Variations on a Theme: Folk Ensembles Named Horo

Ultimately, your theme will find you. You don't have to go looking for it.
Richard Russo

I never expected to find the word "horo" in an online dictionary.  The original source for the definition was from Encyclopedia Brittannica. It is derived from the Greek χορός,  which means a dance done in a line or circle, and the Bulgarian word is almost the same as the Greek.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/272102/horo

The name's the same for all three of the folk ensembles in today's post.  The first band is from the Bulgarian city of Ruse (Rousse). The dance is Dunavsko Pravo Horo. If you're wondering why the dance looks familiar, it's the same dance (done to different music) during New Year's celebrations in Bulgaria.



Check out this 50th anniversary performance (which took place in 2012).  Horo Orchestra was founded in 1962.  The dance in this video is a Daichovo Horo from northern Bulgaria.



Everything you always wanted to know about the Horo Orchestra of Ruse can be found by clicking this link. You can also check out samples of their music.

http://horo.silvena.net/history_en.html

The next Horo is a group of ladies from the city of Brisbane, Australia and they perform a spirited Shopska Rachenitsa.  Many Bulgarians emigrated to Australia (and other countries as well) after the fall of Communism, this is called the Bulgarian Diaspora.  Bulgaria is currently suffering a "brain drain" because many young people go abroad in the hope of earning more money than they could at home.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_diaspora

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=143305



Xopo from Shelburne, Massachusetts, USA, plays a very charming melody (lesnoto) from the Pirin region of Bulgaria. Their repertoire is from the Balkans with an emphasis on Bulgarian and Serbian folk music. Everyone, including band members pronounces their name ZO-PO.  That drives me absolutely crazy, maybe because I've been teaching myself how to read the Cyrillic alphabet, and in Bulgarian, "X" has an "H" sound. 



If you enjoyed this you may also like Folk Ensembles Named After Dances

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2012/01/folk-ensembles-named-after-dances.html

Bulgarian Folk Dance Around the World

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2012/01/bulgarian-folk-dance-around-world.html

Everything you always wanted to know about the Cyrillic Alphabet and the Bulgarian holiday connected with it:

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2011/05/cyrillic-alphabet-cracking-code-and.html


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