Julian Baggini
Today's post features some less well-known dances from Oltenia, Romania. Southern Oltenia shares a border with Bulgaria and the dances from this region share certain elements with those from the Vlach region of Bulgaria (Severnjashko). They tend to have fast footwork and shouts (strigaturi). For example, the dances Trei Pazeste Batrinesc (Romania) and Vidinsko Horo (Bulgaria) share a second figure that is exactly the same!
The region of Oltenia (once upon a time) was a part of Bulgaria during the Middle Ages. It is named after the river Olt, one of the major tributaries of the Danube (River of Many Names). It is a "fuzzy" border region where cultures have mixed.
Video #1, Alunelul Scuit, is a dance I have never seen performed in the United States. My guess is that this group is the Taiwanese Bonding Folkdance Class. Many dances from Oltenia have the name "Alunelul" in the title. Alunelul means "hazelnut" in Romanian.
Video #2 is Alunelul Batut #2 (there are several dances with the name Alunelul Batut). It has different choreography and different music than Alunelul Batut #1 (which is more frequently done). They like to beat up the hazelnuts in Oltenia!
Video #3 is Alunelul Batut de la Goicea. Goicea is in the Dolj region of Oltenia. This is not to be confused with other dances from Goicea, for example: Trei Pazeste de Goicea Mare. There is an entire family of dances from Oltenia with the name "Trei Pazeste." For more information on "Trei Pazeste" dances see the link at the end of this post.
Video #4 is Balta, danced to a tune named Horă Mișcată. There is a lot of fast footwork in less than two minutes. By the way, there is another dance, Ca la Balta, also from Oltenia, that is often confused with this one. If you really want to get confused, read the post below on "Dances Often Confused." It has become a never ending series...
If you enjoyed this you may also like:
Dances from Oltenia Part Three (parts one and two are connected to this post.)
Balkan Dances that are often Confused, part 22 (links to all the previous posts)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
