Bulgarian Horo

Before I came to Bulgaria, I knew about the horah only as a Jewish dance where the dancers hold hands and dance in a circle. Little did I know that it has a much wider distribution. Here in Bulgaria it is know as the horo (plural hora). It is also the national dance of Romania and variations are found in Macedonia as well. It is well-known throughout the Balkans.

The traditional Bulgarian horo comes in many shapes. It is not necessary to be in a circle, a curving line of people is also acceptable. The steps used in a horo dance are extremely diverse and not just two or three steps forward and one step back. The horo may vary between three to seven or eight steps forward and one to five or six steps back depending on the specific type.

There are more than five types of horo that are usually danced at every wedding. They differ by the rhythm of the music and the steps taken. There are no two horo dances with similar steps. There are probably over one hundred types of horo dances in the Bulgarian folklore. There seems to be a different horo for each tune. As soon as the music starts, the people know which horo to dance.

The literature that I have read stated that, “In the past, the horo dance had a social role in Bulgarian society,” but here in my small town the horo is still important. At public functions and private parties if music starts, people will get up to dance. Women, couples, children, babas (grandmothers) all get up to dance, maybe even a Peace Corps trainee. It’s all mainly for fun or to celebrate weddings and other events. I’ve seen home movies of families dancing the horo in an apartment small enough to barely move around while they celebrated a family members graduation.

There are hora for people with little skill that can be learned in five to ten minutes, but there are also very sophisticated dances that cannot be learned unless one is fluent in many of the simpler dances.

Of course, there are also professional dance companies that dance complicated horos in full forklore costumes. Many of these complicated hora involve line dancing even more than circle or snake dancing.

Compliments of YouTube here are some home videos of ordinary people dancing the horo:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7Js7XfOO7_M&feature=related

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlKX66rA6LQ&feature=related

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6IQ5K7bzo5I&feature=related

Professional and well- horo dance groups are a big thing here. Two weeks practiced ago Shirley and I attended a outdoor festival with a number of horo groups. Interestingly while some groups were performing on stage, members of the audience would dance the horo out in the grass. Anyone could join in and many did. On cable television here, there is one channel entirely dedicated to people either dancing, performing or singing horo music.

Again from You Tube here is a professional horo group:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9hGJ1TZT_mg&feature=related

Also here is a horo group performing on Australian television.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pq8SBOE-81c&feature=related

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTWsvyH5EaM&feature=related

And horo is more than just dancing. It is also music. Some of the best known personalities in horo are the musicians and singers.

Довидоне эь Българиа (Goodbye from Bulgaria) or as the locals are more likely to say “Chao.” [so what if it’s Italian, it works]