Time to Celebrate a Birthday!

You know you're getting old when the candles cost more than the cake.
Bob Hope

Today's post celebrates the birthday of Aneta Stan, Romanian folksinger.  Next week, February 2, she will be 72.

When people get past a certain age, too many candles on the cake can activate the smoke detector.  That is why number candles are popular with those who have double digit birthdays.

Here's a birthday greeting in Romanian from Talking Tom.  Tom is about to give himself a lactose attack.  He's a virtual cat so maybe milk doesn't have that effect on him. Maybe he would be better off eating cake?



Video #1 was taken recently during a TV progam honoring Aneta Stan.  It's a folklore show from Romania that reminds me of the Bulgarian program  Ide Nashenskata Muzika. The name is Noi suntem români (We are Romanians). Everyone on stage is dressed in elaborate embroidered costumes and flags are everywhere because it's a Romanian national holiday. 

The song translates to Happy Birthday Beautiful Country. The dance to this is geampara, closely related to Bulgarian rachenitsa (apple-apple-pineapple).



Video #2 is Sarba din Oltina. Sarba or Sirba is a very popular dance in Romania and this one is from Oltina, a village in the Dobrogea region.



Music from the Romanian region of Dobrogea is characterized by odd rhythms that are similar to those on the Bulgarian side of the Danube, River of Many Names.  This song is in cadeneasca rhythm, similar to Bulgarian daichovo.

Video #3 is one of Stan's earlier videos taken 1974 during the bad old days when Nicolae Ceaușescu ruled the land. Romania didn't have color TV broadcasts until 1983, and during that period programs were on for only two-three hours a day because Romania cut back its use on electricity in order to pay back foreign debt.

The song translates to Young Men in Dobrogea.



Aneta Stan is a native of Dobrogea, and her home town is Cernavoda, the town with a nuclear power symbol on its coat of arms.This song is a tribute to her native city. What is really cool is the bagpipe (cimpoi) solo in the introduction. By the way, you can dance to this as well, it's a sirba.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Another Country Heard From: The Bagpipe in Romanian Folk Music

More Songs from the Romanian Folklore Region of Dobrogea

Some Famous (and not so famous) Folk Songs from Romania

There is a bio as well as a playlist of songs performed by Aneta Stan on the Cernavoda Blog (in Romanian).


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

Dancing in the "Different Village" Three Variations of the Romanian Folk Dance Joc Batranesc

Mine is a proud village, such as it is. We are best when dancing. - Makah

Today's featured dance is Joc Batranesc from the village of Niculitel, in Romanian Dobrogea. There is also a region in Bulgaria with a similar name, slightly different spelling: Dobrujda. Both have one thing in common: they share the region between the Danube and the Black Sea.

Joc Batranesc translates into English as "ancient dance," but as you will see, it is not just for senior citizens:) The dance also has different spellings, some with and without diacritical marks; and sometimes an "i" substitutes for the "a". The Romanian spelling with the diacriticals is Joc bătrânesc.

Video #1 shows the dance as it is done in the United States.  Why do they go "oooh" when they move to the center of the circle? This variation must be particular to their "village."



Video #2 features a costumed group of young people from Romania. Notice that their belts are the same colors as the Romanian flag. Although this is essentially the same dance as in video #1, there are variations in style (hops and sways).  These dancers don't vocalize, all you hear are the stamps and the music.

Who is the girl in the middle and why isn't she part of the dance? My guess is that this is their "village" variation; along with the fancy moves.

This group is a pleasure to watch, with an a attractive and charismatic leader. That girl knows her stuff.



Video #3 has the song that goes with the dance; the ensemble is from the village of Niculitel.  There are two other dances in the video that follow Joc Batranesc.  The first rhythm change is at 2:57 where the music turns into Sârba, a fast dance in 6/8. At 5:18 there's another rhythm change, this time it's Cadâneasca, in 9/16, a dance similar to Daichovo Horo from Bulgaria.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

The "Flavors" of Romanian Sirba

Crossing the River, Part One, Folk Music from the Romanian Region of Dobrogea 

More Folk Songs from the Romanian Region of Dobrogea


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