Balkan Dances that are Often Confused: Part 15

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 group акцент (Accent).



Video #3 is Maričensko Pravo Horo. It's a moderately fast Pravo from the Shope region.

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:

Balkan Dances that are Often Confused, Part 14

Pravo Horo variations from different regions of Bulgaria:
Dancing Across Bulgaria, the Pravo and Regional Folk Dance Styles


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Dance Name Malapropisms, Part Two

“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.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Dance Name Malapropisms (Part One)

Songs and Dances about Brides



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

Thracian Dances at Bulgarian Wedding

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!



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Three Variations on the Bulgarian Folk Dance: Trite Puti

Wedding Dances and Bloopers from Bulgaria and Romania



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