Dancing Through the Alphabet: Letter R

What is important is to spread confusion, not eliminate it.
― Salvador Dalí

This week's dance is Ravno Oro from the Republic of Macedonia. The name is very easily confused with another Macedonian dance, Bavno Oro.

Ravno is a bit more challenging than Bavno.  Like a number of Macedonian folk dances; it starts off slow and speeds up as it progresses.  There are different patterns for the slow part and the fast part. The time signature is 7/8 (pineapple-apple-apple).

In this video the lines are gender-segregated. Traditionally the dance was done that way, but nowadays people do it in mixed lines. Sometimes dancing in the men's line is more fun; they tend to get a little crazier than the women. I have gotten away with it on more than a few occasions :)



Video 2 is the "equal opportunity" version, led by Yves Moreau.  Check out his fancy moves; he is a well-known teacher of Bulgarian and Balkan folk dances and gives workshops all over the world.



I skipped the letter "q" because there are no Balkan dances that begin with "q." The bonus video supplies the missing letter in a very quirky way.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Some Equal Opportunity Folk Dances

The Legacy of Boris Karlov, Bulgarian Folk Accordionist (many people confuse him with Boris Karloff, the movie actor).  His version of Bavno Oro is still used at folk dances more than 50 years after his death.

Folklore as a Destiny: Yves Moreau and Bulgarian Folk Music


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