Saturday, March 23, 2013

Get your dance shoes on, or 'opinci'

Every once in a while I get lucky and have a day off when a special folk dance event is going on.  This past weekend the folk dance group in Tucson was celebrating their 50th anniversary and had a special guest teacher Yves Moreau.  I asked my husband if he was interested in going to Tucson, so we all went.  He dropped me and my son off at Ina Gittings Gym at the University of Arizona, while he and my daughter went on a 'treasure' hunt at the local Bookman stores.
I've never met Yves Moreau, but I've heard from my folk dance friends that he is a great teacher.  When I walked into the gym I could hear his voice echoing a Macedonian folk dance song 'Slusham kaj shumat sumite'.  It strange to hear a song in my native tongue here in America.  Without wasting a second I joined the circle, tried to quickly learn the dance steps and sang along the familiar words of the song, that now I can't get out of my head.
He taught a few other dances and the night went on with quite a few dance request.  I knew some and joined in, others I wasn't interested (any couple/mixers), and yet for some I tried to dance behind the circle so I can follow and learn the steps.

We drove back home late last night, it was close to midnight when we got back to Phoenix.  And today, I got my Macedonian dance shoes out, known as opinci (see picture) and have been playing Macedonian music and dancing in my house.

I actually realized that YouTube has quite a selection of videos on which the dancers feet are visible so I can try to learn the steps.
Here is list of some of my favorites.  You can YouTube them by the name:
Bavno Oro
Chupurlika (I saw some belly dancers do this one)
Eleno Mome
Ravno Oro
Urva Fanka
Kopacka (men dance)
Adana
Kalajdjisko
Dedo Mili Dedo
Karamfil
Pajdusko
Syrto Kofto
Rumelaj
Yalaryal
Imate li vino
Bajracheto (also known as Zensko Beranche)
Pembe
Maleshevsko
Belasicko

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