Hora nuntaşilor (2*)- seuRomanian

*2nd Generation dance. A dance that developed and was disseminated in a non-traditional way. 2G dances are specific – have a fixed format designed to correspond with the arrangement of a particular recording., whereas 1G dances are generic – have a shorter sequence that works with live music – where many different songs are played and arrangements vary according to the tastes of musicians and dancers. For more on the differences between 1st & 2nd G dances click here.

The Music

Hora Nuntaşilor (HOH-rah noon-TAH-chee-lohr) nuntaşilor means ‘wedding guests’. A search of Romanian sites yields a couple of YouTubes labeled Hora Nuntaşilor. Both are instrumentals, two different melodies, neither is the tune known to us recreational folk dancesrs as Hora Nuntaşilor.

A site from Holland has the music and lyrics for the dance presented by Sonia Dion & Cristian Florescu, but who is the singer?

Often, searching the first line of the lyrics yields results, but not this time. So I tried the first line of the chorus – bingo!

The singer – Ghita Munteanu. The song is named after the first line of the Chorus:
Asta-i nuntă ca-n poveşti “This is a fairy-tale wedding”

Here’s the song by another duo – looks like it’s popular in Romania.

In this video, our 3rd verse is sung first, then the 1st verse, then a different song altogether.

THE DANCE

I can find no Romanian YouTubes of a dance labeled Hora Nuntaşilor. The YouTube above shows what appears to be a wedding party dancing to the tune Asta-i nuntă ca-n poveşti, but the footwork they’re doing is a simple grapevine. This is consistent with what I know of modern Romanian weddings – a few simple dances everyone can do, danced for a long time to several different songs. For more detail, see: https://folkdancefootnotes.org/dance/a-real-folk-dance-what-is-it/about/romanian-wedding-dances/

However, around 2005, Romanian instructors Sonia Dion & Cristian Florescu introduced to North Americans a dance they called Hora Nuntaşilor, saying it was “From Timiş (Banat), Romania”. It featured simple dance phrases using common Romanian steps (but not so simple as in typical Romanian wedding dances) that matched music phrases in the Ghita Munteanu recording of Asta-i nuntă ca-n poveşti. Recreational folk dance groups, who seem to find typical Romanian wedding dances ‘too easy’, seem to find Sonia & Cristian’s choreography more to their liking. I must admit the snappy music and constantly-varied-but-not-difficult choreography is hard to resist! Just don’t call it a Romanian dance – Romanians don’t dance it. They’ve probably never even seen it. 2nd Generation Romanian works for me.