When the music changes, so does the dance. - African proverb
Today's theme is about different dances (to similar music). The first is Graovsko Horo. Gravosko is a dance that can done to many different melodies. The rhythm is 2/4.
Video #1 is the music favored by the Dunav group in Jerusalem. The dance shown here is different than the one in the notes because the speed of the music does not change.
The Ibro Lolov music in Video #2 is a different arrangement, but the basic melody is still recognizable. The dancers wear costumes from the Shopluk folklore region, where the dance is from. I don't know how they manage to dance on cobblestones.
This version speeds up slightly towards the end.
Video #3 has a different tune for Graovsko. This one is popular in Bulgaria (different music, gaida dominant). The dance has a slight variation as well, watch the feet closely. There is a tempo change at 1:48 that continues to 4:53 which must be the Divotinsko part. These ladies have stamina!
Video #4isOgneno Horo, as taught by Roberto Bagnoli. There is a teaching session for most of the video; the music starts at 17.18.
The first two figures are similar to those in the dance Kulsko Horo, and there is one at 11:54 that is used in the dance Vlashko.
This is an interesting combination using steps typical of northwestern Bulgaria and choreographing them to the music for Graovsko. Remember Video #1?
“Those move easiest who have learn'd to dance”
Alexander Pope
Today's post features men who are very good dancers. It is unfortunate that men in the United States think of dance as primarily a female activity. If they saw how dancers are viewed in other cultures, they might change their minds.
Traditionally, in the Balkans, dances were places for young people to find marriage partners, and the men's dances were especially flamboyant because they were showing off for the women. The best dancers got the prettiest girls.
Here's a group of guys at a wedding, and what you see is testosterone in action. I don't know where the wedding took place. The title is in Bosnian and roughly translated means "Have you seen these men dance?"
The dances shown here are from the Shope region of Bulgaria. They start with Shopska Rachenitsa, then Graovsko Horo at 1:45 and finish the with the rachenitsa. What energy!
Here's some eye candy for the ladies: three young shirtless men from Romania dancing sirba. This particular sirba is a fast, difficult dance. I would definitely have an interest in them if I were young and single..They certainly weren't ashamed to have this posted on YouTube. If they were advertising for potential mates, I'd say they were doing an excellent job. Men who dance like this are sexy!
For more on the Romanian dance sirba, there is a link below with more information.
For me dancing is not just moving your arms and legs but basically it's a very spiritual experience. It's part of me and a second nature to me. You can say it is in my blood.
Madhuri Dixit
About a year and a half ago, I wrote a post about different variations of the Bulgarian folk dance Rachenitsa na Horo.
Rachenitsa is the national dance of Bulgaria and can be done solo, as a couple, or in a group. The group version, performed in a line, is "na horo." The time signature (many Bulgarian dances are in odd rhythms) can be either 7/8 or 7/16, depending on the speed of the music.
There are a number of variations of this dance posted on YouTube. This particular variation of Rachenitsa na Horo is from the Bulgarian region of Thrace. To me this looks like a dance group practicing with the teacher in the front, much like the workshops I've been to in the past.
Rachenitsa is all about getting the arms and hands moving, even when dancing it "na horo", because the origin of the name comes from the Bulgarian word for "hand" or "forearm." Notice how the woman at the front of the line waves her right arm. Sometimes the leader twirls a handkerchief.
The dance after the rachenitsa is Graovsko Horo, from the Shope region. The steps are similar to another Bulgarian dance, Kyustendilska Rachenitsa, except that the rhythm is 2/4 instead of 7/8.
Here's another version of Graovsko, where it is easier to see the feet:
The next video features a spirited Rachenitsa na Horo, also from Thrace. Too bad the video is only a minute and a half long. The dancers are a pleasure to watch. They obviously enjoy what they do.
“A writer doesn't dream of riches and fame, though those things are nice. A true writer longs to leave behind a piece of themselves, something that withstands the test of time and is passed down for generations.”
― C.K. Webb
Writers as well as musicians want to be remembered after they die; although material success is important it won't follow you into the afterlife :)
If you came here looking for Boris Karloff, the actor who played Frankenstein's monster in vintage movies, you've just been hijacked to a blog about Balkan folk music. The Boris Karlov mentioned here is a musician, and even if that wasn't exactly what you were looking for, read on, you may enjoy this post.
Boris Karlov, the musician, was born in Sofia, Bulgaria on August 11, 1924 to a family of Roma (Gypsy) musicians. His passion was the accordion, and he and his music became famous well beyond his homeland. During his short 40 years on this earth, he created pieces for this instrument that are played at folk dances to this very day.
Here is an example of classic Karlov; the dance is Gankino Horo from the northwestern region of Bulgaria, the dancers are the Dunav group from Jerusalem in Israel. By the way Gankino Horo is a kopanitsa, a dance in 11/16 meter (11 beats to the measure; the 16th note gets the beat); odd rhythms are par for the course in the Balkans, but in Bulgaria especially.
Another Karlov rendition of a popular Bulgarian folk dance is Elenino Horo; most of us know it better as Eleno Mome. This is another dance in an uneven rhythm, try tapping your foot out to this one. It's in 13/16.
Here's the dance, the music was "borrowed" from Boris Karlov!
An accordionist from the United States, who goes by the YouTube handle, GrigPit, is an admirer of Karlov's music, this piece is Graovsko Horo. GrigPit has a number of Bulgarian folk dances as well as music scores linked to his YouTube site; if you're a musician, check him out.
Some see the accordion as an instrument of torture; it is not considered one in neither Bulgaria nor Serbia (where it is the national instrument of that country.) Karlov often performed on Yugoslav radio (yes, in those days there was a Yugoslavia!) The next piece is a Serbian kolo, Niska Banja, and if you listen carefully it's the same rhythm as the Bulgarian dance Daichovo Horo. Was that Karlov's intent?
And check out another composer of Bulgarian folk music, Diko Iliev, whose works for brass orchestra are played during celebrations in his native country. By the way, this post was also written on the composer's birthday.
One of my longtime friends, a folklore fan born in Budapest, Hungary, visits the Universe of YouTube when she has a few minutes to spare. She is an avid dancer, like myself, and we have gone to dances and festivals together many times over the years.
She enjoys music from the Balkans and knows that I'm fond of unusual folklore videos. One of the signs of a good friendship is that she knows my taste in music, and she has emailed me some really good stuff. Judging by what she's sent, the Hungarians admire Bulgarian folk music.
The first song is Young Girl at the Spinning House, and the rhythm here is 7/8 (apple-apple-pineapple). This is the rhythm for rachenitsa, the national dance of Bulgaria.
The performer is Szilvia Bognar, who sings this delightful and lively song in Hungarian. Note: Hungarians use the last name first. This article on Wikidpedia explains why.
This high energy song Meggyujtom a Pipam (I light my pipe), is performed by the Hungarian group Besh O Drom. Those who are familiar with Bulgarian folk music will recognize it as the dance Graovsko Horo. It has English subtitles, so I didn't have to resort to Google Translate :)
Bulgarian folklore fans will also recognize the next song, the Hungarian version of Dilmano Dilbero. It has been renamed Falcon Song and it's based on a poem by László Nagy. Márta Sebestyén is a well known performer of Hungarian folk music, and here she's accompanied by Szilvia Bognár, Palya Beáta, and the Sebő Ensemble.
The original song, performed by the Mystery of Bulgarian Voices, is the one most people know.
If you enjoyed this you may also like Bulgarian Folkore Travels Abroad and Modern Versions of Traditional Bulgarian Folk Songs.
Bulgarian folk music is so good they have a difficult time keeping it inside the country. It undergoes some interesting transformations when foreigners borrow it. For example, check out this performance of the Hungarian group, Besh O Drom, who used a Bulgarian folk tune and kicked it up a notch. The result? Something so dynamic that you can't sit still while listening to it.(For some reason this performance ended up on a Spanish TV program).
And here's the original music and dance, which is Graovsko Horo, performed by a Balkan folk dance group in Israel:
The Pravo is another dance that has been around. It is supposedly the most widespread dance in the world. Variations of it have turned up in Greece, Macedonia and Albania. Here is a group of dancers at a Greek festival that I went to last summer performing Zonaradiko, the same dance as the Bulgarian Pravo. By the way, the Pravo is the most popular dance in the Thracian region of Bulgaria. The ancient Thracians were a people who lived in what is now Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, so there was a lot of cultural cross-pollination in that part of the world.
The Valle, a dance from Albania, is also similar to Bulgarian Pravo:
The Rachenitsa has been around, too. It has migrated as far as Armenia, in a dance called Laz Bar. A Laz is a dance in 7/8 rhythm (apple apple galloping), and although the music is Middle Eastern, that Rachenitsa rhythm is in there. Notice a rhythm change near the end, and the dancers doing something similar to Bulgarian Pravo:
Compare it to the Bulgarian Rachenitsa seen here:
Back in the 90's, there was a series called "Xena, Warrior Princess." It had been brought to my attention, since I never watched it on TV, that Bulgarian music had infiltrated this particular miniseries. I checked it out for myself, on YouTube.
Hope you enjoyed this multi-cultural journey to Bulgaria and beyond.....
If you love Balkan music and dance you have come to the right place! The Alien Diaries began in February 2010 and is updated at least twice a month.
This blog is dedicated to the memory of my cat Fatso (see avatar), who passed away on April 9, 2011 from congestive heart failure. He was the inspiration for several of my early posts.
Don't forget to check out my second blog, Light and Shadow, for some humor, satire, photos and poetry!
