last updated 26 September
Romanian dance teaching from the Banat region
October to November 2008
The modern region of Banat consists of two distinct parts; the mountain region which historically formed part of the Banat of Severin together with western Oltenia and the plain region which was created by draining the marshes during the Austrian Hapsburg period and is now divided between Serbia, Romania and Hungary.
Nicolae Stănescu - dance teacher
Nicolae Stănescu is highly regarded throughout Romania as the best dancer from the Banat region. He has danced in many ensembles in Banat since his childhood in a village in the Banat mountain region, and he is currently a choreographer of the "Timisul" (amateur) ensemble in Timisoara (which is directed by Toma Frenţescu) http://www.timisul.ro/.
He will be assisted by Doina Anghel, who is herself a very experienced dancer, so that we have both the men's and women's styles demonstrated.
Nicolae's programme will include an interesting selection of dances with catchy tunes, including Hora, Sârba, Brâul and Ardeleana chosen with our help to supplement the international folk dance repertoire. The dances of the mountain region include versions of the Hora and numerous line dances collectively known as Brâul, many of which are in 7/8 and have some similarities to west Oltenian and north western Bulgarian dances. There are also the slower Ardeleana (meaning Transylvanian) and fast De Doi (meaning for two) couple dances, the former having many simple figures and some syncopated steps. The men's solo dance "Soroc" is danced to very similar music, with choreographic structuring similar to the Transylvanian Fecioresc, but with sequences sometimes resembling the footwork of Serbian dances but not including the 19th century Austro-Hungarian boot slapping sequences which are seen in the central Transylvanian men's dances. A CD and DVD will also be available of the dances taught.
Ion Ienea - Taragot
The music in this region is generally played on the Taragot (or sometimes soprano sax) and we are lucky to have one of the best Taragot players from Banat at the teaching workshops.
Provisional programme
| Saturday 25 October | day workshop hosted by Interfolk at Barnham Village - http://www.interfolk.co.uk/events/work.html |
| Sunday 26 October | Dance around the World at Cecil Sharp House, Camden, London http://www.datw.org.uk/ |
| Wednesday 29 October | Oxford International Group http://www.oxintdance.org.uk/ |
| Friday 31 October | "Language Show" http://www.thelanguageshow.co.uk/ |
| Saturday 1 November | day workshop for the Society for International Folk Dancing, Cecil Sharp house, London http://www.sifd.org/events/sifdevents.php |
| Saturday 1 November | Balkanplus, Camden, Cecil Sharp house, London http://www.balkanplus.org.uk/ |
| Monday 3 November | open evening with "Martisorul" dance group http://www.eliznik.org.uk/martisorul/index.html |
| Tuesday 4 November | evening for Doina East European dance group http://members.aol.com/Doinafolk/Index.html |
Organisation support:
Society for International Folk Dancing www.sifd.org/
Romanian Cultural Institute, London www.icr-london.co.uk/