Friday, July 26, 2013

Two Variations on the Romanian Folk Dance: Hora de la Munte

Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.
J.H. Poincare

This quote got my attention because dancing is related to math. There are a number of dances that use the same name and different music.  Today's dance, Hora de la Munte, from Romania, is one of them.

I learned it many years ago from a lady named Sasha in New York City.  At that time she ran a folk dance group that met at the 92nd Street Y on Saturday evenings.   I don't know how old she is but my guess is that she is in her eighties (dancers tend to have very long lifespans), and she's still going strong.  I saw her last summer at a workshop given by Yves Moreau.

Version one is the one most people know; it is slow and easy to follow.  This group is the International Folk Dancers of Ottawa from Canada.  Check out their blog: Easy Folk Dances. They have dances posted from all over the world, including Eastern Europe, and they also have a YouTube channel.



This is Hora de la Munte, version two, performed by the same group. It's not a difficult dance; most of it consists of rhythmic walking and it's a bit more lively. Instead of the clarinet solo, there is a woman singing.  Version two also has a step in and out sequence.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Balkan Folk Dancing and its Relationship to Math (see quote above!)

Dancing in Sevens (three Bulgarian folk dances, each with the number seven in the time signature, with different rhythms)

Two Variations on a Romanian Folk Dance, Hora de Mina

The "Flavors" of Romanian Hora

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