Koleda wouldn't be fun without a lot of loud noise (to chase away the evil spirits) and dancers in elaborate embroidered costumes. After the noise, there's Shopsko Horo (0:39) and at 2:06 the kids dance a rachenitsa for three. The video ends with a fancy men's pravo .This group is from St. Louis, in the USA.
Video #3 is about 20 minutes long and features the folk ensembles listed below. See below for the order in which they appear:
Dancers: RIPNI KALINKE, San Jose, MARTENICHKI Family Group, ANTIKA Folk Ensemble, San Francisco, TANYA KOSTOVA, Founder, Artistic Director
VASSIL & MARIA BEBELEKOVI (gaida & vocal), NESTINARY BG Orchestra
Notice the ugly Christmas sweaters in the first group, doing a daichovo. (0:20 to 3:47) There is also a dancer wearing a Santa hat, not a part of the traditional Bulgarian folk costume. Other familiar dances include: Padjusko at 2:55, Trite Puti at 11:35, Rhodope Pravo at 14:35, and Graovsko Horo at 19:40.
This party took place in the San Francisco area of California.
Today's post features three dances from three different regions of Bulgaria.
Video #1 is Daichovo Horo. It is a dance originally from northwestern Bulgaria, and the musical accompaniment to this is usually a brass band or an accordion.
The style is pure northern Bulgarian, with arm swinging, bounciness, and crossovers (typical of Vlach dances). The rhythm is in 9/16: quick-quick-quick-slow. The accent is on the first beat, although the fourth is the longest. This variation uses some of the Zizaj Nane steps, but none of the calls.
What makes this particular daichovo interesting is the music: It has a strong Macedonian accent. The most emphasized instrument is the tambura, more typical of southwestern (Pirin) region and Northern Macedonia. You can also hear gaida (in the introduction), kaval (at 1:20), and tambura (at 1:57). The tupan keeps the rhythm going, although it's hard to hear it in the background.
The group, Gergiovden, is from Barcelona, in Catalonia (an autonomous province in Spain). Bulgarian culture is alive and well in that part of the world.
Dzanguritsa is a dance from the Pirin region. It is also in 9/16 and the same rhythm as Devetorka, but a totally different choreography. Rhythm is quick-quick-quick-slow. You can hear the tambura in the background in this piece, too. It's not as strong as in the previous video.
Video # 3 is Svornato Horo from the Rhodope region in southern Bulgaria. The music is played on the kaba gaida. The dance begins with the devetorka step and there is an up and down arm movement at the end of each sequence.
Video #4 is a more basic version of Svornato, and it's the one we use at our dances. It's nice to have a dance room in which to practice, but I don't know how this lady can stand that awful shade of pink. It reminds me of Pepto Bismol.
Wedding Fever is one of the scariest diseases I've ever seen.
Jessica Valenti
Today's featured song is Svatba (сватба in Bulgarian Cyrillic). It means "wedding" in English. The singer in Video #1 is Nikolina Chakardakova who is best known for folk songs from the Pirin region of Bulgaria.
You can find the lyrics here, in Bulgarian. I couldn't find a translation into English.
The tune is very catchy. I would classify it as an earworm because it takes up residence in your head long after the song is over. Musicians play the zurna during the introduction at 0:45 (an instrument loud enough to wake the dead and intimidate enemies.) The Turks brought the zurna to the Balkans. It didn't intimidate the people of the Pirin. Instead, it became an important part of their folk music.
Check out the part at 4:33 where the singer stands on top of the drums, with the guys dancing around her. She gives a really good show. The costumed dancers are eye candy too.
I imagine Pirin weddings must have been loud enough to be heard in the next town, maybe even as far as Blagoevgrad.
Version #2 of Svatba is the one we learned during a Lee Otterholt workshop. Not as fancy as the first one but it was fun. The moves in Video #1 would have been too much for a bunch of weekend dancers.
Today's post features an excellent group from Barcelona, Spain with a couple of Serbian musicians playing frula and accordion (in Video #1). They are the Barcelona Gipsy balKan Orchestra. (Don't mind the weird typing but that is how they spell it. It is on their logo, too.) The group's members are diverse as you can see on their web page; they are united in their love for Balkan music. They do an excellent job playing the rhythms of the Balkans. At 3:48 the music sounds like a fast U Sest and at 4:55 the rhythm changes to kopanitsa then at 6:22 to a fast rachenitsa (apple-apple-pineapple). The singer and the tarambuka player are the rhythm section.
Video #2 is a dramatic performance of the popular song Makendonsko Devojce. This is the tune that we often use at the end of dance sessions. It is lesnoto, another rhythm grouped in sevens (pineapple-apple-apple).
At 1:45 the audience joins in with the refrain. This repeats throughout the song.
The whole universe is based on rhythms. Everything happens in circles, in spirals.
John Hartford
Kolo is a dance from the countries which used to be part of Yugoslavia: Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia. The literal translation of the word is "wheel" and kolo is often danced in a circle, but not always. According to a tweet from UNESCO: "Kolo, traditional folk dance just inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Congratulations, #Serbia!"
Today's post features two kolo videos from Serbia and one from Canada.
Video #1 is a group of young people dancing in the street in Belgrade, Serbia. The group's name is Krsmanac. They perform a medley of dances that people who folk dance regularly will recognize. Two of them are U Šest and Čačak.
Video #2 took place during a halftime show at a basketball game in Toronto, Canada. Skip the intro and start at 1:00. The dance that begins the medley resembles Bulgarian rachenitsa, apple-apple-pineapple, in 7/16 time. Čačak begins at 4:14.
Video #3 is Malo Kolo (small circle dance) from Banat, from a festival that took place in Novi Sad in 2011. This dance is anything but small and it is not to be confused with another dance with the same name from Croatia. This is a large group dressed in elaborate embroidered costumes. Check out the small circle in the middle of the crowd at 4:00.
I'm attached to the beat. The beat speaks words. I love music.
Travis Scott
One of the most popular (and difficult) folk dances is Bucimis from the Thracian region of Bulgaria.
Video #1 is the melody and the dance we know and love. It is short, only a minute and half long.
This tune has made the rounds in some musical circles (pardon the pun). It is challenging to play because it's in 15/16.
Odd time signatures are very common in Balkan music. This is the only dance I know of in 15. Western musicians in general, have difficulty internalizing the rhythms because they are so used to music in 2's and 4's.
In the next two videos, the musicians have mastered the rhythm. They also play it on instruments not usually used in Bulgarian folk music (except for accordion in Video #2, and tarambuka in Video #3).
Video #2 starts with a very long drum solo. For some reason drummers have a field day with this piece. The melody, played on mandolin and accordion, starts at 2:50.
In video #3, a group that usually performs Middle Eastern and medieval music, plays Bucimis with violin, two recorders, drum, tarambuka, and oud.
The nearer the dawn the darker the night.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I was at a Greek festival recently. One of the performing groups danced a Hasapiko. I didn't capture it on video because I ran out of space on my phone; but I did manage to take a picture of the dancers.
Hasapiko was originally a dance performed by the butcher's guild in Greece. The more modern form is also known as Sirtaki.
On the Universe of YouTube I found a superb rendition of Hasapiko performed by a couple to the beautiful song I Fili Mou Haramata (My Friends At The Break Of Dawn). The song blended so well with the dance that I had to share it.
The song itself is about a woman who wants to hide from everyone, including her friends, because of a relationship breakup. They gather at her house at dawn, happy, with drinks in their hands. She isn't having any of it.
“Who wouldn't want to get married in a room full of love stories?”
Jen Campbell
Many of the dances on The Alien Diaries recently have been about weddings. Today's dance is Periniţafrom the Romanian region of Muntenia. It is pronounced "perinitza." The dance is in sârba rhythm, a popular dance form in southern Romania similar to the Serbian Cacak or Bulgarian Pravo Horo.
The idea behind the dance is to "capture" a partner with a scarf. Both women and men can pick partners. They kiss after their turn at the dance and move on to find other partners until the music ends.
Periniţacan be done as a hora (group), couple or even as a threesome (1:44). The threesome part reminds me of the Russian dance Troika. At 2:48 two couples kiss. It's really sweet!
You can read the story behind the dance here. It was a favorite of the dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, and under his regime it was the last dance at every party. It's still popular from what I've seen on YouTube.
Once you listen to Periniţa, it will live on in your head for days because it's a catchy, repetitive tune, also known as an earworm.
Here is another version of Periniţa performed at the wedding of Marius and Geana in Galati.
Before I came here, I was confused about this subject. Having listened to your lecture, I am still confused -- but on a higher level.
Enrico Fermi
Folk dancers are often in a state of confusion because there are so many dances with similar names.
This post is a part of the longest continuous series on The Alien Diaries. There are 14 other posts on this subject (see links at end).
Today's dances are Maleshevsko Horo and Maričensko (the full name is Maričensko Pravo Horo, but no one ever writes that on request lists.)
Video #1 shows the dance club Chanove from the city of Ruse performing Maleshevsko. Although this is a very macho piece of music, there are women as well as men in the line, so this is an equal opportunity dance.
Maleshevsko is from the southwest Bulgarian region of Pirin.
Maleshevsko can be danced to more than one tune; here is another example done to the folk song Ay da idem Jano; click on the link and you can sing along, provided you can read Bulgarian. This is a slightly different choreography by the groupакцент (Accent).
Pravo is one of the most popular dances in Bulgaria; it has many variations, from slow to hold on to your neighbor's belt fast.
Video #3 was the only example of Maricensko I could find with dancing, but here's another version that's worth a listen, played by a very talented guitarist, Ewan Dobson. You can dance to this one too.
If you enjoyed this you may also like the rest of the Balkan Dances that are Often Confused Series. You can link to all posts by going backwards from this one:
“I think he’s suffering from a nervous shakedown.”
Stan Laurel
Today's post is about a piece we used for the final dance recently. One of the people there pronounced it "Hora of Misery."
Hora Miresei, from Romania, was actually a dance for the bride and her family, done after the wedding before she leaves with her new husband. Maybe that's what the "misery" is about. Can you imagine how maudlin they were about the bride moving to another village, to live with her new family? If there is booze involved, and there usually is, mourning her loss is even harder!
Nervous breakdowns (or "shakedowns") are common before, during and after weddings. The drinking and the dancing help by alleviating some of the stress. After the wedding is when reality sets in, especially for the parents of the bride. Then for the bride, there's the wedding night...
The lyrics for Hora Miresei are beautiful and poignant, and the story told from the viewpoint of her mother. She wants to prolong what little time she has left with her daughter. Here are the lyrics so you can sing along.
Never give a sword to a man who can't dance.
Confucius
The video below is a group of Thracian dances performed at a Bulgarian wedding. The music is from the folklore region of Thrace.
The dances (in order) are Trite Puti, Pravo Horo (with attitude), and Bucimis, Notice that the choreography is different from what we do at recreational folk dances in North America. It starts with a mixed line for Triti Puti. During the Pravo (at 1:47) the guys dance in separate line from the women. Traditionally, men in Bulgaria dance as a way to flirt with women and demonstrate how macho they are.
At 3:28 the women form a separate line for Bucimis, so they get a chance to show off, too. At 4:03 it becomes a mixed line (with the bride somewhere in the middle). At 4:39, the guys form a separate line for Bucimis, and all hell breaks loose.
This is a fun video to watch. I would love to go to a Bulgarian wedding!
Nothing is impossible, the word itself says “I’m possible!
—Audrey Hepburn
Today's post takes us to western Slavic territory: Slovakia.
Last week I listened to some Czech brass band music and some Slovak folk dance music on YouTube. It made me think about why Czechoslovakia (a country that no longer exists) split up. It was an amicable breakup between two countries with similar language but totally different musical cultures.
It was weird to hear "Bavarian beer hall music"sung in Czech, not German. Culturally, Bavaria and the Czech Republic share two things: a love for brass band music and a love for beer. The best beer that I ever had was a Pilsener Urquell from the Czech Republic. Turns out that the person who created that beer style was from Bavaria.
The first time I heard Slovak music was the theme song for a Slovak radio program in New York City back in the 1980's. I didn't know the name, nor had I danced to it, but the song took up residence in my head. The music was haunting and beautiful and the first thought that came to my mind was a young woman, wandering in a field on a hot summer day, searching for something elusive to her.
A few months later, I was in Central Park, looking for the venue where the folk dancing was held (E. 82nd Street near the King Jagiello Statue). It didn't take me long to find it because I heard that song again. Because of that song I found the group. A woman saw me watching, and drew me into the dance: "You can do this!" The dance wasHorehronsky Csardas.
Slovak music sounds like Hungarian music with a Slavic accent because of the strong Hungarian influence in that region. Here is an example:
As for Horehronsky Csardas, the song to it is To Ta Hel'pa, about a young woman who has an interest in one man out of 100 in the town of Hel'pa. It was originally recorded (on vinyl, you can hear the needle static in the beginning of the recording, it's that old!) during the 1950's.
Before the Internet it was difficult to find folk song lyrics, and almost impossible to find them in English translation. Now I knew what had eluded the singer.....good men are hard to find. Also, she would perform an amazing feat for this special guy; jump across the Danube, River of Many Names and a field as well.
I don't know of anyone who could do this, except maybe Wonder Woman. Here is an essential skill the singer could use.
This video shows a hydrofoil making the trip from Bratislava to Vienna. There are a number of huge vessels in this video. Check out the barges at 0:23 and 1:01. There are more if you continue to the end.
If our singer wants to jump across a river this wide and busy, she must be desperate for love. This is a common them in folk songs; the desire for what one can't have.
Finally here's the video for the dance with lyrics so you can sing along.
If you enjoyed this you may also like: The River of Many Names, Parts One Through Six (Part Six has links to the previous posts)
There are those whose sole claim to profundity is the discovery of exceptions to the rules.
Tom Eldridge
One of the ladies from my dance group had recently attended a workshop in Bulgaria. One of the interesting tidbits she got from one of the dance instructors was that dances from the Bulgarian region of Dobrudja always start on the left foot. I found out that is not always true!
Here is a dance I have featured before on this blog, Kutsata, a rachenitsa from Dobrudja. This version starts on the left foot. It goes by the rules.
Notice that the group's name is 7/8: the rhythm for rachenitsa is apple-apple-pineapple. There are other variations on the 7/8 rhythm, which have been covered in previous posts (see links at end of post).
It would take hours if not days to find an exception to the "starts on the left foot" rule regarding dances from Dobrudja, but I found two.
The first is Dobruđanska Râka. That caret is over the "a" for a reason. In this case the "a" is pronounced almost like "u" (sometimes rachenitsa is spelled ruchenitsa for the same reason). There is plenty of arm movement in this dance, and in Bulgarian rŭka means "hand" or "forearm."
In English speaking countries this dance is called Dobrudjanska Reka. In Bulgarian "reka" means river. I wonder how many Bulgarians have been confused by our pronunciation?
In this version of Kutsata, with different choreography and music than Video #1, the dancers start on the right foot. I think there are rebel choreographers who go out of their way to break the rules, even in Dobrudja.
Video #4 is a dance not from Dobrujda, but from Strandzha, in the southern part of Bulgarian bordering Greece. It is home to the Nestinari, the Fire Dancers who celebrate the day of Saints Constantine and Helen by dancing on hot coals. This dance, however, does not involve fire.
In the end, when it's over, all that matters is what you've done.
Alexander the Great Alexander the Great was a king from the ancient Greek region of Macedon. His goal was to conquer the world (and if he had done so, Macedonia would be much bigger than it is today.) The name is much contested, especially in the southern Balkans.
There are three regions that use the name Macedonia: northern Greece, Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria, and the Republic of Macedonia. The Republic of Macedonia and the Greek government are in the process of deciding a name that would be agreeable to both countries. One name being proposed is The Republic of North Macedonia.
Gerakina is a dance from Greek Macedonia that is very popular in the international folk dance community.
I couldn't find the lyrics in translation. According to a dance friend of mine (who understands Greek) it is about a young woman named Gerakina who fell into a well. Her rescuers were able to locate her by the jingle of her bracelets (the "vroom vroom vroom vroom") in the song.
The recording is so old that you can hear the needle hitting the record at the very beginning of the music (it was cut out of the video). Many of the recordings we use date from the Dark Ages :)
Version #1 is the one we use at dances. The music is in 7/8 (pineapple-apple-apple).
Version #2 uses a different choreography than Version #1. This one was danced by kids in a Greek performing group. Watch how they clap along to the rhythm. Asymmetrical rhythms like 7/8 are very common in the Balkans. The kids grow up with it. They walk, sing, and dance in 7/8.
To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful.. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking.
Agnes de Mille
Today's video features the group HKUD Osijek 1862 singing and dancing a kolo to tamburitza music. What is really cool is that they get practically the whole city to dance along with them in the square.
The cellist (Ana Rucner) is from the capital city of Zagreb. Check out the instrument she plays (it's made of metal instead of wood).
Osijek is the fourth largest city in Croatia, and it's located in the Slavonija region of the country. Slavonija is known for its lively and upbeat music. This city, along with Vukovar was damaged during the Croatian War for Independence in 1991 and a sizable number of lives were lost.
Tamburitza music is a staple of Croatian culture and the band in the video is a very fine example. The dance is a Drmes, of which there are many versions from different regions and towns. This one from Slavonija is one of my favorities.
Words have meaning and names have power. ~Author unknown
Macedonia has been mentioned often in the news recently. The Greeks are the most vocal about which country should claim the name: "Macedonia is Greek."
I refuse to take sides because I see no point in starting wars over the naming of countries. The Greeks don't like the idea of a separate Slavic country that uses the name "Macedonia." This country, capital Skopje, used to be a part of Yugoslavia, which split up in 1991. The United Nations, in order not to offend the Greeks, refers to the country as "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Most people refer to it simply as "Macedonia" or the Republic of Macedonia.
To complicate things further, there is a region in southwestern Bulgaria, Blagoevgrad Province, that goes by the name "Pirin Macedonia." When I listen to Radio Blagoevgrad's folk music program the announcers often refer to their region as "Macedonia."
Greece and the Republic of Macedonia are in the process of negotiating a name that would be agreeable with both countries.
Why isn't there the same conflict going on with the name "Thrace", another name that that appears on the maps of Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey? For that I have no answers.
The Bulgarian National Radio uses this distinction: Aegean Macedonia for Northern Greece, Vardar Macedonia for the Republic of Macedonia, and Pirin Macedonia for southwestern Bulgaria.
Today's post features dances from Greece, Bulgaria, and the Republic of Macedonia.
Video #1 is Leventikos, (also known as Pusteno in Vardar Macedonia) a popular dance in Northern Greece. The dancers are from the Greek city of Edessa. Dances often cross borders; this is one of them. There is another dance after Leventikos at 3:00: Nkainta.
Video #2 is Silent Dance from the Pirin region of Bulgaria (Blagoevgrad Province.) There is an accompaniment with kaval (open ended flute), and the coins on the women's costumes. Silent, it's not.
Video #3 is a children's group dancing Bufcansko from the Republic of Macedonia. This version has a bounciness to it. The girls really know their stuff.
The music is played by Pece Atanasovksi and his ensemble.
Lyubka Rondova was a Bulgarian refugee child uprooted from her village in Aegean Macedonia during the Greek Civil War. She passed away almost two years ago. She was best known for folk songs from the Pirin region of Bulgaria.
Today's post features two variations of the dance Bregovsko Horo. It is from the town of Bregovo in northwestern Bulgaria, near the borders of Romania and Serbia. The dance is fast, in 2/4 and has Vlach and Serbian elements. The flute solo (in Version #1 and Version #2sounds like a frula, a traditional Serbian musical instrument.
Our group calls Bregovsko the "One Figure Čačak". Čačak is a dance from Serbia that has migrated across borders. You can dance Sirba, a Romanian dance, to Čačak music!
Version #1 is the one more familiar to recreational folk dancers. The first time I heard it I thought it was Serbian!
Version #2 is the same music with a slight variation of the steps. The group is from Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. If you check out their other videos, you will see they are also into English Country Dance, which is not my thing. I know a number of people who are into both Balkan dance as well as English country.
Version #3 is the same choreography as Version #1, to different music. I like the exuberance in this group. The dancers are from Sofia, Bulgaria.
If you love Balkan music and dance you have come to the right place! The Alien Diaries began in February 2010 and is updated at least twice a month.
This blog is dedicated to the memory of my cat Fatso (see avatar), who passed away on April 9, 2011 from congestive heart failure. He was the inspiration for several of my early posts.
Don't forget to check out my second blog, Light and Shadow, for some humor, satire, photos and poetry!
