Hora
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- For the Greco-Roman goddesses of the hours, see Horae. For the Japanese conch shell trumpet, see Horagai. For the ex-Schwarz Stein musician, see Hora (Japanese Musician)
Hora is a type of circle dance found in a number of countries, most of which use slightly different spellings. The name is a cognate with the ancient Greek art form Chorea.
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[edit] Hora in Romania and Moldova
Hora (pl. hore) is a traditional Romanian folk dance that gathers everyone into a big closed circle. The dancers hold each other's hands and the circle spins, usually clockwise, as each participant follows a sequence of three steps forward and one step back. The dance is usually accompanied by musical instruments such as the cymbalum, accordion, violin, viola, double bass, saxophone, trumpet or even the panflute.
Hora is popular during wedding celebrations and festivals, and is an essential part of the social entertainment in rural areas. One of the most famous hore is the Hora Unirii (Hora of the Union),[1] which became a Romanian patriotic song as a result of being the hymn when Wallachia and Moldavia united to form the Principality of Romania in 1859. During the 2007 New Year's Eve celebration, when Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union, people were dancing Hora Bucuriei (Hora of Joy) over the boulevards of Bucharest as a tribute to the EU anthem, Ode to Joy. The hora was also danced by the Vlachs (Romanians) of Bulgaria, introducing it into the folklore of Bulgaria under the name of horo (pl. hora). Some of the biggest hora circles can be found on early 20th century movies filmed by the Manakia brothers in Pindus, Greece and performed by local Aromanians.
Variants:
[edit] Horo in Bulgaria
The traditional Bulgarian dance 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.
In the past, the horo dance had a social role in Bulgarian society. It was mainly for fun, as a contest of skills, or for the show, leading to the development of the variety of horo dances. 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.
[edit] Oro in Montenegro
A similar dance, the Oro (Cyrillic: Opo), is popular in Montenegro. It starts with participants dancing in circles to a gusle, and ends with dancers standing on other dancers' shoulders and a toast from the head of the household.
[edit] Israeli and Jewish Horah
While living in the Romanian Principalities, Jews were heavily influenced by the traditional Romanian folklore, music, and dance. The Horah is now the unofficial king of Israeli folk dances. It can be performed to many of the traditional klezmer and Israeli folk songs. Typically, Hora is danced to the music of Hava Nagila.
To start the dance, everybody forms a circle, holding hands, and steps forward toward the right with the left foot, then follows with the right foot. The left foot is then brought back, followed by the right foot. This is done while holding hands and circling together in a fast and cheerful motion to the right. Large groups allow for the creation of several concentric circles.
In the early days, Horah was popular mainly in the Kibbutzim and small communities, later it became a "must" in weddings, celebrations and group dances throughout Israel. At B'nei Mitzvah, it is custom to raise the honoree and his or her family members on a chair during the horah. This is also often done at Jewish weddings.
While highly popular in the pre-state period and in the 1950's, currently many young Israelis consider it "old-fashioned" and prefer dances drawn from the world-wide Americanised leisure culture.
Horah has also been danced for many generations by Jews in the United States and Canada at weddings, bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, and other parties and joyous ceremonies. The dance appeared in North America in the early 20th century, well before Israeli independence, brought directly from Eastern Europe by Jewish immigrants.
[edit] Trivia
- In the Brazilian martial art Capoeira, a roda (circle, pronounced: Ho Dah) is when the group playing gets in a circle and two at a time spar in the center. It is almost always accompanied by music.
[edit] See also
- Circle dance
- Round dance
- Bulgarian dances, details for specific Bulgarian folk dances
- Dabke, a Middle Eastern line dance
- Halay, a Middle Eastern dance
- Hasapiko, a Greek folk dance
- Khorovod, an Eastern European circle dance
- Kolo, a Serbo-Croatian circle dance
[edit] External links
- The history of sacred dances: Choros, Hora, Calusul and Morris dance
- How to dance the Hora
- A history of Jewish Hora (in Romanian, written by Romanian Jews)
- Description and history of Romanian Hora (in French)
- Hora Music How do you dance the Hora in Israel
- Horon
