Helen Mirren
The dance in Video #1 is Joc Batrinesc. Batrinesc means "ancient" in Romanian. (There is also a Hora Veche which means "old dance" that was covered in one of the posts listed below.). This is slow and mellow compared to a lot of Romanian dances (though it does include stamps).
Theodor Vasilescu reconstructed it from a dance that was lost. His version has more hops and sways than the one we usually do. It was originally from the village of Niculițel.
This version is from a group of videos titled "Folk Dance with Henry." They live in Florida so some of these are shot outdoors, probably in the winter when the rest of us are freezing :)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Video #2 is Romanian Paijdusko also known as Paiduska de la Stejaru. The melody reminds me a little of the childhood cartoons I used to watch. Unlike the Bulgarian or Macedonian Paijdusko, the rhythm for this dance is in 6/16.
Video #3 is Geampara (to the "Dancing Hat" song.) The rhythm is similar to Bulgarian rachenitsa: apple-apple-pineapple (7/16). This group is from Taiwan, but the Romanian who posted it and the commenters actually had a lot of praise; they said the group was dancing Geampara like they do in Dobrogea.
If you want to see the original video with the dancing hat, click on the first link below at the end of this post.
Video #4 is Dragaicuta, slow and graceful dance. According to Andrew Carnie's notes it is connected to a women's spring ritual. Another source cites that this is a dance done by friends of the bride to mourn the loss of her when she marries. Either source could be correct.
If you enjoyed this you may also like:
The Dancing Hat (song by the group Ro-Mania)
Horror from Veche (a funny take on a Romanian folk dance) The woman who taught it to us passed away two years ago.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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