It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want—oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!
Mark Twain
The country of Moldova celebrates the spring holiday Mărțișor. It is observed in a similar fashion as in their southern neighbor, Romania and begins on March 1.
Today's video (it is actually part one of three) is a celebration from the town of Dubăsari in Moldova.
The official language of Moldova is Romanian. Moldova was part of Romania between 1918 and 1940 and used to be known as Bessarabia. The music is very similar in character to Romanian folk music.
I have posted Part One of the concert here (the other two in the series can be seen on YouTube.)
In Bulgaria, March 1 is the day of the Martenitsa, a spring holiday which celebrates Baba Marta, a mythological character with tremendous mood swings.
The video explains the tradition of the Martenitsa, with instructions on how to make one. It is accompanied by cheerful Bulgarian folk music. You can even dance to it!
She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
"Winter is dead.
A. A. Milne
Spring will be here soon! Today's post features songs and dances about Martisor, celebrated on March 1 in Romania.
Martisor is also a red and white decoration such as a bracelet or brooch worn during the month of March, to celebrate the arrival of spring. There is a similar holiday in Bulgaria on March 1, Baba Marta Day. The main difference is that the Romanian holiday was originally a New Year celebration (the ancient Romans celebrated the New Year on March 1). The Bulgarian celebration honors a mythical figure, Baba Marta, and people wear adornments called Martenitsa in order to please Baba Marta so that spring will come early. These are given to friends and relatives for good luck and health.
The first video is of a children's group, who perform two songs and a dance in honor of Martisor. The dance is called Hora Martisorului. Notice the stigaturi (shouts), these are typical of Romanian folk dances.
Video #2 is a pop-folk song with all the ladies dressed in red and white, titled Martisor, which is another one of those earworms that will take up residence in your head for hours. If you are a regular visitor to this blog, you have listened to lots of them. The song is lively and cheerful, and although I couldn't find the lyrics or a translation it's well worth a listen. From what I can gather it's about the arrival of spring (primavara in Romanian).
Not only are they dressed for the holiday, they're carrying bunches of flowers as well. The costumes are a bit on the sexy side...eye candy for the guys?
Video is a group of young dancers from Calarasi, in southern Romania, dancing a sirba in honor of spring, followed by a medley of other traditional dances. The "embroidery" on the screen behind the dancers will get your attention.
It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.
Charles Dickens
Today's cross-cultural post focuses on the Bulgarian martenitsa, and its Romanian counterpart, the mărţişor. Both herald the coming of spring. Although spring doesn't officially begin until the equinox on March 20th, in Eastern Europe, they like to move the season forward a few weeks. By late February, everyone's sick and tired of large piles of dirty snow, cold weather and winter in general. On the first of March, everyone wears red and white bracelets or brooches to appease a Bulgarian mythological character named Baba Marta (Grandma March), who is rumored to have wicked mood swings. You have to please her so that spring will come.
Here in the States the tradition of making and giving of martenitsas has caught on in folk dance groups. I was at a dance party last March and a woman had brought red and white yarn; she had a martenitsa workshop going (people made them when they weren't dancing). Maybe in the future Baba Marta Day will catch on in this country like the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo. Who knows?
The basic martenitsa is made from red and white yarn, twisted or braided together. The red symbolizes passion, and the white symbolizes purity. It is the custom in Bulgaria for people to make martenitsas to give to friends and family as tokens of affection. In the past, they were all handmade.
This video describes the origin of the martenitsa in Bulgaria, and you can listen to some folk music while you watch.
The next video is a demonstration on how to make a martenitsa in five minutes (or less). You'll need red and white yarn, a needle, scissors, and some large beads. A ruler would be a good idea, especially to measure out the yarn.
The Bulgarians will put a martenitsa on everything: people, farm animals, dogs, cats, and even inanimate objects like musical instruments. This band from the United States, Gogofski, follows the tradition; if you look closely, you can see the martenitsa on the tupan (double headed drum).
If you click on the link below you can see that Romanians also observe March 1 as the first day of spring. Customs and traditions often cross borders.
When you cross the Danube into Romania, the martenitsa becomes a mărţişor. The protocol for giving them changes as well; in Romania the men give the mărţişor to the women and they are somewhat more elaborate in design. Unfortunately, nowadays, both the martenitsa and the mărţişor sold on street corners nowadays are most likely mass-produced in China. So if you get a handmade one from a friend or relative you are very special to them indeed!
You can see many varieties of mărţişorin the next video, which is accompanied by Romanian panpipe music. The designs are quite original and very colorful: butterflies, cows, mushrooms, cats, flowers, etc. Just about anything can be made into a mărţişor. The traditional tasseled one is shown here as well.
For more background and history on the mărţişor in Romania, click the next link. It has to do with how the sun, in the form of girl, was held hostage by a dragon and and how she was rescued. It's quite different from the Baba Marta story!
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!
