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.
Last week we explored the sirba and its variations. This week's post will focus on the most popular dance in Romania, the hora. It can be easily confused with the Israeli dance of the same name, or the Bulgarian dance with a similar name (horo) or the Greek dance with a name almost like the Bulgarian (horon). What's in a name, anyway? Read more, you'll find out.
Hora originated in Romania. It comes in many "flavors", from slow to hang on to your hat fast. But then you wouldn't dance with a hat on, would you? If you're from Bulgaria, dancing with hats on is something you'd do anyway :) I don't know if the Romanians have tried that yet :)
The first video is of Hora de la Munte, performed by the International Folk Dancers of Ottawa, in Canada. You can visit their website here. They also have a blog, Easy Folk Dances, where you can learn a number of easy to follow dances that they teach to the group, complete with videos and dance notes.
The clarinet dominates this piece of music, it's one of my favorite musical instruments. It can also be used for pain and torture purposes :)
I danced Hora de la Soroca at a Romanian friend's graduation party last week. It's fairly easy, but a little faster. Listen carefully and you can hear the strigaturi (shouts). This group is from Italy, where they speak a language somewhat related to Romanian. Both Italian and Romanian have Latin roots.
It's time to speed things up a little with Hora Olteneasca. The dance comes from Oltenia region of Romania, in the southwest part of the country, across the Danube from Bulgaria. The Olt River gives the province its name, and separates Oltenia from the province of Muntenia, also known as Greater Wallachia. Out of Wallachia came the Vlachs, who travelled all over the Balkans bringing stamping dances everywhere.
There must be plenty of ethnic events in the Great White North, this group, like the first one, is also from Canada! Canada is next on my list of places to visit!
Now it's time for an even faster hora, fast enough that you have to really think about the directional changes, or it gets totally out of control.
The last group is from Holland, and they perform Hora Nuntasilor at a street festival (you will find the dance notes and the lyrics on pages 11 and12 if you click on the link.) Nuntasilor means "wedding guests", this is a dance specifically in their honor.
From what I've seen of The Alien Diaries stats, the people of Holland love Balkan dance. By the way, Netherlanders, I visited your beautiful country many years ago. Unfortunately, Romanian and other varieties of Balkan dance were not popular back in those days, but next time I'm in Holland, I'll be sure to look you up :)
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!
