Crazy Dance Instructors

Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are great because of their passion.
― Martha Graham

My favorite dance teachers have a little bit of "crazy" about them. Here are a few from the Universe of YouTube. I haven't danced with them personally, but this is the kind of instructor I like when I go to dance workshops. They display energy and passion.

Video #1 is a dance from Bulgaria, Boaliisko Horo. Check out the smile on the instructor's face, she is not only an excellent dancer but totally into what she's doing. Her enthusiasm is contagious.

This group, from Brno in the Czech Republic, does it with the arms swinging into the middle during the "grapevine" portion of the dance, which is different from the dance notes.  The notes mention a belt hold.



Video #2 is Bianca de Jong teaching Vlaski Sat from Serbia. What I find most impressive is her energy, in her movement and her voice. Don't forget to shout opsa!

This was taken during a workshop in Austria.



Video #3 is from a Romanian festival in Boulder, Colorado. The teacher here is a member of Hora Romaneasca.  The kids seem to enjoy it, and maybe some of them will take up dance after a session with The Crazy Guy with the Ponytail.

I think men who dance are cool, because in my culture males in general prefer sports over dance and are afraid of looking stupid on the dance floor.

The dance is De Strigat, from Romania



If you are a frequent reader of The Alien Diaries, you will recognize this Chinese guy, who teaches a "Bonding Folkdance Class" in Taiwan.  Although I don't understand a word of what he says, I'm sure I'll have no trouble learning from him. By the way, it's hard to call out the steps and do them at the same time. The mouth gets the feet confused.

The dance, from Macedonia, is Berovka.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Romanian Folk Dance in the United States

Vlach Dances from Bulgaria and Serbia

Fun and Easy Folk Dances from Romania


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

The "Flavors" of Macedonian Oro

Today's post features several dances from another former Yugoslav republic, Macedonia. The word for dance in Macedonian is similar to the Bulgarian (oro in Macedonia, horo in Bulgaria).

If you are looking for oro, as in gold, you have come to the wrong place. Do a search on Spanish conquistadors instead, they had an obsession about finding gold in the New World. But before you go, spend a few minutes here, you may find this blog more interesting and a lot more fun than Latin American history :)

Bavno Oro is familiar to folk dancers worldwide. The name comes from the slow part in the beginning of the dance, which speeds up at the end. This vintage recording, still played at dances today, was made by Boris Karlov, Bulgarian accordionist.  His repertoire included music from Bulgaria, Serbia and Macedonia, and unfortunately, he died at a very young age from a kidney infection.

The performers are the Surrey International Folk Dancers from British Columbia in Canada.



If you are a frequent visitor here you have seen these people before.  They are a part of a "bonding folk dance class" in China.  Their instructor is very good because I can follow him even though I don't understand a word of Chinese.  Balkan folk dance is very popular in China, judging from the number of videos I have seen posted by this group on YouTube.  The dance is Berovka and its time signature is 2/4. 



The next video was from the New England Folk Festival 2012, and features an excellent group from Brooklyn, NY who sing "Macedonian roots music."  I had the pleasure of listening and dancing to Niva recently at  Balkan Music Night 2014. 

Ratevka, the dance shown here, is usually played as part of a medley that includes Berovka. It has a different time signature than the previous dance:  7/8 or 7/16 depending on the speed.  This live version is a little slower than the recording. It's the same rhythm as the Bulgarian dance Chetvorno Horo (pineapple-apple-apple).



The Tanec ensemble is well-known all over the world for their performances of music and dance from the Republic of Macedonia. This is a men's dance, Teskoto, played on two zurnas and a tupan. The zurna is an instrument that resembles a horn.  It has a double reed, like an oboe, and finger holes and it is loud enough to wake the dead. The Turks introduced these instruments during their occupation of the Balkans.  They later became part of the musical fabric of Macedonia as well as the Pirin region of Bulgaria.

If you haven't noticed previously, Macedonian folk dances tend to start off slow and pick up speed as they progress. 



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

The Legacy of Boris Karlov, Bulgarian Folk Accordionist

The Bagpipe in Macedonian Folk Music

Two Variations on a Macedonian Folk Dance: Bufcansko

If you're interested in music from former Yugoslav republics click these links:

The "Flavors"of Serbian Kolo

The River of Many Names, Part 6, The Danube in Croatian Folk Songs


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