Balkan Dances That Are Often Confused, Part 12: Sirba Pe Loc and Hora Pe Loc

At one of the annual conventions of the American Society for Aesthetics much confusion arose when the Society for Anesthetics met at the same time in the same hotel.
Rudolf Arnheim

When it comes to the subject of similar names, do you sometimes get confused? It happens quite often at dances!

Do you know the difference between hora and sirba? Today's post features two Romanian dances with similar names. One is a hora, the other a sirba.

Hora is the generic name of a dance popular in Romania and Moldova. It can be easily confused with the Israeli dance of the same name, or the Bulgarian dance with a similar name (horo) or the Greek dance with a name almost like the Bulgarian (horon).

Are you confused yet?

Sirba (also spelled Sârbă) is a Romanian folk dance related in rhythm to Serbian Cacak and the fast Bulgarian Pravo Horo.  You can dance a fast pravo to a sirba or a cacak to a sirba.  They are pretty much interchangeable. During a live music night I (mistakenly) led a cacak to what the band listed as a sirba.  No one took offense to my confusion because the music went perfectly with the steps. Besides, Sirba means "Serb like." The Romanians borrowed the sirba from the Serbs!

Video #1 is Hora Pe Loc from Romania. Pe loc means "in place" Hora is usually done in a circle but it's impossible to make a circle with only four dancers.



Video #2 is Sirba Pe Loc is a dance from the region of Muntenia (southeastern Romania).  There are many variations of the sirba. Villages, towns and regions often have a sirba named after them.  It is a dance commonly done at weddings, when the guys get drunk and want to show off.  The women are too busy struggling to balance on their high heels. They usually have their own "heel friendly" line.

The dominant instruments in the music are the bagpipe and the cimbalom. Sirba Pe Loc is a favorite among international folk dance groups worldwide.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

The "Flavors of Romanian Sirba"

The "Flavors" of Romanian Hora

Balkan Dances That are Often Confused (the link will take you backwards to the entire series, starting with Part 11.)


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

Balkan Dances That Are Often Confused, Part 11: Kulsko Horo and Kulskoto

May the forces of evil be confused on the way to your house.
George Carlin

We know that dancing keeps evil forces away, and that confusion helps.  George Carlin was definitely on to something.  After you finish reading and dancing to this week's post check out some some of his comedy routines. (WARNING: do not listen to Carlin when there are small children around!)

Kulskoto is the dance also known as Arap.  There are a number of tunes for Arap, the best known is Zaiko Kokoraiko from Macedonia. Neveno Mome, a Bulgarian song, is also used, as well as Katerino Mome by Tatiana Sarbinska.  And then there's Kulskoto, a song and a dance without words.

Arap and its variations are popular in southwestern Bulgaria, Macedonia, and northern Greece.



Video #2 is Kulsko Horo, a dance from the Severnjashko (northwestern) region of Bulgaria. It is not to be confused with Kulskoto!

The Vlach people are a sizable minority in this part of Bulgaria, and their dances are known by their stampiness.  Kulsko Horo is from the town of Kula in the Vidin area.  Kula means "tower" and the tower is a leftover from a Roman fortress.  The Romans left structures all over Bulgaria which used to be a part of the Roman Empire.

The Vlachs were decendents of Romans who lived in the Balkans, and they settled all over the place, including Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece.

The version shown here is the one taught by Yves Moreau.



Video #3,  Kulsko Horo Version #2, is a dance from the same region, but with different choreography and different music.  Are you confused yet?



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Three Variations of the Bulgarian/Macedonian Folk Dance: Arap

Vlach Dances from Bulgaria and Serbia

Balkan Dances That Are Often Confused (link leads to entire series, going backwards, starting with Part 10.)


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

Balkan Dances that Are Often Confused Part 10: Cigansko Horo and Ciganko

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

Today's post involves two dances with sound-alike names, different music, and different choreographies.  It's enough to make anyone confused.

Video #1 is Cigansko Horo (translation: Gypsy Dance).  Gypsy is the politically incorrect term for Roma people,  The Roma do not use this word when referring to themselves. People used to think that the Roma were from Egypt. The word "gypsy" is a corruption of "Egyptian."

The Roma originally came from India and migrated west to Europe.There have been genetic and linguistic studies that traced their ancestry to the Indian Subcontinent. Roma people have made numerous contributions to Balkan music; two well-known examples are: Esma Redzepova, singer (who passed away last December) and Boris Karlov, accordionist.

Cigansko is a variation of the dance Chichovo Horo.  Chichovo is part of the Cocek family of dances popularized by Roma people in the Balkans. Are you confused yet?



Video #2 is the dance Ciganko.  If you are a frequent visitor to The Alien Diaries, you will recognize the voice of Daniel Spasov in the song. It is about a man hopelessly in love with a Roma woman. Spasov is a Bulgarian folk singer and a co-host (with Milen Ivanov) of the weekly program on Bulgarian TV: Ide Nashenskata Muzika, which features musicians and dancers from different folklore regions of Bulgaria.

The Sunday night group that I dance with has been working on this dance for a couple of months.  I think I finally have it memorized.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

A Romani Potpourri, Part Two   (one of the videos is the song Ciganko performed by Daniel Spasov. It's accompanied by a brass band and women in colorful costumes).

Here Comes the Brass Band! Modern Bulgarian Folk Songs with Daniel Spasov

Variations on the Bulgarian Folk Dance Chichovo Horo

Follow this link to find the rest of the posts in the Confused Balkan Dances series.


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

Balkan Dances That Are Often Confused, Part Nine : Sirba Din Cimpoi and Cimpoi

Men are like bagpipes. No sound comes from them until they're full.
Irish proverb

Bagpipes are popular all over Europe: Ireland, Scotland, and the Balkans. This week's post is part of the continuing (and possibly never ending) series: Balkan Dances That Are Often Confused.

Video #1 is Sirba din Cimpoi. Sirba is a very popular Romanian dance usually punctuated with shouts and stamps. Cimpoi is a bagpipe. Bagpipes and Sirba go very well together, especially when the bagpipes are well inflated with hot air :)

Although bagpipes are often associated with Bulgaria and Macedonia, where the instrument is called gaida; they are part of the folk music of Romania as well.

The choreography is by Mihai David (seen here in the video) and the one most popular with recreational folk dancers.



Video #2 is another variation of Sirba din Cimpoi.  The group is Tingluti from Copenhagen, Denmark. The in and out step with the arm swinging reminds me of a dance very popular in Bulgaria: Dunavsko Horo.



Video #3 is Cimpoi, a fast and furious dance played on (guess what?) a bagpipe.  The rhythm is 6/8.

I have noticed when the Dunav group posts a video, the number of people dancing indicates the difficulty. They are from Jerusalem in Israel and have an excellent web site, with downloadable music and video, as well as song lyrics, dance notes, and sheet music.

Yehuda and Mika, the dance experts, demonstrate Cimpoi.  



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Another Country Heard From: The Bagpipe in Romanian Folk Music

The "Flavors" of Romanian Sirba

The series: Balkan Dances that are Often Confused:  this link leads to part eight, which in turn goes back to seven, six, five, four....it just doesn't go to liftoff!


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