Dancing in Sixes

It’s like asking why is Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony beautiful. If you don't see why, someone can't tell you. I know numbers are beautiful. If they aren't beautiful, nothing is.
Paul Erdos

Today's post features two dances, two from Serbia, and one from Romania.  All of them have the number six in the name.

Video #1 is Sestorka.  шест is the number six in Serbian.  What is really amazing about these young dancers is their ability (this is not an easy dance) and that they are members of a Chinese folk dance club in Dallas, Texas.

Follow the link to these to old dance notes (there is no year, but you can tell they are old because they were done on a typewriter.)  Also there is mention of a country, Yugoslavia, that no longer exists. Although there are only three kids in the line, the shout "ooh ah" is done after the first set of six steps.  So I see a connection here.



Video #2,  U Sest (In Six) is also a very popular Serbian dance from the region of Sumadija.  The music is played on a frula, a traditional folk instrument.

This is a leader-called dance. The different variations are mentioned in the notes, and if you listen carefully, you can hear Yehuda call them.

The Dunav group is from Jerusalem in Israel, and they have numerous Balkan dance videos on YouTube.  While you are isolated at home, you can connect with the rest of the world and learn some new dances as well!



Video #3 is Hora pe Sase from Romania.  It has three sets of figures: the three steps in and one step out (pravo step), the second figure (czardas), and the last is the step together step.  I don't see anything here in six or its multiples, so how did the dance get its name?  I couldn't find any notes.  If you can find an explanation for the name or dance notes, please post them in the comments section.

The dance reminds me of Bulgarian Pravo Horo with a shot of Romanian attitude.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Dancing in Sevens (the series)

Dancing in Nines


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Balkan Blues: Some Really Depressing Folk Songs

“Ho! Ho! Ho! To the bottle I go
To heal my heart and drown my woe
Rain may fall, and wind may blow
And many miles be still to go
But under a tall tree will I lie
And let the clouds go sailing by”

J.R.R. Tolkien

There are numerous folk songs from the Balkans that deal with tragic events.  Today's songs are from North Macedonia and Bulgaria.

Video #1 is the dance song Tino More from North Macedonia. It's some serious stuff when a young woman is about to lose her husband when her parents live far, far away, and three doctors are at the head of his bed.

Deljo will die.  The doctors have already sent for the priest to perform last rites.



Video #2 is Devojko Mari Hubava, a song from the Rhodope region of Bulgaria. It's about a couple who can never marry.  They drown their sorrows in wine and rakia. In wine there is truth, but too much gives a nasty hangover the next day.  It's misery on top of misery.



Video #3 sounds like a happy song, and the video is very upbeat, with people dancing in colorful costumes.  The occasion looks festive, with wine and dancing, but the lyrics are tragic.

The singer is Daniel Spasov, the song is Tsiganko, and it's about a man so smitten with a Roma woman (Gypsy is the politically incorrect name) that he cries all the time and doesn't sleep.

Note:  You have to watch the video on YouTube.  For some reason it has been disabled on this website.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Beli Dunav Part Two: Danube Blues

A Tribute to Lyubka Rondova


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Songs That Tell a Story

I would like a wine. The purpose of the wine is to get me drunk. A bad wine will get me as drunk as a good wine. I would like the good wine. And since the result is the same no matter which wine I drink, I’d like to pay the bad wine price.
Steve Martin

Today's post is about songs that tell a story.

Video #1 is a dance song from North Macedonia that tells the story about a rabbit on his way to Salonika to get married. He had several adventures on the way, and almost got killed by the hunters and their dogs.  It has a surprise ending!

The song is Zaiko Kokorajko and the dance to it is Arap.

The dancers in Video #1 and Video #2 are from Vienna, Austria.

Video #2 is Sadi Moma, a song from the Pirin region of Bulgaria. It describes a young woman who planted a grape vine. The vine became really big and the grapes from it produced barrels of wine and rakia so strong the soldier who drank it was out of commission for a week. He must have had one hell of a hangover when he finally woke up. Was it good wine or bad wine?



Sadi Moma also underwent a second incarnation as the Free Software Song. It wasn't the same guy who had the hangover after drinking the wine and rakia.



Video #4 is the Dance of Zalongo (you can read the story and the translation of the song here.) This was a really dramatic event that occurred in Greece in 1815. It's similar to the story of Masada, where the inhabitants chose mass suicide over slavery.

The music is in 7/8 (pineapple-apple-apple). There is no dancing in the video, although there is a picture of women in Greek folk costumes, as well as a statue that depicts women dancing to their deaths on the rocks below.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

The Dance of Osman Taka

The Rebels (Haidouks) in Bulgarian Folk Songs


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Balkan Dances That Are Often Confused: Part 19: Dunavsko Horo and Dunavsko Daichovo Horo

If I look confused, it is because I am thinking.
Samuel Goldwyn

Let's start 2020 with one of my favorite topics: Balkan dances that are often confused. It is the series that never ends. If you are a regular, you had probably read the previous 18 posts on this fascinating topic.

Video #1 features a group from the Czech republic, from the city of Brno. Despite the "soubor Pirin" in the title of the video, this is not music from southwest Bulgaria (Pirin region) but from the northwest region. Are you confused yet?

They perform a medley of two dances: the first a Vlach dance (known as Krajdunavsko, or from the Danube region).  Vlach dances are characterized with a lot of fast steps, crossovers and stamps. At 2:04 is the Dunavsko Daichovo Horo.  Daichovo is also a dance popular in northern Bulgaria and there are several variations, with different choreographies and different music.



The original version of Dunavsko Daichovo was composed by someone in the group Orchestra Horo. They are from the city of Ruse, and their specialty is modern renditions of folk songs and dances from the northern region of Bulgaria. The ensemble celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2012. I'm sure they will make it to their 60th in 2022.

The album cover below is probably from one of their original albums. Remember when there were records instead of digitized music?



Things get to be even more confusing because there is a very famous piece by Diko Iliev, that he composed and introduced in 1937: Dunavsko Horo.

This piece has a martial motif because Diko Iliev was involved with military bands in a number of towns and cities in Bulgaria. Diko Iliev had also fought in the First Balkan War as well as World War I. He was also the bandmaster in the town of Oryahovo, where he composed numerous works.

Video # 3 combines an old war movie with Dunavsko Horo.  The explosions seem to be in time with the music.  The music begins at 0:19. The New Year fireworks in Bulgaria are also in synch with the music. (If you want to see those, check out the 2020 New Year Post).



There are different tunes used for Dunavsko Horo . The choreography is essentially the same no matter what music is used because you can hear the dance in the music.  Here is an example of a more traditional version with dancers in folk costumes.  The group is Ensemble Gotse Delchev.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Balkan Dances That Are Often Confused, Part 18 (links to rest of the series)

The 2020 New Year Post (fireworks)

Same Dance, Different Music: Dunavsko Horo

Orchestra Horo: Modern Bulgarian Folk Songs, Traditional Rhythms


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The 2020 New Year Post

2020 shouldn't just be about vision.
It should also be about seeing what the New Year can bring. 
― Anthony T. Hincks

It's time to say good-bye to 2019.  It's hard to believe The Alien Diaries is entering its 10th year in publication with over 400 posts.  This one is number 401.

Today's post features music for the New Year, some pop and some folk.

Video #1 is a New Year song in Bulgarian.  This is a pop song and not a folk song.  It got my attention and I wanted to share it.  The artist is Nelina Georgieva.



Video #2 features Mango Duende with their version of Diko Iliev's Dunavsko Horo. This group is best known for their rendition of folk songs from Latin America.  Some are in Bulgarian, and some are in Spanish.

Another New Year is almost upon us, and it's time for another take on the Bulgarian New Year dance, Novogodinsko Horo (most of us know of it as Dunavsko Horo by Diko Iliev).

Video #3 celebrates the 80th anniversary of Dunavsko Horo.  The date the piece was introduced to the public was April 18, 1937.  Since then, it had been adopted for New Year celebrations in Bulgaria, and things haven't been the same since. By the way, the commentary in in video is in Bulgarian. The dance, however, is a universal language. The piece is a cultural icon, like the Radetsky March.



Video #4 is an actual New Year celebration that took place last year in Sofia, Bulgaria last year broadcast by Bulgarian National Television. It's 35 minutes long. If you don't have time to watch the entire video here are the highlights: the Bulgarian National Anthem with fireworks at 4:12, followed by a  Russian hymn sung by Boris Christoff (Hristov), Dunavsko Horo at 7:59, Elenino Horo by Panko Dobrev with costumed dancers at 12:45, Alexandriika at 17:54 (also by Diko Iliev), at 20:35 more brass music and folk dancers, at 22:08, Daichovo Horo by Diko Iliev, at 27:08, Rosna Kitka by Diko Iliev. It ends with Gankino Horo at 30:24 also by Diko Iliev.

Pick and choose what interests you, or you can watch the entire video, including the commercials. Notice that most of the music is by Diko Iliev; you can read about him in one of the posts below.




Happy New Year to all and thank you for reading my blog!

If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Mango Duende: Latin Rhythm with a Bulgarian Accent

The Music of Panko Dobrev

Having a Blast with Diko Iliev


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Balkan Dances that are Often Confused Part 18: Hora Fetelor and Hora Femeilor

If you're not confused, you're not paying attention.
Tom Peters

There never seems to be an end to confusion in Balkan dance. I have seen programmers confused by requests because the names of two dances are very similar.  I find this very amusing and often ask that both dances get played, so we can compare the differences.

The first two dances have several things in common:  (1) they are slow and graceful (2) they are from the Oltenia region of Romania and (3) both are geared to the female gender.  Notice that a man leads both of them. He is Yehuda Ben-Harush from the Dunav group in Jerusalem, Israel.

Video #1 is Hora Fetelor (Girls' Dance).



Video #2 is Hora Femeilor (Women's Dance).



Video #3 is another version of Hora Fetelor with different choreography and different music. The ladies are in charge. Notice that in the previous videos a man led the dance.  The Alien Diaries is an Equal Opportunity Blog, and features men leading women's dances as well as women leading men's dance.

Here the big girls take over: the dancing as well as the singing. (The men have their own circle on the side). This lively version of Hora Fetelor was recorded at a wedding in Craiova.



If you enjoyed this you will also like:

Balkan Dances that are Often Confused Part 17 (links to the rest of the series)

Some Equal Opportunity Folk Dances

Women's Dances from Macedonia Led by Men


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The Travels of Maleshevsko Horo

Music goes further than any border, any language.
J. Balvin

Maleshevsko Horo is a dance popular in southwestern Bulgaria (Pirin), North Macedonia, and Greece. It's one of those border crossing dances and has different variations and different music. There are also several songs associated with the dance.

Version 1: Gergana Panova teaches Maleshevsko to the Balkanitsa Group in Haifa, Israel. This is the variation popular in Bulgaria, performed to Dve Nevesti Tikvi Brale Bre (unfortunately you can't hear the entire song here). I have also heard the song on the Bulgarian National Radio's Blagoevgrad station during their folk music broadcasts. It is about two brides harvesting pumpkins.

The Pirin region borders North Macedonia and there are nationalistic claims to certain songs, for example: Makendonsko Devojce.  The Blagoevgrad province in Bulgaria is also known as Pirin Macedonia.

This Macedonia thing is a touchy subject in Bulgaria, Macedonia and Greece.



For contrast, this is the North Macedonian version of Dve Nesveste Tikvi Brale (different lyrics in a different language) If you want to sing along, you can find the lyrics here:

By the way, Bulgarian and Macedonian are closely related languages.  The dance is named after a mountain that is both in Macedonia and Bulgaria.



Version 2: Same dance, different music, performed by a folk dance club in Bulgaria. The song is Sarena Gaida.  My guess is that this is the Bulgarian version of the song; there is also one in  Macedonian  listed in the Songbook For Nearsighted People. Are you confused yet? Confusion is a popular topic on this blog.



Version 3: Another version of Maleshevsko performed by a Greek group.



North Macedonian version of the music used in the dance above, and it is also called Maleshevsko. Compare the arrangement to the one used in Version 3.  This is a traditional orchestration with folk instruments: gaida, kaval, tupan and tambura.



Version 4: This was the only dance video I could find from North Macedonia. The clarinetist here is amazing.  They use the same tune as the two previous videos, however, the choreography is different than the ones from Bulgaria and Greece. I don't know if Maleshevka is the name of the music or the dance or both. More confusion!



If you enjoyed this you may also like the series Balkan Dances That Are Often Confused.
You can also read: Macedonia, One Name, Three Countries.


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