Dancing Through the Alphabet: Letter I

This week The Alien Diaries has reached its 250th post and will go into its 6th year!

The I's have it, since today's dances begin with the letter "I".

The first is Izruchana, a moderately difficult Vlach dance from northwestern Bulgaria.  Vlach dances have much in common with those from southern Romania.  They are fast and accented with stamps and shouts.

In case you're wondering who the Vlachs are, they are people of Romanian ancestry who live outside Romania.  Many of them were sheep herders and wandered from place to place to find good pastures. There are Vlach villages on the Bulgarian side of the Danube, River of Many Names.

This group of dancers is from Hong Kong. For some reason the Chinese love Balkan music and there are many Chinese folk dance videos on YouTube.I have also met a number of Chinese people at my folk dance group, including my daughter's high school home room teacher.



If you are a regular reader, you have seen this "Bonding Folkdance Class" from China.  Here they perform the dance Imate li Vino.  The English translation of the song is "Do you have wine?" Since February is the month of Trifon Zarezan, the patron saint of vintners, I included it this week. The dance is a lesnoto variation in 7/8 rhythm (pineapple-apple-apple).  Lesnoto is a popular dance in southwestern Bulgaria (Pirin) and in the Republic of Macedonia.

According to the lyrics, you can bring wine, money and young women, but no old ladies! I sense some age discrimination here....

For some reason the end of of the video was cut off. Someone needs to teach the Chinese some video editing skills :)



Although it's a little early, I'd like to wish my Chinese readers a Happy New Year, with health and happiness!

The bonus video for this week is a waltz by the Bulgarian composer Diko Iliev whose birthday falls on February 15. He is best known for the dance piece Dunavsko Horo.  In keeping with the "I" theme (Iliev) and the wine theme, the name of this piece is In the Vineyards Over Ribine.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

"Blessed  Wine, Cursed Drinking, A Look at St. Trifon, the Patron Saint of Vintners

How to Stamp Out Your Frustrations and Relieve Stress (Vlach dances from Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia)

Are you looking forward to spring?  It has been a long, hard winter here with plenty of cold and snow.  Chase away the winter blues with some springtime music by Diko Iliev.


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

Days of Wine And Roses: Balkan Style

(photo from Wikipedia commons)

The expression "days of wine and roses" was originally used by Ernest Dawson, a British writer of the 19th century. It's from a stanza in his poem Vitae Summa Brevis:

They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.

There was also a movie from the 1960's Days of Wine and Roses, a drama about alcoholism. I don't watch depressing films like these but here's the link if you're interested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Days_of_Wine_and_Roses_(film)

Since The Alien Diaries is about fun, there will be nothing on this blog of a sobering nature. Here the Days of Wine and Roses will be entertaining and enjoyable. You can even drink a toast to me while you read this :)

Wine and roses are popular themes in Balkan folk music, as you will see here.

The first video is of a Bulgarian song set to Greek music. These men are ready for a serious evening of wine and dancing; the song is Give Us Some Wine. Notice the women dancing the Hasapiko, which was originally the dance of the butcher's guild in Greece during the Middle Ages.



For more on the Hasapiko and other butcher's dances from the Balkans read:

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-butchers-did-for-fun-butchers.html

The next song is a satirical one from Macedonia, Imate Li Vino. Bring on the wine, the money, and the young women. But you can keep the old ladies!



The lyrics can be found here:

Roses are beautiful flowers, and they are everywhere during late spring and early summer. The rose is the symbol of Bulgaria, and rose oil is a very important export for this country; it's used as an essential ingredient in perfumes. The next song is A Bulgarian Rose. The lyrics are included, so you can sing along :)



The Days of Wine and Roses would not be complete without a short film clip of the Rose Festival which takes place every June in the town of Kazanluk, Bulgaria. The celebration includes dancing Pravo Horo in the town square, it's a simple dance that everyone can do.




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