The River of Many Names Part 3: Folk Ensembles and Performing Groups with the name "Dunav"

Rivers are roads which move, and which carry us whither we desire to go. ~Blaise Pascal

Today's post is a another Close Encounter of the Danubian Kind. You get to visit different countries by way of music, enjoy some beautiful scenery and watch some fantastic folk dancing from Bulgaria.

During my forays in the Universe of YouTube I have found several groups that play, sing or dance to Balkan music. They all have one thing in common, the name "Dunav," which is Bulgarian/Serbian for Danube.

This river has been an inspiration for many artists, musicians and poets, from Germany all the way to Romania, but the Bulgarians seem have been the most smitten by the river that forms their northern border with Romania.

The ensemble Dunav, from Vidin in Bulgaria, is an example of Bulgarian artistry inspired by the River of Many Names. The beginning of this video is especially worth watching. Notice that the man shakes his head from side to side after seeing the images in the water. Are they a figment of his imagination? The dancers are amazing, and so is the scenery, the ship in the background, however, is a distraction. But, then, that's minor.



If you are a regular reader of The Alien Diaries, you have seen these people before. Their teaching videos are all over YouTube, and their specialty is dances from the Balkans and the Middle East. Dunav, a group from Jerusalem, Israel, describes their website as "the sharing place for Balkan music and dance." Check out their link:

http://www.dunav.org.il/

Here they perform Talima, from Dobrudja, the northeast region of Bulgaria which just happens to be along the River of Many Names.



In the States, folklore and culture are often found at church festivals. These events are held during the summer at Eastern Orthodox churches located in large cities on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Many immigrants from Eastern Europe settled there because they were able to find work in the factories and in the steel mills. They wanted to keep the traditions alive for the next generation; the church had a hand in this by sponsoring classes in traditional music, dance, and the language of the old country. In turn, the festivals raised money for the church. The greater community benefits by being exposed to a foreign culture. I've been to Greek, Serbian, Albanian, Romanian, and Bulgarian festivals, to me it's like visiting another country without leaving my own.

The Dunav Orchestra performs at a Serbian festival in Indiana. This, to me, sounds like Croatian tamburitza music. The country doesn't matter, it's a pleasure to listen to.



The last "Dunav" group is from London. This performance, from their trip to Romania in 1993, is of a lively Romanian folk song.



If you enjoyed this post, you will also like The River of Many Names (parts one and two). Part one is a musical journey.

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2010/10/river-of-many-names-musical-journey.html

Part two has songs and dances from Bulgaria related to the Danube:

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2010/10/river-of-many-names-part-2-danube-in.html

For more on ethnic festivals, read:

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2010/08/folklore-food-and-fun-at-festivals.html


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

Puerto Rico and Bulgaria.....a cross cultural comparison (or how I became a "Bulgarican")

How did a descendant of Puerto Ricans, raised in the projects of the South Bronx, develop an interest in Bulgaria?

When I was growing up, music and dance were an integral part of our celebrations, especially during Christmas, New Year's, birthdays and weddings. Puerto Ricans love to dance and party. They will find any excuse to do so.

The dances of Puerto Rico are inspired by several different cultural influences: the Spanish, who arrived on the island in 1493, the Taino Indians, who were the natives Columbus and his men found, and the West Africans. The Spanish enslaved the natives, using them to work the gold mines and build the forts. As a result of this cruel treatment, and the introduction of diseases such as smallpox from the Europeans, the native population was decimated. The Spanish, who needed an unpaid workforce, brought in slaves from West Africa to replace the Tainos in the mines. When the gold ran out, the slaves worked in the sugar plantations. When the Africans had a chance to chill and relax (which wasn't often), someone brought out a drum, and people danced to the beat.

Here is a dance called the Plena, which is a blend of Spanish, Taino and African influences, the dominant being African:

And this is the Bomba, a Puerto Rican call and response song and dance, also inspired by African folklore:


Both Puerto Rico and Bulgaria have strong folk music and dance traditions and share a history of domination by foreign powers. Puerto Rico, however, has never been an independent entity. Bulgaria, on the other hand, has been in existence for over 1300 years, and except for the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans, and the Communist takeover of Eastern Europe, has been an independent nation for much of those 1300 years.

Spain ruled Puerto Rico for over 400 years, and after the Spanish American War of 1898, Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory, and later a commonwealth. One of the reasons Puerto Rico refused statehood has much to do with maintaining its cultural identity, which is a mixture of Spanish, African, and Taino. The original inhabitants, the Taino Indians, lived peacefully on the island for thousands of years until Columbus arrived. He and the Spanish suppressed the indigenous culture, but couldn't destroy it, despite the decimation of the natives and the repression and enslavement of the Africans.

Bulgaria has maintained its cultural identity for over 1300 years, despite the domination of the Ottoman Turks, who ruled the country for five centuries, from the mid 1400's until 1878.

The country is a mixture of a number of influences: Thracian, Slavic, Bulgar, Turkish, Greek and Roma (Gypsy).

The Ottomans conscripted Bulgarian boys to serve as Janissaries in the Sultan's armies, a form of slavery, since these young men never saw their families again. http://i-cias.com/e.o/janissaries.htmEvery mother's biggest fear was that the Turks would abduct one of her sons. This was a form of taxation imposed on the Christian population of the Balkans.

In the 20th Century, after World War II, the Russians set up puppet governments in Eastern Europe, which lasted until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. The Communists were as repressive as the Turks, taking away the human rights of the people of these countries, and sending dissenters to prison camps or worse.

Whoever thought Bulgaria and Puerto Rico would have so much in common historically and culturally? Despite the differences in language and climate, they both share a history of oppression and a love of music and dance.

Although immigrants who come to the United States to live try to pass the culture on to their kids, oftentimes it's diluted and eventually lost as Americanization takes over. My parents, although they kept some of the traditions, and spoke Spanish, wanted my brother and me to speak English and be assimilated. As a result, I understand Spanish, but don't speak it very well.

My children, unfortunately know little of their culture except what I was able to pass on to them, via family and friends. One of my daughters has a very close friend who grew up in Puerto Rico, she has been a valuable source of cultural information for both of us!

I have been to many ethnic festivals during my lifetime. I love the authenticity of them, especially when they are connected with a group that has not been here long enough to be Americanized. Here is a Bulgarian event at Mt. Holyoke College that I went to back in March, the beauty of their culture comes alive here.

Cultural identity is very important. That is why I appreciate the culture I was born to. When I grew up and did some traveling, I learned to appreciate and love the cultures of other countries as well, especially Germany, where I lived for four years. When I took up Balkan folk dancing, I fell in love with Bulgarian culture, and it will always be a part of me. That is how I became a "Bulgarican."

I am a citizen of the world.


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