Cookie Monster, Sesame Street
Since this week's dance has two c's instead of one, here's the Cookie Monster to tell you what the letter C is all about. Eating too many cookies results in weight gain, which is why Cookie Monster should take up Balkan dancing.
The featured dance is from the Sumadija region of Central Serbia, Cicino Kolo. Translated into English it means "Grandfather's Kolo" At first it looks like something your grandfather can easily do until it starts to speed up.. Cicino Kolo is not recommended for those who have arthritis in the knees or other mobility problems. No disrespect meant to grandfathers, some are very fit and active people.
Kolo means "circle"and it can also mean wheel. Not all kolos are danced in a circle, as you will see in the here, since there are only two people, not enough to form a circle. Circles and lines, by the way, are geometric figures, which are very prominent in folk dances from Eastern Europe.
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you'll recognize the dancers. They are members of the Dunav group, from Jerusalem, Israel. By the way, Dunav means Danube in Serbian and Bulgarian.
Although I'm not quite ready to move to letter D I thought I'd include, as an added bonus, the Bulgarian New Year Dance: Diko Iliev's Dunavsko Horo. He composed it in honor of the Danube, River of Many Names. It was a big part of his life because he spent many years in the town of Oryahovo, along the river. The music and the dance are associated with Diko Iliev, even though he wrote many other compositions.
Play it at midnight and turn the volume loud enough to wake the dead. Get all your friends to line up behind you and dance around the living room instead of having a drunken Auld Lang Syne singalong. If you want to learn the dance, the first post on the list below will help.
Happy New Year 2015!
If you enjoyed this you may also like:
Same Dance, Different Music: Dunavkso Horo
The Flavors of Serbian Kolo
The Flavors of Serbian Cacak
Having a Blast with Diko Iliev
Age is an Issue of Mind Over Matter: Old People in Balkan Folk Songs
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