Kolo Weddings

Your wedding can be the most memorable day and night of your life...or just another party.
Steven Crowder

What makes wedding celebrations so much fun is the dancing. Today's post features some spirited dancing at two Serbian weddings.

Video #1 is a basic version of the dance we know as U Sest or Uzicko Kolo. It's long (over five minutes) and energetic (young people in the line). The bride is second in the line and my guess is that the groom is the leader.  I love the energy and the shouting; the dancers are having a great time!



Video #2 is a group in traditional Serbian elaborate embroidered costumes performing a medley of dances at the wedding of Jelena and Dragan: U Sest, Makazice, Moravac (similar to U Sest), and Cacak. There were two other dances as well, one that I recognized but I didn't know the name, and the other was not familiar. Readers, if you know what they are, please post the names in the comments section.



If you enjoyed this, you may also like:

Thracian Dances at Bulgarian Wedding

Periniţa: a Romanian Wedding Dance


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

The Music of Panko Dobrev

Lesser artists borrow. Great artists steal.
Igor Stravinsky

A number of years ago I wrote two posts about the Bulgarian composer Diko Iliev. While searching for Diko Iliev on YouTube I found several gems by a composer named Panko Dobrev (not the Japanese bread crumbs!) that were strongly influenced by Diko Iliev.

The first one is Gankino Horo, a dance that originated in Northern Bulgaria. Brass music is very popular in that region and this piece really sparkles. It made me want to get up and dance. By the way, the piece was named after a woman named Ganka, and there are numerous versions of Gankino Horo making the rounds. The dance itself is a basic kopanitsa.



The second piece is Rachenitsa Simona. I take it that Simona is also a woman's name. Rachenitsa is the national dance of Bulgaria and performed everywhere in the country. It can be in 7/8 or 7/16 depending on the speed. This one is rather slow and it's a lovely piece of music.



Video #3 is Elenino Horo, the dance we know as Eleno Mome, another dance that originated in Northern Bulgaria.  So far every dance tune I've found by Panko Dobrev was named after a woman; this time it's Elena.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find Panko Dobrev on Bulgarian Wikipedia, although he does have a YouTube channel.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Having a Blast with Diko Iliev

A Birthday Celebration and a Source of Inspiration: the Music of Diko Iliev


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