Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Balkan Dances That Are Often Confused: Part 22: Sedi Donka and Serbez Donka

Music is the fastest motivator in the world.
Amit Kalantri

Today's post features more confusion from the world of Balkan dance!  They are both about a woman named Donka.

Serbez Donka is a dance from North Macedonia that has been very popular on Zoom during the spring and summer of 2020.  The dance has been around a while because the video below was created in 2011. I never knew it existed until this year. 

It has a catchy melody that will earworm itself into your brain and never move out. The music is in 7/8 (galloping-apple-apple).

 

People have been dancing Sedi Donka for a long time. This was the way we did it B.C. (Before Covid) with two lines facing each other. Notice the squeaking of dancers' shoes.  It must have been humid that day.

Sedi Donka has an interesting rhythm combination: 7/16 and 11/16.  See the notes for the details.

 

If you really want to impress your friends, do Sedi Donka at warp speed like Henry in the video below. I have heard there are even faster versions of this music somewhere on YouTube. Since this is a small space (like some of our living rooms) his style is impressive. 

Fast music is very motivating!


If you enjoyed this you may also like the rest of the series: Balkan Dances That Are Often Confused (the previous post published last month links to all of them. They will give you enough material to last until next year.)