[10][11] The origination of the dance is claimed by both Armenians and Azerbaijanis alike due to the fact that both nations lived in Karabakh, where the Uzundere valley is located.

[12] According to Azerbaijani scholars, the dance originates in a Uzundara valley between Aghdam and Baş Qərvənd in the region of Karabakh.

[13] According to another explanation, the dance was brought to the region by Armenians from Erzurum, who fled from the Ottoman Empire in 1828 during the Russian-Turkish war.

[20] Armenian ethnographer Srbuhi Lisitsian notes that "dara", in addition to a "gorge", can also mean a "pit".

A typical method of melodic development is the variation of two-, three- and four-bar motives.