Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.
William James
I still haven't figured out the connection between common sense and dancing, Dancing and humor have been featured often on this blog. They go very well together.
Last week's post featured a group of dancers getting crazy with a dance from Romania. There is link to it at the bottom of this post.
Today's dance isBavno Orofrom Macedonia..The music to this is based on the song Snosti Sakav Da Ti Dojdam.
Bavno Oro translates to "Slow Dance" but that is a misnomer. It has two distinct parts: part one is in 7/8 lesnoto rhythm (slow-quick-quick). At 2:15 there is a short transition, then the fast part in 7/16 (quick-quick-slow).
There are numerous versions of Bavno; my favorite is a recording by Boris Karlov, a Bulgarian folk accordionist who lived from 1924-1964.
What is important is to spread confusion, not eliminate it.
― Salvador Dalí
This week's dance is Ravno Oro from the Republic of Macedonia. The name is very easily confused with another Macedonian dance, Bavno Oro.
Ravno is a bit more challenging than Bavno. Like a number of Macedonian folk dances; it starts off slow and speeds up as it progresses. There are different patterns for the slow part and the fast part. The time signature is 7/8 (pineapple-apple-apple).
In this video the lines are gender-segregated. Traditionally the dance was done that way, but nowadays people do it in mixed lines. Sometimes dancing in the men's line is more fun; they tend to get a little crazier than the women. I have gotten away with it on more than a few occasions :)
Video 2 is the "equal opportunity" version, led by Yves Moreau. Check out his fancy moves; he is a well-known teacher of Bulgarian and Balkan folk dances and gives workshops all over the world.
I skipped the letter "q" because there are no Balkan dances that begin with "q." The bonus video supplies the missing letter in a very quirky way.
This week's dance is Edno Ime Imame (rough translation "We Have One Name")from Macedonia. It is one I had never heard of until I did a search for Balkan dances that begin with the letter "E." The teacher in the video is Ira Weisburd, whose specialty is Israeli dance, although you'll find him teaching several Balkan dances on YouTube.
Ira is a pleasure to watch; he performs the dance fluidly and effortlessly. This is a dance I would like to learn, although I don't know if either of the groups I frequent has the music. My guess is that this is a very old recording and may be difficult to find.
The rhythm for this is lesnoto (7/8 time signature) galloping-apple-apple, very popular in the Pirin (southwest) region of Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia.
Even though this dance doesn't begin with the letter E, many of us know it as the "E" dance. When you hear the chorus you'll understand why. The music is the Bulgarian folk song U Nasheto Selo (In Our Village), and sounds really strange, like a record played a little too fast.
Those who were born after 1985 probably aren't too familiar with those
big, plastic disks called records unless their parents or grandparents
had collections gathering dust somewhere in the basement. They were cumbersome devices played on a turntable and the needle moving on the grooves produced the sounds. We've come a long way from music on 12" disks to music on a device that can be used as a phone, camera, and music player.
BIG D, little d, what begins with D?
David Donald Doo dreamed a dozen doughnuts and a duck-dog, too.
Dr. Seuss
This week's dance is Dedo Mili Dedo from the Republic of Macedonia.
The lyrics describe a pair of grandparents going about about their work and life, who are still very much in love. Regular readers will recognize this "Bonding Folk Dance Class" from China. They have many videos posted on YouTube (Israeli and International as well as Balkan). It's fascinating to watch the Chinese perspective on Balkan dancing. The teacher has a very commanding presence.
Does anyone hear him say "jump up" at the end? At least that's what it sounds like, but I don't understand a word of Chinese.
Here's another version of the song, also know as Dedo Mili Zlatni. You can see a dramatization of it below, along with dancers in elaborate embroidered costumes.
Heterosexual men HATE dancing. We HATE it. We do it because there's a chance it might lead to sex. I mean, let's face it- if we LIKED dancing, we'd do it with other guys! (found in Psychology Today comment section in response to "65 Quotes on Dance." The remark was attributed to an anonymous standup comic.)
Sure, there are men out there who dance primarily to meet women. And there are some who actually like to dance. They like dancing so much that gender roles don't bother them. In today's post there are men leading what are traditionally known as women's dances.
The gender line has been crossed, at least with these two dances from Macedonia.
The first dance is Zensko za Raka, led by the teacher Sasko Atanasov. . This is an fairly easy dance but it requires a lot of concentration for the leader because the music doesn't exactly tell you what to do. I find it amazing that this guy can beat a drum and lead a dance at the same time. He is really good.
Staro Zensko Krstenomeans "old women's crossing dance. The crossover steps are similar to Zensko Za Raka, although the rhythm is a little more complicated and there are more embellishments.
I don't see a time signature on the sheet music. Does anyone know what it is? Inquiring minds want to know :)
One of my favorite folk dances is Bufcansko, from the Republic of Macedonia. The first variation is the one most commonly performed by recreational folk dance groups. It was one of the first dances I learned in Balkan class many years ago. If you listen closely to the music you can hear the clarinet played in the upper register. Some people consider the clarinet an "instrument of torture", but I happen to like it, and even took lessons many years ago.
The video mentions that the dance is from Yugoslavia, a country that no longer exists since it split up into individual republics during the 1990's. Macedonia declared its independence in 1991.
The second video is a performance by a childrens' folk ensemble from Macedonia. Bufcansko is a women's dance (here it's done by a group of girls). They add a bounciness to the dance that is more pronounced than in the previous video, and they are a joy to watch. The instrumentation is different as well, it has a uniquely Macedonian sound in which you can hear the kaval (open-ended flute) the gaida (bagpipe) and the tambura. The tambura is a string instrument, related to the mandolin. It's also popular in the Pirin region of Bulgaria, which shares a border with Macedonia.
The unusual, the different and the quirky: I love them all. Especially when it has to do with Balkan folk music.
The first video takes place in New York, about sixty miles north of New York City near a town with the Dutch name of Poughkeepsie. The Dutch were the first Europeans to explore (I refuse to say discover because the natives were there first!) the area surrounding what is now the thriving metropolis of New York City. In 1664, the British took New Amsterdam from the Dutch and renamed it after the Duke of York, they have been speaking English there ever since (plus a couple of hundred other languages.....)
The celebration depicted is the reopening of a bridge, years ago it had originally carried freight trains across the Hudson River; then it was abandoned when the line was no longer profitable. An organization called Walkway Over the Hudson revitalized the bridge, creating a way for pedestrians and bicyclists to cross the river. Next time I'm in upstate New York I have to check out this bridge; it has some pretty amazing views.
The Raya Brass Band from Brooklyn inaugurated the opening of the Poughkeepsie Bridge back in 2009. They led the way with an odd cast of characters: stilt walkers, hoopers, unicyclists and...aliens? The music played by the band is a Romani tune from Bulgaria, Ciganko.
For more about the Walkway Over the Hudson (also known as the Poughkeepsie Bridge):
The next video was emailed to me by a friend. This is a very large group performing two Macedonian folk dances in the downtown area of Pecs, Hungary. I wonder if this was a flash mob video, not only does everyone know the steps, but it looks like the entire town is there. The second song is one very popular amongst folk dancers, Dimna Juda; the name of the dance is Kopacka.
The last video in today's lineup is of twin sisters, the Duo Stoyanova, playing a Bulgarian folk dance, Radomirska Kopanitsa, on classical guitars. The guitar is not native to Bulgaria, and it is usually associated with music from Spain. One of the comments on YouTube mentioned (in Spanish) about how replacing the tambura, a Bulgarian folk instrument, with guitar gave this piece a Spanish accent. These two ladies did a really good job with it.
For more on the Duo Stoyanova, in German, English and Bulgarian click this link:
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!
