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.
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