Saturday, September 24, 2016

Richmart Vintage: Promoting Fashion and Folklore

Create your own style… let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.
Anna Wintour

Today's post is about a unique project by the company Richmart Vintage, a company that manufactures made-to order men's suits. You can read about it here:

Last year they created a project to promote Bulgarian folk dances.  The resulting videos were quite creative.  These are a small sample of what was posted on YouTube.

The first one takes place at a wedding.  There are a number of wedding videos posted because that is where people dress in their best outfits.

If anyone out there knows the name of the dance, please post it in the "comments" section.



Now here is something really different:  a firefighter's dance that reminds me of Zumba. The song is in Spanish. How this is connected with Bulgarian folklore, I don't know, but I think it's really cool, since I like Latin music and go to Zumba class once a week.

These guys have rhythm and must be sweating like mad in their protective gear.



Continuing with the fitness theme, here's a group in bathing suits, dancing Graovsko Horo in a swimming pool.



Richmart's videos take place in cities around the world.  Here is one from Regensburg, Germany. This group dances a devetorka to the song Biala Roza. Although the notes mention that the dance is popular in Macedonia, it is popular in Bulgaria as well.   There are a few dancers in folk costumes, but the woman I really noticed wore red sneakers.



Here is another video taken at a wedding.  Red is the predominant color here and it has a lot of symbolism in Bulgarian folklore. It is the color of happiness. The dance is a Shopska Rachenitsa.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Quirky, Odd and Unusual Folklore Videos from the Universe of YouTube

The Colors of Bulgarian Folk Songs

On Ethnic Dance and Exercise


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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Friday, September 2, 2016

Songs and Dances About Brides

Even the most understated ceremony involves a certain respect for ritual and pageantry. No one plays more of a significant role than the bride's attendants.
Vera Wang

Today's post features songs and dances from the Balkans about brides.

Video #1 is a bride's dance from Macedonia played by a Romani band.  The dance is a Čoček.



Video #2 features a duet by Vaska Ilieva and Aleksandar Sarievski.  The song, Nevesto Crven Trendafil  is about a man who returns home to see his beloved after working abroad.  I read translations for the song in both Bulgarian and Macedonian, and both versions are ambiguous as to what happened to the woman.  Either she married another man, or she was unfaithful to her husband.  There is a mention of the woman's children, and a strange man behind the door.

This version of the song is in Macedonian, and it is also popular in the Pirin region of Bulgaria. There is a dance to this as well.



Video #3 is from a wedding that took place in either the United States or Canada.   I have included it here because it is bilingual (Romanian/English) and features a Romanian wedding tradition: kidnapping the bride.

The groom pays a ransom with two bottles of whiskey. I'm surprised that the bride survives the bouncing while the wedding party brings her into the room.  The entire video is fun to watch!



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Romanian Wedding Videos from the Universe of YouTube

Wedding Dances and Bloopers from Romania and Bulgaria

The Alien Diaries will be taking a break for a few weeks.  My daughter's wedding will take place in mid September.  Wish them luck!

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.