Šestorka (L*), Шесторка – Serbia – Yet more additions

Hi Don, I might add two literature sources for šestorka that I have in my collection, both issued in former Yugoslavia. The first is a small booklet: Folk Costumes and Dances of Yugoslavia, Zagreb 1987. It is no.9 in a Library series of Tourist Monographs. It is written by an editorial team of whom the affiliation is not given. So I cannot establish the authorative value of the information in the book. Nevertheless, šestorka enters once in the book in this paragraph on page 80: “Folk dances of the Nišava basin have attracted by their wealth of forms, not only ethnochoreologists but writers as well. There are some very interesting decriptions of dances and dance customs, especially in older works. The šestorka and rinka dances are remarkable for their unusual and unexpected move to the opposite direction, which can be performed only by skilled and well-coordinated dancers. There are elements of the grotesque in these dances as well as in the kreštu sojče dance.” The other source is a folk dance collection issued with a book and a set of musical records: Prof. Branka Koturović and Prof. Aleksandar Marinković (1973), Narodne igre Jugoslavije – metodika,tehnika, ritam, Beograd. In the chapter of dances from east Serbia, šestorka is included as a dance from Bala Palanka. The melody is the same as the ones you include above, except that it is in phrases of 16 measures (and not 14). The dance steps are also the same as the usual version, in 14 measure phrases. As a results, there is this non-concordance between musical and dance phrases that you mention. The information given on the dance is (roughly translated into English): “It is danced in a group of 5-6 dancers holding their belts, arms crossed in front, left arm in front of the right arm of the left neighbour. The direction of movement is to the right in a straight line. The dance uses crossing steps with the opposite leg in front, throwing the opposite leg forward and alternately transferring the weight of the body, from one leg to the other. In the variant of the dance, instead of crossing steps in the first three measures, and then in the XI and XIII measures, complex, so-called “decorative” steps are performed, which are in fact closing steps with the transfer of body weight to the closing leg, but with a previous hop with the opposite leg to the pre-beat and stomp, in the rhythm of 2 sixteenths and 1 eighth at the end of the musical unit, and in bar XIV. In this dance, there is a discrepancy between the dance and musical phrases, the so-called “heterorhythm”. It is danced with a gradual acceleration to a very fast and lively dance. The dance figure consists of 14 2/4 measures.” Not muc new informastion, but maybe you like it. Best, –Radboud

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