Balkan Dances that are Often Confused Part Eight: Opsa and Opas

I never want to confuse people or go over their heads.
Wiz Khalifa

Today's post features two dances with names that are easily confused. It is part of a series that ran away with itself.

Opsa is a dance very popular in the Serbian community in the United States.  It probably came into existence during a party when a bunch of people got tanked on slivovitz.  It is an easy dance, fun, and you even get to shout opsa! numerous times.

Despite the U.S. origin, the lyrics are in Serbian, and one part sounds like the words "whatever doesn't kill you opsa skochi" (listen at 0.08).

The lady in the middle is Sasha, who used to teach dance at the 92nd Street Y in New York City many years ago.  She also led workshops in upstate New York, on the grounds of a Workmens' Circle summer camp.  It was tricky dancing around those poles.



Video #2 is the Bulgarian dance Opas, the Dobrudjan version of Pravo Horo.  There are many versions of this dance; this variation is the most popular in the folk dance community.  At dance recently the programmer mistakenly played this tune instead of Opsa. He had everyone confused except me.



Video #3 is a different version of Opas performed by Zagortski dance group from Bulgaria.



If you enjoyed this you may also like the Balkan Dances that are Often Confused series (this post links to all of them).

Two Variations on a Bulgarian Folk Dance: Opas


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