A Dance for Baba Marta: Children's Celebrations in Bulgaria

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" ~Robin Williams

The first of March is a day of celebration in Bulgaria, for it is the Day of Baba Marta, which means the beginning of spring! From what I've seen on the news, Europe has had a particularly bad winter, and Bulgaria was hit hard with freezing cold and snow.

Baba Marta is symbolized by an elderly woman. Her name means Grandma March. In temperate climates, the month of March is notorious for wild weather; there are days when you can walk around without a jacket; and other days when it's time for the parkas and snow boots. The saying "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb" describes how changeable this month can be.

Baba Marta is very moody and and can bring bad weather at a moment's notice. It is important to please her by wearing red and white threaded pieces of yarn, called Martenitsa, on your wrist as a bracelet or on your jacket as a brooch. She also likes it when you dress up in her colors, red and white. It is customary to wear the Martenitsa until the trees start to bloom, or when the first stork is visible. Then you put it on a blossoming tree.

This week's post features children's celebrations for Baba Marta with plenty of singing and dancing. They are entirely in Bulgarian, with no subtitles. Dance is a universal language, so there's nothing lost in translation :) The first group of children are festively dressed in red and white folk costumes. They are really cute :)



The next video is a celebration in a nursery school which includes a song and a dance for Baba Marta, led by the Babi (grandmothers). By the way, Честита Баба Марта means "Happy Baba Marta Day."



This link explains some more about the tradition of the Martenitsa, and the history behind it.

http://www.omda.bg/engl/ethnography/marten.html

Last year I posted a story about a Martenitsa tree in my back yard. These trees in Varna, Bulgaria, decked out with Martenitsas are so much fancier than mine. Check this out:



March first is also a name day for people with the names Martin, Martina, Marta, Dochka, Docho, Evdokia, Evdokim. By the way, one of my daughters is named Martina, and her favorite color is red :)

If you enjoyed this you may also like:

The Martenitsa Tree, A Modern Day Folktale

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2011/03/martenitsa-tree-modern-day-folktale.html

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Martenitsa, But Were Afraid to Ask: (includes pictures, the legend of the Martenitsa, and a Martenitsa fight). Lots of fun!

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2011/02/everything-you-always-wanted-to-know.html


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The Duquense University Tamburitzans come to West Hartford, Connecticut

Yes, that's me in the photo with the young man in a Bulgarian folk costume. No, I wasn't flirting with him but I wanted a picture as a souvenir of an unforgettable afternoon. He was part of a performing group from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Duquense University Tamburitizans.

On Saturday, February 18, I went with a friend to a Tamburitzans performance in West Hartford, Connecticut. Since the management forbade taking videos of the show, and no flash photography was allowed (the hall was quite dark), my friend took this photo of me with one of the dancers.

The Duquense University Tamburitzans are a student group from a school in Pennsylvania who perform music and dance from Eastern Europe. And they give a great show.

The Tamburitzans began as a small musical ensemble playing Croatian folk music back in 1937. More people joined as the years passed, as the ethnic community in Pittsburgh grew. This year they mark their 75th anniversary performing on stage delighting us with the folk music and dance of Eastern Europe. This is one of the longest-running folklore shows around. The Tamburitzans are full time students and amateur dancers and musicians who perform on weekends, traveling around the United States. Not familiar with Croatian folk music? Check out this video. This is a Croatian tamburitza ensemble, which is how the group started out.



For more on tamburitza orchestras and their instruments read this:

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

On the Universe of YouTube, I found a commercial about the Duequense University Tamburitzans. It gives a bit of the history of the ensemble with some excerpts from last year's show. I heard Macedonian, Bulgarian, Slovak, Serbian and Bavarian music in there. (by the way the best numbers in this year's show were from Macedonia, Bulgaria and Serbia).



For more information, you can go to the Tamburitzans website, where you can read a short history of the group, and find out if they'll be in your neighborhood anytime soon. It is a performance not to be missed.

If you enjoyed this you may also like: Folklore, Food and Fun at Festivals (with some Greek and Bulgarian live performances)

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

A Romanian Festival with an Albanian Accent: A writeup of a local festival that I went to last summer.

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2011/07/romanian-festival-with-albanian-accent.html


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A Birthday Celebration and a Source of Inspiration: The Music of Diko Iliev

Where words fail, music speaks.
Hans Christian Andersen

Today's post features the music of one of Bulgaria's favorite composers, Diko Iliev, whose birthday falls on February 15th. He was born in 1898 in Karlukovo, Bulgaria.

Although he died in 1984, his music is very much alive especially during celebrations in Bulgaria. Many of his compositions are based on folk dances and are arranged for brass and woodwind instruments. Unfortunately, he is virtually unknown here in the States.

Let's start with a rachenitsa, the national dance of Bulgaria, composed by Diko Iliev. This is a short and powerful piece played by the Velingrad Brass Band. Turn up the volume, this will blast you right out of your chair.



At the age of 13, his parents sent him to study music with a military brass band. The bandmaster recognized his talent early on, and at 19 he composed his first piece, Iskarsko Horo.



Diko Iliev saw time on the battlefield during the Balkan Wars and World War I, as well as World War II, where he was a military bandmaster for the Bulgarian army. He was stationed for a long time in Oryahovo, a town on the Danube, the River of Many Names, where he composed his most famous and popular piece, Dunavsko Horo. You will hear it in this video and see what inspired the music.

The name of the video translates to Bulgaria, Where are We? The narration (in Bulgarian, no English subtitles) describes the town of Oryahovo, in part, though the eyes of a child. It is very well presented, with beautiful scenery, especially along the river. Even if you don't understand the language, it's a pleasure to watch. It is a bit of summertime in the middle of winter, which has been especially bad in Europe this year (so cold that the Danube froze over in Bulgaria.)



Although Diko Iliev's music is associated with celebrations, his life was marked by tragedy. His first child died of tuberculosis at the age of 14, and near the end of his life, he went blind and had to leave Oryahovo to live with his daughter. He wasn't officially recognized by the Union of Bulgarian Composers until a year before his death, partly because he was primarily a self-taught musician.

Diko Iliev is remembered as the soul of a nation and and in his music you hear the voice of Bulgaria, loud and clear. Happy Birthday!

If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Having a Blast With Diko Iliev a post with lots of music and dancing.

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2010/06/having-blast-with-diko-iliev.html

Variations on a Theme by Diko Iliev (Dunavsko Horo in its different manifestations)

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2011/07/variations-on-theme-by-diko-iliev.html

Diko Iliev had an interest in music from Latin America, especially the tango and the rumba. From what I've seen on the Universe of YouTube, Bulgarians have a fascination with Latin dancing. Read more here:

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2010/11/bulgarians-and-latin-dance.html


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A One of A Kind Club for Folk Dancers

“Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music.” Angela Monet

The Bulgarian National Radio website recently had an article mentioning the popularity of folk dance in Bulgaria which has gotten to the point there is now a 24 hour folk dance club in the capital, Sofia. Its name? клуб на хорото (Club of Horo). Promoted as a disco for folk dancers, it is the only club of its kind in the world.

http://bnr.bg/sites/en/Lifestyle/Life/Pages/1801folkdancesinthespotlight.aspx

You can read more about the club on their website:

http://club.horo.bg/enabout.php

Chanove is an organization and club which promotes and teaches folk dancing in Bulgaria. The club gives classes all over the country. Members of Chanove were instrumental in creating the клуб на хорото, in order to have a place for people meet, mingle and practice Bulgarian folk dancing, any time, day or night.

If you're a dance junkie and live in Bulgaria's capital, you have plenty of opportunity to get your fix. Since I live in the States, this is the kind of place that I can only dream about.

This is the link to Chanove's web site, which is entirely in Bulgarian. If you're Cyrillically challenged, like I am, use "Google Translate" to translate it. (Something is sometimes lost in translation, but you'll get the general idea of what they're about.)

http://chanove.com/

What is really cool is there is a mention of foreigners who have an interest in Bulgarian folklore. Here is an excerpt from the web page, in translation:

"It turns out that where any person in the world, Bulgarian folk dances are universal magic for good health and spirits."

If you're addicted to Bulgarian folk music, Radio Chanove, the club's radio station, will satisfy your soul. You can get it anywhere, anytime, as long as you have an internet connection. Can't wait to listen to all this good stuff? Click here:

http://www.streamingthe.net/Radio-Chanove/p/24282

Chanove has been featured on the Bulgarian TV dance reality show Nadigrame. Watch them in action on YouTube. This is the very popular Pravo Trakiisko Horo.



An excellent site for information on Bulgarian folklore and dance is the website horo.bg. They sell instructional DVDs (the DVDs review the dances step by step, and are in several languages, including English.) They also have over 100 YouTube videos of folklore shows and specific folk dances for your pleasure. Check them out here:

http://horo.bg/index.php?lang=en

Here is one of their videos. The dance is Opas, from the Dobrudja folklore region.



If you enjoyed this you may also like Bulgarian Folk Dance Around the World:

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2012/01/bulgarian-folk-dance-around-world.html

An International Look at Reality TV Shows contains a behind the scenes look from the first season of Nadigrame:

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2011/07/international-look-at-reality-tv-shows.html

If you like proverbs, here are some that have been a little lost in translation:

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2010/09/sometimes-lost-in-translation-bulgarian.html


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

Bits, Pieces, and Other Cool Stuff Stuff From the Universe of YouTube

Today's post will feature some odds and ends from the Universe of You Tube, with videos from the United States, Bulgaria, and France.

Is this an earthquake? No, it's actually the synergy of vibrations from the brass band music and the dancers which shook up the chandelier in the room. This video was taken at the Zlatne Uste Golden Festival, a yearly celebration of Balkan music and dance which takes place the third weekend of January. Fortunately, the chandelier didn't fall, with the number of people at this festival it would have been quite a disaster.



These people at a wedding dance a rachenitsa (Bulgarian folk dance in 7/8 time) with a cake. Or two. That takes skill.



The next video is of IRé, a Bulgarian singer living in France, who mixes jazz with Bulgarian folk music. She and her friends are totally caffeinated and a joy to watch :)



Read more about IRé here (and you can watch the video again, as well)

http://zikata.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/ire-french-ethno-jazz-inspired-by-bulgarian-folklore/

And finally, there's physical education class in Bulgaria. Looks like these kids are combining folk dance with aerobics, a good way to work off the excess energy that is so abundant in young people. According to the video's creator, this is a group of kindergarteners and they look like they're having a great time! What's really cool is that they're wearing traditional Bulgarian costumes and dancing to music by Diko Iliev. This is definitely more fun than playing dodgeball or field hockey.

By the way, they are also very cute :)



Here are the answers to last week's Bulgarian Folklore Quiz: (no, I didn't forget!) How did you score? Come on, it wasn't that hard :)

1. Rhodope
2. Dobrudja
3. Severnjasko
4. Pirin
5. Thrace
6. Shope (Sopluk)
7. Strandza

If you enjoyed this you may also like:

On Ethnic Dance and Exercise, (why dance should be offered as an alternative to sports in the public schools)

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2010/12/on-ethnic-dance-and-exericise.html

The "Flavors" of Bulgarian Rachenitsa (everything you always wanted to know about the Bulgarian national dance)

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2010/07/flavors-of-bulgarian-rachenitsa.html

Modern Versions of Traditional Bulgarian Folk Songs (some interesting variations on a theme)

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2011/06/modern-versions-of-traditional.html


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

Today's Pop Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Bulgarian Folklore

This is a test! This is only a test!



Now that I have your attention, it's time for a quiz on Bulgarian folklore. This is how it works: you watch seven videos and then name the folklore region in Bulgaria which best fits the video. At the bottom of this page is a list of the regions; your job is to match the region with the video. It's all in fun and not to be taken too seriously :)

The answers will be in the next installment of The Alien Diaries. Please feel free to post your answers in the "comments" section. Good luck!

1. This singer recently celebrated her 70th birthday. Her name is Valya Balkanska and this song, Izlel e Delyu Haidutin, was launched into Outer Space on the Project Voyager back in 1977 as a musical message to extraterrestrials (a.k.a. aliens). Her region is known for its gaida (bagpipe music).



2. Dances from this area of Bulgaria include lots of stamping and strong arm movements (which may have to do with the natives letting off steam). Some dances from this region include Opas, Tropanka, and Sborenka. Name the folklore region.



3. Diko Iliev lived in this region of Bulgaria, known for its brass band music. His most famous piece is about a river which flows along the border of Bulgaria and Romania. You'll see a hint in this video, (which has nothing to do with folk dancing) but there's lots of action in it and lots of explosives. No people were harmed in the making of it :) Name the folklore region.



4. This region is known for music played on an instrument called the tambura and singing done in unusual vocal harmonies, which you will see and hear in the next video. The area is mountainous and the old houses there were built in a distinct style (see link below)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Street_with_old_houses.JPG

What part of Bulgaria is this song from?



5. The most popular dance from this area of Bulgaria is the Pravo Horo, seen below. This region shares its name with regions in Greece and Turkey.



6. Dances from this region are very fast, with small steps. The dance shown, Petronino Horo, is typical of this area. The natives pride themselves on their sense of humor.



7. This area of Bulgaria is famous for people who dance on hot coals to the accompaniment of a bagpipe and drum. It is a ritual which honors the feast day of Saints Constantine and Helen (which is different from the date on the video). Name the region.



Your choices are from this list:

Dobrudja
Strandzha
Thrace
Rhodope
Severnjaško
Shope region (šopluk)
Pirin

It's OK to take wild guesses and if you're a regular reader of this blog this quiz will be a piece of cake. Have fun!

(Speaking of cake, you will see people dancing with one in an upcoming post. Look for it in about a week).

If you liked this you may also enjoy the finale of Nadigrame, Season Two from BNT World. Nadigrame is a dance competition show featuring amateur dance groups from different folklore regions of Bulgaria. Although it's nearly two hours and has no subtitles, it's worth the watch if you love Bulgarian folk dancing. The previous episodes which led to the final are also archived on this site.

http://bnt.bg/bg/productions/133/edition/19373/finalyt_na_nadigraj_me_2_silistra_e_pobeditel

If you don't have two hours to spare, here are the Ten Reasons Why You Should Read My Blog (an exercise in shameless self promotion :)

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2011/01/ten-reasons-why-you-should-read-my-blog.html


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

Dancing in Sevens....

A man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself. The larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction.—Leo Tolstoy

Remember when you took fractions in school?

Some of us found them easy while others found them difficult to comprehenend. It all depended if you were mathematically minded or not.

Fractions are parts of a whole. As the fraction is part of a whole, the rhythm is part of a dance. In fractions, the pieces can be arranged in different ways, and in dances the same time signature (7/8) can have a different rhythm, depending on where the accents are.

This link, Math For Poets and Drummers describes the mathematics of music and poetry. This is especially good for right-brained people like myself who tend to see the whole first, then break down the parts. We don't analyze, we synthesize.

http://www.sju.edu/~rhall/Rhythms/Poets/arcadia.pdf

By the way I am a poet as well as a dancer so my sense of rhythm is very well developed. Math? Well, that's a different story.

I happen to be fond of dances with odd numbers in the time signature, and today we're going to examine the rhythms of the lesnoto, rachenitsa, and chetvorno, dances popular in the Balkans, and all of them with with seven beats to the measure.

The first example will be a lesnoto, a walking dance popular in Bulgaria and Macedonia. The rhythm for this is "galloping-apple-apple." The video is not in English but don't let that deter you; he does an excellent job teaching the dance even if you don't understand the language.



The next dance will be the ubiquitous national dance of Bulgaria, the rachenitsa, which can be done as a solo, couple, or group dance. The accents are on different beats than the lesnoto; apple-apple-galloping. This one is moderately fast and very macho :)



Chetvorno Horo, a dance from the Shope region of Bulgaria, is also in 7/8. The rhythm for Chetvorno is galloping-apple-apple, and has a slightly different feel from both the rachenitsa and the lesnoto. This group performs it in a shopping mall. How often do you see that?



By the way, chetiri is the number four in Bulgarian. If you look at the word in Cyrillic it looks like this: четири. The "ch" resembles a four. Which poses more questions: How does one do a seven beat dance in four? The steps themselves are in groups of two and three. (3+2+2=7) I have yet to figure that out.

If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Dancing to the Rhythm of a Different Drummer

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2011/01/dancing-to-rhythm-of-different-drummer.html

Dancing by the Numbers

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2011/10/dancing-by-numbers.html

Balkan Folk Dancing and its Relationship to Math
(a little geometry in this one)

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.