Songs about Kate from North Macedonia and Bulgaria

Kate, Kate, kaleš Kate, ajde Kate da begame!

Dorde v gora šuma ima, em po pole komuniga. 

Bulgarian folk song

The name Kate (pronounced Ka-te) is the shortened form of Katerina. Judging from the number of songs on YouTube, this is a popular name in North Macedonia and Bulgaria. 

Video #1,  Tri Godini Kate, is a dance song from North Macedonia. You can find the old, typewritten notes here. The rhythm is lesnoto 7/8 (galloping-apple-apple).

This is also a popular folk dance on Zoom.

 

Video #2 is another 7/8 lesnoto dance from Bulgaria: Kate Lichno Devojche.  It is from the southwest (Pirin) region of Bulgaria.  Notice how common the 7/8 lesnoto rhythm is in both North Macedonia and Pirin Bulgaria. 



Video #3 is Kate Katerino, from the Pirin region of Bulgaria. This is a modern version of a traditional song and it is not the entire song (maybe half of it). This is a fancy version done at a party with a lot of embellishments.

Video #4 is another Kate song from the Pirin region, Kate Kate Kalesh Kate.  The group is Cubrica from the Netherlands.  Although there is no dancing in this video, the music is a strong 9/16 (devetorka) rhythm popular in Pirin Bulgaria and North Macedonia.

The quote at the very top of this page is the first stanza of the song.  You can find the translation here:

My daughter has a variant of the name Katerina, her name is Katrina (like the hurricane) and she and her husband recently celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary.  She can run like the wind on an autumn day.

By the way, she didn't marry the teacher (like Kate in the song in Video #3 and Video #4)

If you enjoyed this you may also like:

The Women of Bulgarian Folk Songs

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Balkan Dances That Are Often Confused, Part 20: Kasapsko Oro and Kasapsko Horo

If we each had to butcher our own meat, there would be a great increase in the number of vegetarians.
Ernest Howard Crosby

First of all, I would like to mention that I am not a vegetarian. Or vegan.  I eat meat. As a child, I went on weekly trips with my dad to the butcher shop.  He saved my dad the best cuts of pork chops and steaks. His shop had sawdust on the floor and he wrapped the meat in waxed paper.

It's time for the 20th installment of "confusion, Balkan style" and it has to do with butchers, who provide carnivores and omnivores (human and animal) with a steady supply of meat.

"Kasap" comes from the Turkish word for butcher. The Balkan region was part of the Ottoman Empire for over 500 years.

In the Balkans, the butchers also danced!  Today's dances are from North Macedonia and Bulgaria. There are three different dances with similar names but different music; you have to be specific on which "Kasapsko" when requesting one of these dances. The Bulgarian ones come from two different regions which adds even more to the confusion.  You read this blog to become confused, right?

Video #1 is Kasapsko Oro from North Macedonia.



Video #2 is Kasapsko Horo from northwest Bulgaria. What adds even more to the confusion that it's the same group, Dunav, from Jerusalem, Israel. You would think that a group from Israel would be into Israeli dance, but they specialize in dances from the Balkans and the Middle East.



Video #3 is Kasapsko Horo, this time from southwest Bulgaria (Pirin).  Different music and different choreography from Video #2.  These dancers wear elaborate embroidered costumes; this time it's a performing group from Bulgaria.

The zurna, an instrument that resembles the oboe, originally from Turkey, has also become part of the music of the Pirin region of Bulgaria as well as North Macedonia. (There is no zurna in this piece, but you can read about it in the one of the posts listed below. It is an instrument people either love or hate).



Video #4 shows a kind-hearted butcher from Istanbul, Turkey who converses with a cat and offers her choice cuts of meat. She was a daily visitor to his shop .  The cat's name was Yesim. Yesim came to the shop every day for five years, and the butcher, Ikram Korkmazer, took care of her.

Istanbul is known for its stray cat population.  The cats walk into stores and people feed them. They are ferals who maintain their independence and for the most part, have passing relationships with humans. 

Unfortunately, Yesim got sick from dehydration and hypothermia from living on the street; Ikram the butcher took her to an animal hospital. Unfortunately, she passed on.

This video is a loving tribute to Yesim and the butcher. Her favorite food was liver. She asked for it by name 😺.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Balkan Dances That Are Often Confused, Part 19: (you will find a link to the rest of the never ending series at the end of this post.

The Zurna in Bulgarian Folk Music (cultural cross-pollination)

The Butchers' Dance in Balkan Folklore (includes Hasapiko, dance of the butchers' guild in Greece)


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Balkan Blues: Some Really Depressing Folk Songs

“Ho! Ho! Ho! To the bottle I go
To heal my heart and drown my woe
Rain may fall, and wind may blow
And many miles be still to go
But under a tall tree will I lie
And let the clouds go sailing by”

J.R.R. Tolkien

There are numerous folk songs from the Balkans that deal with tragic events.  Today's songs are from North Macedonia and Bulgaria.

Video #1 is the dance song Tino More from North Macedonia. It's some serious stuff when a young woman is about to lose her husband when her parents live far, far away, and three doctors are at the head of his bed.

Deljo will die.  The doctors have already sent for the priest to perform last rites.



Video #2 is Devojko Mari Hubava, a song from the Rhodope region of Bulgaria. It's about a couple who can never marry.  They drown their sorrows in wine and rakia. In wine there is truth, but too much gives a nasty hangover the next day.  It's misery on top of misery.



Video #3 sounds like a happy song, and the video is very upbeat, with people dancing in colorful costumes.  The occasion looks festive, with wine and dancing, but the lyrics are tragic.

The singer is Daniel Spasov, the song is Tsiganko, and it's about a man so smitten with a Roma woman (Gypsy is the politically incorrect name) that he cries all the time and doesn't sleep.

Note:  You have to watch the video on YouTube.  For some reason it has been disabled on this website.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Beli Dunav Part Two: Danube Blues

A Tribute to Lyubka Rondova


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Bulgaro-Macedonian Sing Along Songs

The world has only one border. It is called humanity. The differences between us are small compared to our shared humanity. Put humans first.
Nadia Murad

Today's post features the Bulgarian singer Nikolina Chakardakova with a medley of Bulgaro-Macedonian folk songs. There are links to them in the same order as in the video.  I was able to find translations for most of these  (some in German, some in English) and transliterations via The Songbook for Nearsighted People compiled by Birgitt Karlson.  Songs that weren't in the Songbook I found at various websites including Wikipedia, where you can find almost everything.

These songs are excellent examples of songs that cross borders.  They are popular both in Bulgaria and in Northern Macedonia. Sing along with Nikolina!

Makendonsko Devojce
(Macedonian transliteration with German translation)

Zemi Ogin, Zapali Me
(Bulgarian Cyrillic lyrics)

Nazad, Nazad Mome Kalino
(Bulgarian to English translation and transliteration)

Ako Umram il Zaginam
(Macedonian transliteration, translations in German and English)

More Sokol Pie
(English translation)

Jovano Jovanke
(Macedonian to English, no transliteration)

Ludo Mlado
(Bulgarian transliteration and German translation)

We have sung and/or danced to all of these at one time or another. Usually our dances end with a lesnoto in 7/8 time.  The dancers here do a ten minute lesnoto sing-along that is fun to watch. 



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

A Bulgarian New Year Celebration (with Nikolina Chakardakova)

Dancing in Sevens, Part Two (there is a link to Part One in this post)


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Eurovision and Folklore

I do love brash pop music. It's fun.
Romey Madley Croft

I never knew of the Eurovision Song Contest until I moved to Germany. My friends had everyone over to watch the show, which took place Saturday night in early May.  It was a social event, something like the Super Bowl here in the States. We ate, drank and critiqued the songs. I remember it as a mix of mostly sappy love songs with a few humorous ones thrown into the mix.

Songs in a foreign language don't tend to go over well in the States, with few exceptions because people don't understand the lyrics.  In Europe, children in elementary school learn at least one foreign language so they grow up multilingual. In the United States, young people don't usually learn a second language until high school.

Today's theme is the use of Balkan folklore in Eurovision. The theme for the year 2017 was "Celebrating Diversity." I didn't find any good songs for 2017, but here are some from years past with a strong folklore flavor.

Video #1 is the Bulgarian entry for 2013, Samo Shampioni (Only Champions) by Elitsa and Stoyan.  Back in 2007 they had made it to fifth place with the song Voda (Water).

There are several folklore elements: the gaida player with the mask, the three women in the background with elaborate embroidered costumes, and Elitsa singing in the style of the Shope region.

This song placed 12th in the semi-finals; why I don't know.  I give it a "thumbs up" for energetic performance (at one point it looked like a duel of the drums) and the use of Bulgarian folk motifs.



The Serbian entry for 2010 features brass band music, very popular in Serbia.

Ovo je Balkan (this is Balkan) is the name of the song.  I detected a kolo rhythm at 1:14 and several times throughout the song.  This is a dynamic performance, a bit crazy and fun to watch.  You wouldn't know it from watching the performers, but this is a sexy love song.  It finished 13th in the finals.



Video #3 is the Eurovision entry from 2013: Alcohol is Free, from Greece.  During the intro, one of the musicians plays a tiny stringed instrument (tambouras), then all hell breaks loose after the drums and the trumpet play (at 0:41).

I found the lyrics in English translation (something always gets lost in translation) and what I got from them was a song about drunken sailors on a sea of whiskey (why not ouzo?) I give them points for a dynamic and fun presentation with the presence of Greek folklore. The band's name is Koza Mostra  (a play on Cosa Nostra, maybe?) This is definitely not a love song!

The song placed 6th in the finals.



The Croatian entry for Eurovision 2006 was Moja štikla, (My High Heel)  The dancing reminded me of the Greek Pentozali,  the choral singing is pure Croatian.harmony.

The singer, Severina, really stands out in her red dress (she tosses it at 2:20) and her passionate performance, along with her backup (wearing folk costumes) was a pleasure to watch.

This song placed 12th in the finals.  Maybe the judges and the audience just don't appreciate folklore and pop culture as much as I do.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Beethoven with a Bulgarian Accent; Mozart Goes Greek

Bits and Pieces: More Folklore and Pop Culture From the Universe of YouTube


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Dances from Stara Zagora

A city isn’t so unlike a person. They both have the marks to show they have many stories to tell. They see many faces. They tear things down and make new again.
Rasmenia Massoud

Today's music and dance are from the city of Stara Zagora in the south central (Thrace) region of Bulgaria.

Video #1 is Starazorska Rachenitsa, named after the city. Rachenitsa is the national dance of Bulgaria and danced all over the country; it has many regional styles.  The Thracian rachenitsa tends to be slow and smooth. Oftentimes in this dance the arm movements are emphasized.

The name rachenitsa is derived from the Bulgarian word for hand or forearm: ръка.

Here you will see a club demonstrating the dance.  Afterwards, there is instruction, and then everyone else joins in. This version is "na horo" or in a group.



The next dance is Staro Zagorsko Horo. The difference between rachenitsa and horo is that a horo is a group dance; rachenitsa can be performed solo or as a couple as well as in a group.

Staro Zagorsko Horo is a pravo variation.The pravo is the most popular dance form in Thrace, although there are regional variations done in other parts of the country. Like the rachenitsa, it is danced all over the country.

This dance starts off slowly and speeds up.  The beginning is a pravo variation with grapevines and sways. The fancy footwork starts at 2:32.

If you are a regular reader of The Alien Diaries, you will recognize the Chinese "bonding folk dance class."



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

The "Flavors" of Bulgarian Rachenitsa: Part One and Part Two

Dancing Across Bulgaria: The Pravo and Regional Folk Dance Styles


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Black Sea Folk Songs from Romania and Bulgaria

 "Seagull Flying in a Blue Sky"by Michael Haddad (from Wikipedia)

There comes a time in a man's life when he hears the call of the sea. If the man has a brain in his head, he will hang up the phone immediately.
Dave Barry

Today's post features folk songs about the Black Sea. Seagulls are part of the seaside experience, and people tend to romanticize them (especially those who have read the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull. They are obnoxious birds that are a big nuisance at the beach and they will eat just about anything.  Seagulls especially like to hang around while you're eating a sandwich; the smell of meat attracts them. A friend of mine used to feed them (bad idea!) and they never left us alone after that.  They got into the potato chips while we were in the water. My husband saw one eat a spare rib bone, whole!

The Black Sea coast is a big resort area, and there are places that have a reputation for being party towns overrun with human seagulls :) especially Sunny Beach (see Video #1).



Video #2 is a song from Romania in an uneven rhythm (9/8): Cantec de la Marea Neagra (song from the Black Sea). The Black Sea region of Romania, Dobrogea, is an area known for music in odd rhythms. The dance to this is cadeneasca, similar to Bulgarian daichovo.



Video #2 is of a Roma song from Bulgaria, Karavana Chajka. The lyrics (in Bulgarian) are about the group Edessa, who have been invited to play at the Café Seagull on the Black Sea coast. You can find the lyrics here, along with an English translation. You can sing and/or dance along to the music (the dance is a cocek).



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Quirky, Odd and Unusual Folklore Videos from the Universe of YouTube

More Songs from the Romanian Folklore Region of Dobrogea

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The Alien Diaries Best of the "Worst": Earworms from the Balkans

There are, of course, inherent tendencies to repetition in music itself. Our poetry, our ballads, our songs are full of repetition; nursery rhymes and the little chants and songs we use to teach young children have choruses and refrains. We are attracted to repetition, even as adults; we want the stimulus and the reward again and again, and in music we get it. Perhaps, therefore, we should not be surprised, should not complain if the balance sometimes shifts too far and our musical sensitivity becomes a vulnerability.
― Oliver Sacks, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

In previous posts I have written about songs called "earworms." They take up residence in your head for hours and refuse to move out. Today's post features earworms from five Balkan countries.

Video #1 is Valle Kosovare/Shqiptare from Albania.  The group is Valle Tona from Worcester, Massachusetts. This song rang in my head for hours the first time I heard it.  You can find the lyrics here, in Albanian and in English translation if you'd like to sing along.



The song in Video #2 is by Maria Tanase, a Romanian singer who passed away in 1963 at age 49. During her relatively short life she gave performances around the world, and also had parts in movies and in a musical by Ralph Benatsky.  Her most famous song, Ciuliandra, is very popular at folk dances.

Ciuleandra  is not as much of an earworm as Bun ii vinu'ghiurhiulul.  You will definitely need more than a glass of wine to remove this song from your head.  You may even need an entire bottle!

Notice the 7/16 rhythm and repetitive refrain. It is the rhythm for the dance Geampara in Romania and Rachenitsa in Bulgaria.



Earworms tend to have an element of repetition; a distinct rhythm and catchy lyrics, which is why they tend to stay in memory for a long time.They can even drive you crazy as you find ways to purge them from your head.

There is a science to this which is explained in Musicophilia, Tales of Music and the Brain, by Oliver Sachs, M.D. I borrowed the book from the library to check out his take on music.  His research is primarily focused on neurology and experience with stroke, Parkinson's and dementia patients, musical savants, and classical composers.

There is an entire chapter devoted to rhythm and another devoted to what he calls "brainworms".  I saw nothing on Balkan music and its asymmetric rhythms, nor does he mention folk instruments like the gaida and zurna. (If you want to read about how the Ottoman Turks used the zurna to intimate their enemies, see the list at the end of this post).

The song in Video #3 is from Croatia. For some reason, Croatian songs tend to stay in the brain forever.  It's the repetitive lyrics and the tamburitza music that accompanies them.

U Selu Pokraj Dunava (In a village near the Danube) is about a man in love with the young woman who lives in the village. You can find the lyrics here, but no English translation.



One of the best sites for folk song lyrics in the original language, English and German is the Songbook for Nearsighted People, so named because because the lady who compiled typed the lyrics in a large font so they could be seen in places with poor lighting. It is also good for those who are visually challenged.

You can find the lyrics and sing along to Oj Shope Shope in the Songbook. It has a German translation for the song which is about a young man from the Shope region of Bulgaria who thinks he's God's gift to the world. This is a song that refuses to be evicted from the brain. Last year it was part of a gala concert featuring several Bulgarian women's groups.  It  kept me awake that night.



Video #5 is a song from Macedonia, Dedo Mili Dedo,   It tells the story of a day in the life of an elderly couple who still love each other after all the years they've been together. This song has that earworm quality: repetitive lyrics and a catchy rhythm.  There is also a dance that goes with the music.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Some Famous and Not So Famous Folk Songs from Romania

The River of Many Names Part Six: The Danube in Croatian Folk Songs

Age is an Issue of Mind Over Matter: Old People in Balkan Folk Songs 

The Zurna in Bulgarian Folk Music 


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Bring on the Border Crossers!

The question of the value of nationality in art is perhaps unsolvable.
Edward Hopper

Today's dances have a reputation for crossing borders. There are elements of one or more country's influence in all of them.

The first is Arap .Although it is often listed as a dance from Macedonia, it is also very popular in Bulgaria.

Most groups dance Arap to a familiar song about a rabbit headed for Thessaloniki to find a bride. There are other tunes for this dance as well, some with singing and some without.

The Bulgarian version is done to different music, with no vocals.



Recently, one of the ladies in the Sunday group requested Bregovsko Horo.  It is a dance from northwestern Bulgaria near the Serbian border. We hadn't done that one in a long time.

This dance is part Bulgarian, part Vlach and part Serbian.  The steps are similar to Serbian čačak and the music sounds Serbian as well! There is also Vlach influence in the stamps.  The Vlachs in Bulgaria originally came from Romania and influenced the music and dance of the Vidin region. They traveled far and wide all over the Balkans because they often worked as shepherds.

This dance probably has dual or even triple citizenship from all those border crossings :)



Here is a čačak from Serbia for comparison; it is also known as the Five Figure Čačak.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

The Travels of Padjusko Horo

The "Flavors" of Serbian Čačak

Three Variations of the Bulgarian/Macedonian Dance Arap


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Dancing Through the Alphabet: Letter Y

Today's dance is a close relative of Jove (or Yove ) Malaj Mome, a very popular tune from the Shope region of Bulgaria.. The music sounds very similar, although the choreography is different. In Bulgarian transliteration the character Й transliteration can be either a "j" or a "y" (j in Bulgarian has a y sound).  The dance is Yovino Horo.

The rhythm is a combination of 7/16 and 11/16.  Compound rhythms are quite common in Bulgarian folk dances.

Jova is a female name in Bulgaria.



The next video is Jove Malaj Mome so you can compare the two dances. The rhythm is the same, the music and steps are slightly different, and there is singing.  There is something very charming about Bulgarian folk songs.  They can make the most commonplace events sound special.  The lyrics describe a stuck-up young woman at a dance looking for a rich man from Sofia. She's definitely looking for upward mobility.

If these guys look familiar, and you are a regular reader, you'll recognize them as the "Bonding Folkdance Class" from China.



The bonus video this week is a reading of the poem "Advice" by Bill Holm as interpreted by the magician Tom Verner. There is a little surprise at the end.



If you enjoyed this you may also like

The Balkan Buy One Get One Free Special: Dances With Compound Rhythms

The Women of Bulgarian Folk Songs

A Family Resemblance: Theme and Variations


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Dancing Through the Alphabet: Letter N

The mathematics of rhythm are universal. They don't belong to any particular culture.
John McLaughlin

In Bulgaria, there are numerous dances done in pravo rhythm. To add to the confusion, there are two types of pravo rhythm: 2/4 and 6/8. Each has a slightly different feel.

Today's dance, Novozagorsko Horo, from the region of Thrace in mid-southern Bulgaria is a pravo variation, one of many from that region of the country, where it is very popular.

 Novozagorsko Horo means "dance from Nova Zagora."  There are two towns in Bulgaria named "Zagora", one is old (Stara Zagora) and the other is new (Nova Zagora).

Pravo is usually a simple village dance, but not this one.  The dance notes have Novozargorsko  in 4/4 time.  I believe it's a 2/4 because it's fast. The dance is done with a belt hold (na lesa).  The stamping steps remind me of horses.



Speaking of horses, today's bonus video features the talking horse, Mr. Ed.  He had a show on TV that was very popular in the United States from 1961-1966.

If you listen carefully to the song, it's a 6/8 pravo, something you can dance to! Don't let the lion in the beginning of the video intimidate you, he's all noise. All cats, even the big ones, are very demanding of attention.  Why is he in color, and Mr. Ed in black and white?  Inquiring minds want to know.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Bulgarian Folk Music for the Year of the Horse 2014

Bulgarian Folklore and Pop Culture

Dancing Across Bulgaria: The Pravo and Regional Folk Dance Styles


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

Dancing Through the Alphabet: Letter M

Masculine and feminine roles are not biologically fixed but socially constructed.
Judith Butler

This week 's dance begins with M and it's Mindrele from southern Romania. It is also known as Mandrele  which translates to "the girls."In Romanian, the letter "i"  sounds like "a" when there is a caret symbol ( ^) over the "i." Are you confused yet? There is a caret over the "i" in the dance notes.

Since International Women's Day was March 8, and March is Women's History Month, this was chosen as the dance of the week. The rhythm is 6/8.

Mindrele is an "equal opportunity dance." This group is from the United States; a women leads it and there are men in the line.



Another feminine dance, this time from northwestern Bulgaria, is Momino Horo, which translates to "girls' dance." This took place at a Christmas party in Canada back in 2010, and everyone is in a festive mood.What is really striking about this dance is its hybrid nature: the beginning is slow and graceful.  Part two is totally different: all hell breaks loose with stamps and shouts.

Yves Moreau, who spent years in Bulgaria documenting folklore, arranged the choreography based on women's dances from the region of Lom. It's half Macedonian and half Vlach.



The bonus video is also connected with the letter "M."  Since we want spring to come sooner rather than later, here is a tutorial on how to make a basic Martenitsa. Let's make Baba Marta happy!



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Martenitsa (but were afraid to ask)

Women's Dances From the Balkans

Since The Alien Diaries is an equal opportunity blog, you can read about and watch men leading women's dances:

Women's Dances from Macedonia (led by men)

There are also men's dances led by women:

Some Equal Opportunity Folk Dances


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Hybrid Dances From the Balkans

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Aristotle

Today's post features hybrid dances, so called because they have more than cultural influence.

The first video is of a Greek dance from Kastroria with lyrics in Ladino,  Alta es la Luna.  Ladino was the language spoken by the Jews of Spain, who were exiled from that country in 1492 (about the same time Columbus set sail for the New World).  The Spanish Jews, also known as Sephardim, settled in various European countries, including Greece.

You can find the lyrics with translations into English and German here.

By the way, "horon" is the Greek word for dance; "horo" is the Bulgarian cognate.



Momino Horo  is a  "Young Women's Dance" from Bulgaria that has two distinctly different moods. Part one is slow and graceful with step-lifts (the notes describe the styling as Greek Macedonian.).

All hell breaks loose after the musical transition at 2:08;  two stamps, then the "penguin step", followed by an in and out, and more stamps. The choreography in part two is as Vlach as it gets with the shouting and the stamping.

The Vlachs were descendants of Romans who lived in the Balkans.  They had wandering ways and in the old days, they worked as shepherds.

Momino Horo  is based on women's dances from the region of Lom in northwestern Bulgaria, an area with a sizable Vlach population.

Yves Moreau, the teacher in the video, gives workshops in Bulgarian folk dance all over the world. This workshop took place in Haifa, Israel.



Siriysko Horo is a dance that came to the Bulgarian community in Chicago by way of Syria. The music is really strange because it reminds me of rush hour traffic in Manhattan.  According to the notes, the dance teacher Yulian Yordanov saw it performed at a Bulgarian gathering in Chicago. In this video,the music has been slowed down for teaching.

The first time I heard the song for Siriykso, I thought it very weird, but I really like it now. I wonder if the singer, Hamid El Shaeri, a native of Benghazi, Libya, was ever in New York City?

You can find the lyrics here.  What's surprising is this happens to be a love song!



This is the same song, at normal speed, and performed by a group of belly dancers.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

The Travels of Pajdusko Horo

Allusions, Musically Speaking (how snippets from different cultures get mixed into Balkan folk music)

Bulgarian Folk Songs With A Hungarian Accent


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

Dancing Across Borders: Ripna Maca

The Internet knows no national borders.
Alan Dershowitz

Today's dance is Ripna Maca. It is related to Chetvorno Horo in that it uses similar steps and has the same rhythm  (pineapple-apple-apple).  For the musicologists out there, the time signature is 7/16. There are several border crossing dances, for example: Godecki Cacak, that have dual citizenship. The jury is still out as to whether it is Serbian or Bulgarian, but to most of us dancers, it doesn't really matter.

Ripna Maca #1 is from East Serbia.  There is a Shope region in Serbia, and also across the border in Bulgaria. Dances from this area tend to be fast and done with a belt hold.

The lyrics describe a cat who steals sausage from the pantry.  I've lived with a number of cats and they are always getting into trouble.  One of their vices is stealing food meant for humans, especially meat.  That is usually not a problem unless they get into the roast that was designated for company. Nobody wants to eat Kitty's leftovers.



Ripna Maca #2  is from Bulgaria. . The leader calls the steps (in English). They have some interesting names: cross step, hop and horse.



Ripna Maca #3: same dance as the previous video with different music. It's heavy on clarinet and brass and I like it very much.



Recently, the Bulgarian National radio featured The Clarinet in Traditional Bulgarian Folk Music. They have some really good vintage recordings from their archives.

You can also read my post The Clarinet in Bulgarian Folk Music  and why some people consider it an "instrument of torture."

If you enjoyed this you may also like

The "Flavors" of Serbian Cacak

Three Variations on a Bulgarian Folk Dance Chetvorno Horo

Bulgarian Folk Music for the Year of the Horse



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

Variations on the Bulgarian Folk Tune: Gankino Horo

Today's dance is the very popular Gankino Horo from the northwestern region of Bulgaria.

First, let's have a look at the dance. It's fairly easy once you get the feel of the 11/16 rhythm.  That little "hiccup" in the middle takes some getting used to.

The 11/16 rhythm is also used in the dance kopanitsa.   Gankino Horo is a kopanitsa, but not all kopanitsas are Gankino. Ganka is a female name in Bulgaria, and the dance may have been named after the woman who led it. This may or may not be true. There are a number of Bulgarian dances named after women or girls for example: Elenino Horo (Elena's Dance).

The dancers are from the Dunav group from Jerusalem in Israel (if you're a regular you have seen many of their videos on this blog). The music is from an old recording by Boris Karlov, a musician who died nearly 50 years ago.  You can read more about him in one of the posts listed below. He created many arrangements of Bulgarian folk dances for accordion that are still used today.



Since the month of May is almost here, the next variation is Maisko Gankino Horo by Diko Iliev. You'll hear the same motif, but it sounds quite different played on brass instruments.

If you're not familiar with the name Diko Iliev, he was a composer from northwestern Bulgaria who composed many pieces based on folk dances.  His most popular work is Dunavsko Horo, played during holidays and celebrations, and especially to welcome the New Year.



The next video of Gankino Horo uses different music.  There is more than one tune associated with this dance, and I have found several versions on YouTube.  In that respect it is like the dance Dunavsko Horo.



Finally, we have a duo of classical musicians. They play an rrangement of Gankino on piano and cello. This is the familiar melody you heard in the first two videos.  Classical musicians can be sometimes intimidated by the unusual rhythms of Bulgarian folk music, but not these two. They do an excellent job with the piece and play it FAST.



If you enjoyed this, you may also like:

Variations on a Theme by Diko Iliev

Happy New Year 2014 Same Dance, Different Music: Dunavsko Horo

Classical Composers Inspired by Balkan Folk Dances

Springtime Music by Diko Iliev


The Legacy of Boris Karlov, Bulgarian Folk Accordionist


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Three Variations on a Bulgarian Folk Dance: Chetvorno Horo

Hang on to those belts, dancers, today's dance is Chetvorno Horo!

On the Universe of Youtube, I found several video examples on how different "villages" interpret the dance.

Chetvorno is from the Shope folklore region of Bulgaria  (western region near the capital, Sofia). The time signature is 7/8 (pineapple-apple-apple).This dance has traveled around the world and undergone several incarnations, from easy to moderately difficult. You will see them here.

Although there are other dances in 7/8 (or 7/16 depending on the speed) such as the rachenitsa and the lesnoto; the accents fall on different beats and each one has a distinct feel.  Read the posts Dancing in Sevens (part one and part two) to find out more. You can find the links to them at the bottom of this page.

Tbe first video shows a group dancing in a shopping mall.   This version is the least complicated and uses the basic steps (hop-step-step in the first part and one two three in the crossovers, also called pas-de-basques.  Where they got that fancy French name for that step, I don't know.



Version two is slightly more complicated and introduces the slide step as well as the basic ones. This video comes from the series "Teach Yourself Bulgarian Folk Dance" and features professional dancers in elaborate embroidered costumes.  There is also step by step teaching video (pun intended) which is posted on YouTube.



The next version of Chetvorno has a more complicated choreography; if you look at the dance notes you will see five distinct figures.  People in international folk dance groups seem to thrive on complex dances and go to workshops to learn them.  This one is from the village of Bistritsa, and the person demonstrating the dance is from the "village" of Haifa, Israel.



Kolokoalition, a group from the United States, has many dances posted on YouTube. In this video, they dance Chetvorno to live music, the same version and music as shown in the previous video.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Dancing in Sevens  Part One and Part Two

Two Variations on the Bulgarian Folk Dance Kraj Dunavsko Horo

The "Flavors" of Bulgarian Rachenitsa Part One and Part Two


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

Waltzing Through the Balkans

It is my personality alone that has brought back the waltz and made it a global craze.
Andre Rieu

Music from the Balkans is best known for its uneven rhythms and odd time signatures.

Western classical and popular music, for the most part, has an even number in the time signature. A notable exception is the waltz, a dance in 3/4 time.

The waltz originated as an Austrian folk dance, the Ländler, native to southern Germany (Bavaria) and Austria. The most renowned composer of waltzes was Johann Strauss, Junior; although the Viennese waltz did not begin with him. His father Johann Senior and his friend Josef Lanner took Austrian folk tunes and dressed them up for the sophisticated audiences in Vienna and its environs. Their music became part of the classical music repertoire worldwide.

Here is an example of a waltz borrowed from folk music, the Styrian Dances by Josef Lanner. Styria (Steiermark, in German) is a region in southeastern Austria; it shares a border with Slovenia, part of a country that no longer exists, Yugoslavia.



The fame of the waltz traveled far and wide throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire; it spread to Hungary, where Emmerich Kalman and Franz Lehar incorporated it into their operettas. It went further down the Danube, River of Many Names (Johann Strauss' most famous waltz was about it), into the Balkans, and even as far east as Russia.

The next waltz is from Croatia.  The  tamburitza orchestra gives it a distinctly Croatian sound.  I don't know if this is a folk tune or a piece that was composed. The recording sounds quite old. By the way, much of the music at folk dances comes from vintage recordings.



Diko Iliev, Bulgarian composer (best known for Dunavsko Horo), has a birthday this month on the 15th.  Although he composed many pieces based on Bulgarian folk dances such as daichovo, rachenitsa, elenino, and pravo, he wrote waltzes, too. The title of this one, translated from the Bulgarian is In the Vineyards Over Rabine.  I have no idea where Rabine is, but it is probably somewhere in Bulgaria, which is a big wine producing country.

In Bulgaria, February is the month of St. Trifon the Pruner (Trifon Zarezan); it is the time when the vintners get to work pruning the vines to make them ready for the next growing season. It it is also celebrated with lots of wine!



And finally, here is a very famous waltz from Romania by a composer who is practically unknown nowadays. Pop culture buffs will recognize this piece because it has undergone several incarnations.  One of them was  The Anniversary Song performed by Al Jolson (of classic movie fame), in The Jolson Story. The other was a song popular in Korea titled In Praise of Death. The woman who sang it died tragically at a very young age.

This version is the original, by a composer of Serbian descent who lived in Romania.  His name was Iosef Ivanovici and he was a bandmaster stationed in Galati. He had his first introduction to music when an elderly man gave him a flute.

He composed a number of pieces including hora, a dance based on Romanian folk tunes, and many other works, including waltzes, polkas, and marches. However, his best known composition was a waltz titled Waves of the Danube, also known under the German title Donauwellen.

By the way, the conductor in this video, Minseok Kang, ironically, is from Korea, and he conducts the Botosani Philharmonic Orchestra.  He is quite the character, and an excellent dancer!

Announcement!

My new blog Light and Shadow has now been launched! If you enjoy humor and satire, photos and poetry, stop by to visit!  I will be posting there about once a month. Eventually I plan to sell chapbooks of my poetry on this site, as well as feature anthologies where my work has been published.

If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Classical Composers Inspired by Balkan Folk Music

A Birthday Celebration and A Source of Inspiration (music by Diko Iliev)

Blessed Wine, Cursed Drinking:  A Look at St. Trifon, The Patron Saint of Vintners

The River of Many Names, Part 6: The Danube in Croatian Folk Songs (if you like tamburitza music, you will love this)


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Holy Rivers and Holy Rituals: St. Jordan's Day in Bulgaria

If I were called in
To construct a religion
I should make use of water.

Philip Larkin, excerpt from his poem, Water

New Year Greetings to all. I hope 2014 will be a great year.  The Alien Diaries is now going into its 4th year and this is the 200th post!

Many years ago, I read an article in the local newspaper about parishioners of a Greek Orthodox Church in New York City.  Every year, on the 6th of January, their priest threw a cross into New York Harbor, and a group of young men dove into the icy water to retrieve it.  It was good luck and good health for the person who found the cross, and a blessing on the waters as well.

I was fascinated by the ritual, and when I began to study Bulgarian folklore, I found out that was done in Bulgaria, too, since the majority of people there are Orthodox Christians.

Water and religion seem to go together.  And it's not just Christianity.  For example, in India, the Ganges is the Hindu holy river.  People go there to bathe, and go there to die, so they can be cremated and have their ashes strewn upon the waters.  It assures them of a good situation in the next lifetime.

According to a number of religious beliefs, even Pagan, water is used for purification rituals. Despite what you've been told, holy water is not clean and if you've read what I have about the Ganges, it is terribly polluted.

Moving water, also known as living water, is supposed to be especially powerful, magical, and holy. It is mentioned often in Christianity and Judaism. This web page has 47 Bible quotes from the Old and the New Testament that pertain to water.

Despite the irony of holy water being dirty, the faithful sprinkle, wash and immerse themselves in it.  Ironic?  Maybe.  But religious ideas have no logic.  They are taken on faith. I gave up religion many years ago, but I find the cultural aspect of it fascinating, especially when it pertains to folk beliefs.

Today's post is water-related and about the celebration of St. Jordan's Day in Bulgaria. This day is also known as Epiphany and observed on the 6th of January.  It commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. In this instance it's the Jordan by proxy.

This video is from the Bulgarian National Radio affiliate in Vidin. It begins in a church, with the priests chanting a blessing. At 1:45, two older women bottle water from the font in the church, and one of them sprinkles some on a girl. Then the group forms a procession, complete with brass band music, and walks towards the Danube, River of Many Names. The young men, who are probably on the verge of hypothermia, jump in the water (at 3:36) to retrieve the cross while the crowd watches and cheers.  The river has been made holy for another year.



Another instance of ritual purification took place on December 6 of last year, this time on a border police boat.  An icon of St. Nicholas was immersed in the Danube. 

By the way, St. Nicholas has many different personalities depending on where you live. Here in the States, he's known as Santa Claus, a totally different personage than was depicted on that icon.  In Bulgaria, St. Nicholas is the patron saint of bankers, traders, sailors, and fishermen. In this case, the icon was placed in the water in memory of fisherman and boaters who had drowned.

Finally, let's have a look at a very boisterous Epiphany celebration, this time in Kalofer, Bulgaria.  It involves another river, the Tundzha.   In this video, the priest throws the cross, one of the men catches it, then they start to dance, sing and play musical instruments, up to their thighs in icy water. The cold doesn't seem to bother them, and they're having a great time! This dance is called the Ice Horo. Notice the bonfire...it's there in case of emergency.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

The Bulgarian Fascination With Water: Evidence From Folklore, Music, and Proverbs

Some Interesting New Year Rituals and More Cross-Cultural Celebrations

Sometimes Lost In Translation: Bulgarian Proverbs

By the way, there is a program on the Bulgarian National Radio titled Жива вода (Living Water). In Bulgaria, living water is connected with folklore, not religion as it is here in the States.  You can listen to it from Monday-Friday at 18:30 (Eastern European Time, GMT +2).  Adjust for your time zone. Even if you don't understand the language, you'll enjoy it if you love Bulgarian folk music.


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

Mango Duende: Latin Rhythm with a Bulgarian Accent

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Charles Caleb Colton

Today's cross-cultural post features Mango Duende, a group from Bulgaria that specializes in songs with a Latin flavor.

The first song, Friday, (петък) which I heard on Bulgarian National Radio about two years ago, really caught my attention. It had me fooled for a minute...le lo lai is something associated with folk music from Puerto Rico and so is the salsa beat, but the lyrics are in Bulgarian.  This is cultural cross-pollination at its best.



Loco is another good song. The word "loco" reminds me of the word "ludo" in Bulgarian. Both mean exactly the same thing: crazy.



This time Mango Duende returns to Bulgaria, with their version of Diko Iliev's Dunavsko Horo. This is the dance that Bulgarians do to usher in the New Year.  I don't know how the tradition of dancing Dunavsko for New Year's got started...can anyone tell me why?  If you have an answer, please post it in the comments section.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Variations on a Theme By Diko Iliev (different versions of Dunavsko Horo)

Bulgarian Folk Music with a Hungarian Accent (Bulgarian folk songs in Hungarian)

Puerto Rico and Bulgaria: A Cross-Cultural Comparison


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

Love Has a Dark Side: Nazad, Nazad, Mome Kalino

"Well," said she, after a pause, "if you despise my love, I must see what can be done with fear. You smile, but the day will come when you will come screaming to me for pardon."
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

One of the leaders in my group introduced a new dance that he had learned at a workshop at Pinewoods, a dance camp in eastern Massachusetts. This one used the music to Nazad, Nazad, Mome Kalino. Some say this song is Bulgarian, others, Macedonian.  To me it's another example of a song with dual citizenship that's gone border-hopping.

I knew this poignant and beautiful song was about love gone wrong, so I went to several websites to search for lyrics, preferably in English translation. The Google Translate tool turned it into total gibberish (talk about lost in translation!) Fortunately I was able to find this Bulgarian YouTube video. There is a slideshow of pictures from Bulgaria along with the lyrics.

It is the tale of a married man telling a young woman to keep away from him. She persistently insists on stalking him in various ways; such as changing herself into a falcon or a barbel-fish.

She intends to bring death and destruction if she can't get her way.



This is the performance of the same song as video #1 by Slavi Trifonov and Nina Nikolina.  Slavi often features folk musicians on his  TV program, which is very popular in Bulgaria.  The closest thing we have to it in the States is the Tonight Show. I think Slavi is much more entertaining, and he's a very good singer.



The next video is the Macedonian version of Nazad, with lyrics. I couldn't find a translation into English that made sense so I don't know how much of a difference there is between the the two. If anyone out there has a translation, please post it in the "comments" section.

If you read Macedonian, you can sing along :)



And finally, here's a group of young women from Bulgaria dancing to the song.  The choreography is somewhat different than what I was taught; this is a dance called Shirto. The meter here is 7/8 (pineapple-apple-apple), which is also known as lesnoto rhythm.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Modern Versions of Traditional Bulgarian Folk Songs (parts one, two, and three)

Modern Versions of Traditional Macedonian Folk Songs

The Falcon in Bulgarian and Macedonian Folk Songs


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