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Macedonian
Macedonian folk dances
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Tri Godini Kate [Macedonia]
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Ravno Oro [Macedonia]
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Deverovo [Macedonia]
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Arap [Macedonia]
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Bajrace (Zensko Berance) [Macedonia]
Bajrace or Zensko Berance is woman's dance from the western part of the Kostur area in what is now Greek Macedonia. It has an unusual rhythm - 12/8, 12/16/ or 18/16 depending on who you ask.
Originally called Bajrace, the name of this dance was later changed to Zensko Berance by Pece Atanasovski. Zensko means woman's, and Berance comes from the word Berat, which is a major city in Albania. So it means "Like a dance from Berat" or "The Berat Dance".
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Banjsko [Macedonia]
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Berovka [Berovo, Macedonia]
Berovka takes its name from the town of Berovo in eastern Macedonia.
According to Mihailo Dimoski, Stanimir Visinski, and Elsie Dunin in their book Makedonski Narodni Plesovi, the dance was learned from a group of women from the village of Rusino, near Berovo, at a festival in Skopje, 1948.
It is also danced in the area of Pehčavo and Delčevo. It's a women's dance, danced in an open circle or line with the leader on the right end.
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Cije E Ona Mome [Macedonia]
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Dafino Vino [Krusevo, Macedonia]
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Dedo Mili Dedo [Macedonia]
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Devetorka [Macedonia]
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Duce Duce [Macedonia]
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Ferusko [Macedonia]
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Gurga Pere [East Macedonia]
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Imate Li Vino [Macedonia]
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Ivanica [Macedonia]
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Jovano Jovanke [Macedonia]
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Kasapsko Oro [Macedonia]
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Kostursko Oro [Macedonia]
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Kopacka [Delcevo, Macedonia]
According to Atanas Kolarovski, when Kopacka was first introduced to Tanec by the village dancers, the original name was Sitnata (the litte one). Tanec changed the name to Kopacka and the dance subsequently became so famous that the villagers adopted this name of Kopacka for both the dance and the name of their group, to remind everyone from whence this dance originally came.
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Krstacka [Macedonia]
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Krivo Zensko [Macedonia]
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Lesnoto (Pravoto) [Macedonia]
The first song, Makedonsko Devojce is a Macedonian song composed by Jonce Hristovski (also the author of Ako Umram). It's one of the most popular tunes for dancing Lesnoto.
The second song, Nazad Nazad from Pirin, Bulgaria, is one of our favorite Macedonian melody for Lestnoto. We "discovered" it during one of our visits to the tents in Koprivshtitsa during the last festival (the tents are where the locals hang out after hours).
The third song is a popular lesnoto (pravoto) from Macedonia.
The fourth is Raspukala Šar Planina, a modern rendition of an old song from Kavadarci about what happens to three shepherds on the Šar Planina mountain range just NW of Skopje.
The last song is a famous melody from Serbia.
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Memede (Toska) [Macedonia]
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Narodno Oro [Macedonia]
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Neveno mori Nevenke [Kumanovo, Macedonia]
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Pajdusko [Macedonia]
Pajdukso (also: Paiduska, Payduska, Baiduska, Paidusca), is danced all over the Balkans. This version is by the famous Macedonian accordionist, Goran Alacki.
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Pusteno [Macedonia]
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Ramno Velesko [Macedonia]
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Ratevka [Macedonia]
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Sadilo Mome [Skopje, Macedonia]
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Sarena Gajda [Macedonia]
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Sedenka [Macedonia]
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Shopkata [Ovchepolia, Macedonia]
Shopka, or Shopkata, is a mixed Macedonian dance from the town Sveti Nicola in the Ovchepolia region in Macedonia, southwest of the Shope region in northeast Macedonia. It was brought down from the mountains by Shope people who came down to inhabit Muslum towns whose occupants migrated to Turkey. Among themselves, the dance is called Troika.
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Skopski Sa Sa [Skopje, Macedonia]
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Staro Makedonsko Oro [Macedonia]
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Strumicka Petorka [Macedonia]
Strumicka Petorka is a dance in the Macedonian style arranged by Bora Gajicki and inspired by a recording of the same name composed by Nikola Stefanov released on a Zagreb-based Jugoton LP. The piece is named either after the eastern Macedonian town of Strumica or the Struma River, which winds through Pirin and eastern Vardar Macedonia.
Bora Gajicki's own Borino Orchestra recorded a cover of the Aleksandric recording, and it is one of these two recordings that are best known to international folk dancers and enthusiasts of Balkan music.
The music and dance are sometimes mistakenly classified as "Serbian" because the first widely available commercial recording happened to be by Dragan Aleksandric's orchestra, with Vilko Sedlar as the clarinetist, on an LP titled "Narodna Kola" (folk circle dances). Likewise, the cover of this piece and the arrangement of the dance was by a Serbian dancer Bora Gajicki. Nonetheless, the music was composed by a Macedonian. and the dance movements and styling is typically Macedonian.
Many if not most recordings of folk music in the Yugoslavia before its break-up were released either on the Zagreb, Croatia-based Jugoton or the Belgrade, Serbia-based RTB (Radio Television Belgrade). However, their place of production did not mean that all such music were either Croatian or Serbian. Pece Atanasovksi, the best known Macedonian gajda (bagpipe) player released his recordings on both Jugoton and RTB, but his music (and dancing) is distinctly Macedonian and typical of his home village of Dolneni near Prilep Macedonia.
Many thanks to John Kuo for the background information about this music: www.ChicagoSpringFestival.org.
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Tesko Oro [Macedonia]
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Tino Mori [Macedonia]
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Tresenica [South Macedonia]
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Vrni Se Vrni [Macedonia]
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Zensko Za Raka (Navestinsko Za Raka) [Macedonia]
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Zurli Trestat Na Sred Selo [Macedonia]
