Variations on a Bulgarian Folk Tune: Bucimis

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.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Classical Musicians Play Balkan Folk Music

Mandolins, Marimbas, and Bulgarian Folk Music


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

Golden Steps and Greek Blues

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.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Beethoven With a Bulgarian Accent; Mozart Goes Greek

The Butcher's Dance in Balkan Folklore


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

Periniţa: A Romanian Wedding Dance

“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 Periniţa from 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.



Periniţa can 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.



If you enjoyed this you will also like:

The "Flavors" of Romanian Hora

The "Flavors" of Romanian Sirba

Romanian Wedding Videos from the Universe of YouTube


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