Saturday, January 18, 2014

Two Variations on a Bulgarian Folk Dance: Rachenitsa na Horo

Welcome to the Different Village, where dances with different music and different steps have the same name. Today's dance is Rachenitsa Na Horo, from Bulgaria. The rachenitsa is the national dance of Bulgaria. It is very versatile in that it can be done solo, in couples and in a group.  The dance is in 7/8 rhythm with this pattern: apple-apple-pineapple.   Today's post features the group version: "na horo."

Version One is the one popular with folk dance groups in the United States.  Check out the woman hamming it up for the camera at the very beginning of the video. Part of the dance is done holding hands, part of it is "disconnected."



Version Two is video of a costumed folk dance group performing in France.  This is an easier variation and I learned it very quickly.  The introduction is rather long, though, the dance starts at 1:05. The woman leading twirls a handkerchief:  the word "rachenitsa" means "little handkerchief."



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

The "Flavors" of Bulgarian Rachenitsa, Part One and Part Two

Variations of another national dance: this time from Romania:
The "Flavors" of Romanian Hora

Some variations of a popular Serbian dance: Cacak
The "Flavors" of Serbian Cacak

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3 comments:

  1. ah to rachet my scant knowledge of rachenistas..

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  2. Small correction a long time after publication - Version two was in Geneva, Switzerland rather than France (I was in the 'audience', as the musicians are good friends), with a dance group made up with a majority of Bulgarians.

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  3. Thanks for letting me know. I thought it was France (but I know there's a French speaking region of Switzerland!) Thanks for reading.

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