More Notes on Macedonian
Dance Styles
Because Macedonia is divided into 4 parts, it has many different
styles of dancing. Each part has been influenced by its neighbor.
-
In general, if the dance is slow, hand hold is W; if the dance is
fast, hand hold is V -
In general, feet-leg movement on lifts, is open with slight
bend. -
Always, men’s movements are flashy, women’s movements are
subdued. Some of this is changing currently, especially in the
USA. -
Always, with open circle dances, everyone faces center, never
turn dance away from circle. -
Slow dances, because of the long time between notes, are usually
danced with embellishments such as lifts or chukches. Modern Macedonian
dancers (in the USA) usually do not embellish as much. -
In Aegean Macedonia, many dances start out slowly and gradually
increase in tempo. (Mushkoto, Gaida, Zborskoto) -
In Vardar Macedonia, the steps are usually bouncy and intricate,
such as found in Serbia. (Kopachka) -
Many of the popular songs in Pirin Macedonia are also popular in
Vardar Macedonia.
Alphabets and diacritical
marks
You will notice that some dance instructions and notes have
diacritical marks over certain letters. It is quite prevalent in folk
dance circles to use the alphabet used in Jugoslavia (Yugoslavia) when
describing folk dances. This was good to obtain the sounds of the Slavic
dialects. Conversely, it is bad if you do not know that this alphabet is
being used.
For the purposes of this syllabus, here is a summary of those letters
and marks.
J = Y Š = SH
C = TS Ž = ZH
Č = CH
Examples: “Jovan ot selo Čerešnica” would be re-written using the
English alphabet as “Yovan ot selo Chereshnitsa” (John from village
Chereshnitsa).
“Žalna Majka” would be re-written as “Zhalna Maika” (sad mother).
“Jeni Jol” would be re-written as “Yeni Yol” (a person’s name).