Balkan Dances That Are Often Confused Part 21: Hora Mare Bukovina and Hora Mare Bukovineana

What's the difference between rain and grain? Only a g, though they both grow in the land, and they don't land but fall. What a difference a g makes!

 Ana Claudia Antunes

Time for more confusion in the world of Balkan dance. This time it's two dances from Romania. The names are so similar that it is easy to mix up one with the other. But like rain and grain they have something in common. Both are dances from Bukovina.

 Bukovina is a region located in two countries: southern Ukraine and northern Romania.

Video #1 is Hora Mare din Bukovina (large hora from Bukovina).  The Friday Greenbelt, Maryland group does this one. I was totally confused when I heard the music and expected something different. I couldn't find any notes for this dance.

   

Video #2 is a dance we used to do in our Sunday group B.C. (Before Covid).  I used to lead it when we had in-person dances.  My laptop is wired to a printer, scanner, and external hard drive, so to disconnect it in order for people to see my feet at a Zoom meeting would be difficult.  In the Zoom gallery, people can see my upper body and the hand motions which are also part of the dance.  

The dance in Video #2 has a similar name: Hora Mare Bukovineana. This is the music that is familiar to most folk dancers. 

Kudos to the dancers who have set up Zoom meetings and share them with us. It sounds rather complicated.  If you're interested, here is a series of articles on how to host meetings:

Zoom hosting:

 

If you enjoyed this you will also like:

Balkan Dances That Are Often Confused, Part 20 (links to the other posts in the series)

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