#my life genuinely changed when i discovered folk dancing and i WILL shill it any chance i get

[msperfectsheep-posts]

top 5 folk dances ? ^^

ROBIN DON'T MAKE ME PICK THIS IS LIKE PICKING A FAVORITE CHILD

Anyways. My top 5 Folk Dances: 1. Vjalla E Pllanes (Albania) This dance is so good. It has everything. It has scarves, it has a bunch of very unique figures that stand out from one another, there's a section where you just fucking SPIN for eight counts as much as you can, and the double-headed eagle is a classic. I love this dance so so much and it looks great.

2. Dance of Ikaria (Greece) EXACTLY THE SAME FOOTWORK as the Serbian dance Biserka/Bojarka and Romanian Boiereasca but I really love the Greek music specifically that was chosen for it. This dance is made to mimic the sound and feeling of waves crashing against the rocks of the islands old Greek monastaries were located on, including Ikaria! It's a dance where you intentionall mimic the feeling of being off balance, and the entire circle of dances sort of rocks back and forth like the barrel of a washing machine. In a small circle, the energy and feeling is so great that I literally feel like I am back in the Indian/Pacific ocean.

3. Ördög Útja (Drumul Dracului) (Csango Peoples, Romania/Moldova) Okay so I didn't credit Romania/Moldova alone here because there is a really important distinction to be made with the Csango Peoples: they are Not Romanian. They're of Hungarian descent and speak a Hungarian dialect, they just live In Romania. It's kind of like Opsa (below) where it's an immigrant group's work, but crediting Hungary entirely feels a little disingenuous, so there we go. Anyways, rant aside, this is the worst fucking dance I have ever danced (/aff). My folk dance group lovingly calls it the Fitness Gram Pacer Test of dances. You think you are done but you are Never Done. The footwork is actually pretty simple, but the real catch with this fucking dance is that it keeps getting faster and the songs can easily go one for over 5 minutes. Traditionally, this dance is done to hype everyone up for the big hunt, and they can easily do it for over twenty minutes straight. Me? I'll just die. We like to haze newcomers to our folk dance classes by having them go into this dance with no warning whatsoever and everyone hates us for it. It's one of our most popularly requested dances. The feeling is universal.

4. Opsa (Croatia/Serbian/USA) The thing with Opsa is that it is so stupidly simple. You just chat with your friends while you dance it! You hold hands, you chat, and whenever it's time to shout "OPSA!", you shout "OPSA!" I do not know what opsa means, and at this point I'm scared to ask. It's great. This dance is a great dance to start off the day, to end the day, or just for when you want to chat.

5. Sicilian Tarantella (Sicily) I was taught the Neapolitan Tarantella (Italy) first, and By God. That's definitely the harder but more "authentic" tarantella, but if you do not know how to dance in a ballroom position, then it is Hell. And let me tell you, most people do not know how to dance in ballroom position. However, the tambourines are always a delight, and the Sicilian Tarantella still retains a lot of the charm of the Neapolitan Tarantella while making it a lot more accessible to beginners. In a dance that relies on the fact that you at bare minimum have a partner, but ideally four people, you should either get a group of people who know how to dance or dance an easier version so people can still have fun. Anyways, that's my spiel.

Special mentions to: Das Fenster (Germany), T'smidje (Beligium), Eastbourne Rover (England), High Green Mountain (Taiwan), Istanbul Bar (Turkey/USA), Udarata Kandukara (Sri Lanka), and Fado Português de Nos (Portugal)