The Different "Flavors" of the Romanian Folk Dance: Alunelul

Today's post features several variations of a popular folk dance from Romania, Alunelul. It means "little hazelnut" and how a dance came by with that name, I don't know. It probably started out as a children's song with the following lyrics:

Alunelul, Alunelul hai la joc
Sa ne fie, sa ne fie, cu noroc...

You will find the rest of the song, with translation in German and English, here:

First, here's some background on the dance. It has variations that are done in the different villages and districts in Romania.  We will explore a few of them today.

The first video shows the basic version titled simply Alunelul. It is is the one most commonly used by recreational folk dance groups, and an easy dance that anyone can do. It is also very popular with children, probably because of the stamping. 



Alunelul Batut takes the dance to the next level.  This variation is a bit more complex than the previous one, and there is no song to accompany it, although there are violins and an accordion.

Here it's performed by a group from Copenhagen, Denmark. The translation of the second word, according to Google Translate, is "beaten."  My guess is that it has to do with the amount of stamping.  They are beating up the hazelnuts here.



The next video shows Roy and the gang dancing Alunelul de la Urzica. If you want to see some really cool folk dance videos, check out Roy Butler's YouTube Channel. 

Roy seems to be partial to Balkan dances, especially those from Romania. For some reason the person who took the video was a little too close, so it looks like the heads and feet have been cut off. There is enough here, however, to make watching it worthwhile. They are even wearing folk costumes!

Urzica is a small district in southern Romania.  Some of the best dances come from the rural regions; this is one of them.



The next video is of a group from China that is very fond of music from the Balkans and calls itself a "bonding folkdance class." This dance teacher posts under the name gpknh and he also has many videos on his YouTube channel. If you are a regular reader of this blog you have seen some of them. 

Here they dance Alunelul de la Goicea.  Goicea is a district in southern Romania, in the county of Dolj. This one is done to a bagpipe accompaniment; they call it a "cimpoi" in Romania. The Romanians like the bagpipe,almost as much as their Bulgarian neighbors :)

Now that there are two bridges crossing the Danube instead of one, hopefully there will be even more intercultural exchange between Bulgaria and Romania.  According to the Bulgarian Radio's Vidin affiliate, this has already been happening...



If you enjoyed this you may like:

Another Country Heard From: The Bagpipe in Romanian Folk Music

The "Flavors" of Romanian Hora

How to Stamp Out Your Frustrations and Relieve Stress (dances from Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia)



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

More Stamping It Out: Reka, Sborenka and Tropanka, Bulgarian Folk Dances From the Region of Dobrudja

If you like folk dances with lots of stamping in the choreography, you have come to the right place.

Today's featured folklore region will be Dobrudja, the northeastern quadrant of Bulgaria. This region encompasses two countries, Romania and Bulgaria. For a map and some info, check out this link from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobrudja

The first Bulgarian dance that I learned from that area was a women's dance titled Dobrudžanska Reka. The choreography varies; from what I've noticed on the Universe of You Tube, the Bulgarian version tends to be simpler than the one that make the rounds of folk dance groups in other parts of the world. If you're wondering why the setting is so familiar, the reason is that the dancers are in a shopping mall!



Here is a fancier version performed by an international folk dance group from New Orleans in the United States.



The next video is of a sborenka which is basically a dance with lots of grapevines and lots of stamping. Sborenka is a generic name for a group of dances from Dobrudja; they come in many different "flavors." In Bulgaria dances are often named after cities and towns and sometimes regions.

If you count the steps (remember that many dancers are math and physics people with the exception of yours truly!) you will see a pattern here.



Dances in which you stamp your feet are very good for relieving the frustrations of everyday life. The downside of this is that your feet and knees can hurt after a night doing Dobrudjan folk dances, especially if there were so many candles on your last birthday cake that they fired off the smoke detector. Let this be a warning to those over the age of fifty!

On bad days, the Chinese get their frustrations out in their "Bonding Folkdance Class" as they so aptly describe it. The dance is Tervelska Tropanka. Bonding and stamping are not always communal activities; in this case, they are. And they are having fun doing it.



If you enjoyed this you may also like

Stamp it Out, Vlach Dances from Serbia:

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2012/03/stamp-it-outvlach-dances-from-serbia.html

A good way to relieve stress.

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-to-stamp-out-your-frustrations-and.html

Have you ever wondered why math and physics people like to dance? Read this and find out why.

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2010/06/balkan-folk-dancing-and-its.html


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