comedy One, Two, Three, director Billy Wilder used the dance repeatedly for comic effect, including a crazed chase through East Berlin, and the chaotic closing ride to the airport featuring James Cagney and Horst Buchholz.

Some notable television shows that have used it include The Jack Benny Program (1961), "A Piano in the House" from The Twilight Zone (1962), The Onedin Line (1971 and 1972), The Benny Hill Show (1985), Our Very First Telethon episode of Full House (1990), The Simpsons (1991), The Nanny (1996), "Dexter Is Dirty" from Dexter's Laboratory (1997), Two and a Half Men (2004), "Recipe for Disaster" from What's New, Scooby-Doo?

[109] The song was featured in The Amazing Race 28, when teams travelled to Armenia and had to search the Yerevan Opera Theater for their next clue.