*a Living dance is a 1st Generation dance that is still performed in the country of origin (or immigrant communities) as part of a social event like a wedding where others can participate (not for an audience) by people who learned the dance informally (from friends and relatives by observation and imitation, not in a classroom situation). For more information, click here and here.
Hora de mână (current) and Hora de mînă (Communist era) – two ways of spelling the Romanian word for “hand”. “Handhold hora”, or “Hora by the hand”. That’s a pretty broad category of dances – so broad as to be almost meaningless. Beware, there are MANY Romanian dances called Hora de mână! Anca Giurchescu with Sunni Bloland, in their landmark book Romanian Traditional Dance note: “Women’s Hora de mînă (by the hand) are represented in numerous old church frescoes and paintings (Bobulescu, C. 1939).” That implies Hora de mână has been around a long time and also, the existence of non-women’s Hora de mână – men’s lines and/or mixed lines. Today in Romania, mixed lines predominate.
The most common Hora de mână – a.k.a. Hora Banateana, Hora din Banat, Joc din Banat – S, S, QQ, S,
Most wedding parties in the Banat feature a Hora de mână, also known as Hora Banateana, Hora din Banat, Hora Banat, Joc din Banat – the Banat version of the pan-Romanian Hora Mare. Note the basic pattern is a S,S,QQ,S, walk; also known by dance scholars as devojačko. See my posting on Uneven Walking for more examples of this widespread pattern.
Meanwhile in Serbia, same dance, different name
Other dances named Hora de mână – T-4
For an explanation of T-4 & T-8, see The Taproot Family
Other dances named Hora de mână – T-8
For an explanation of T-4 & T-8, see The Taproot Family
Still more dances named Hora de mână – 1st & 2nd Generation
Yes, I realize this is the same Hora Banateana basic step as above, but this is the perfect illustration of the difference between a Living dance and a 1st Generation dance. Living dances usually contain only simple variations, or at least the kind of variation that doesn’t interrupt the flow of the line. Although the variations shown below may have been seen in Living situations, they can’t be performed without the entire line knowing in advance when the variation will occur and adjust accordingly. These variations can’t be performed without being rehearsed – thereby not anyone can spontaneously join the line. That won’t do in a wedding party, where the whole point is for everyone to be together, regardless of skill set, where they can talk to friends, see others and be seen, join and leave the line when they want. The pattern of a 1st Generation dance is fixed – it requires concentration to stay with the program – it’s no longer spontaneous, Living.
COMMENTS:
Jim Gold wrote: “Excellent research. . .and so interesting.”
John Uhlemann wrote: “
This is interesting for several reasons:
1. One of your Youtube videos shows the pattern in and out beginning with the left foot and going side to side before going in (L,R, L-R,L), then doing out (R), in (L), and R-L, R out. This is exactly the pattern taught by Dick Crum years ago as “Hora Boiereasca”.
2. in some areas of the south, this pattern is called “axion”.
3. The Hungarian dialect group called the Moldvai Csángó who live among the Romanians on the Moldavian side of the Eastern Carpathians do both the pattern shown first, and also the 1-2-3 pattern in and out. They refer to both as “Kezes” or “Kezesek”; both words mean, you guessed it, “hand”.
4. Modern Romanian wedding music tends to sound like Banat music, all over these days. I started hearing that trend about 20 years ago. It is more zippy and wind instrument driven than the older fiddle styles, and, of course, easier to hear out of doors. Still, I lament the homogenization of regional styles.
Folkdance Footnotes 