I (Roy) teach International Folk Dance mainly non partner dances from the Balkans. I specialize in easy beginning folk dances.
There are two types of beginning folk dances: those choreographed just for beginners and the social dances danced by the average person in the country of origin of the dances. I mainly teach the social dances. I am currently teaching in association with Andre and Yvonne Couvillion at Social Dances of the World
The social dances are the dances that are usually done at parties or other social occasions, which haven't been rechoreographed for the stage.
The social dances often have a basic step upon which the dancer can improvise. Often in the folk dance scene, these dances have been presented with the native dancer's personal improvisations taught as individual steps. This often makes an easy dance seem harder than it is.
Being social dances, these dances are not always slow; they are often fast and vigorous. The ability to improvise during the dance keeps it interesting for the more advanced dancer, while the easy basic step allows the beginner to have fun during the dance.
The social dances are the dance that you will find being danced by the crowd if you go to an ethnic festival. If you know these dances you should be able to dance for most of the night.
There are a number of basic patterns the occur in the social folk dances. Often the pattern may be hidden by the Equivalent Replacement Steps.
An Equivalent Replacement Step is a step or series of steps that take the same amount of time to the music and leave the same foot free when it is done.
The most basic of these is the slow step replacement series.
| Slow (2/4 or 3/8) beats | Step lift 1/4 + 1/4 | Triple step 1/4 + and +1/4 |
| step onto one foot taking weight for enter count | step on one foot then left the other | replace single step with three quick steps |
A number of the social dances uses this pattern, chief among them the Bulgarian Provo. (notes to the dances can be found at this link).
The pattern is starting with right foot, walk to the right, step onto right foot (count 1), step onto left foot (count 2), step on right foot (counts 3) hold count (4), step onto left (count 5) and hold (count 6).
Depending on the region of Bulgaria and the tempo of the music the forth step (count 5) can be made either by stepping in to the center or back out of the center.
Replace the slow steps with step lifts and the dance become the fast Hasapiko from Greece.
Notes to many of the dances can be found at the following web sites. When I link to the site. I link to the index page and not the individual dance because these sites represent a great deal of hard work and dedication by the site authors.
A good source of dance notes and other things of interest.
Bob Shapiro's site another good source of dance notes.
Good site for Folk Dance Music also has links to dance descriptions.
http://folkdancemusic.net/index.htm
This site has links to most online music sites.
Good site for dance videos.
Things to remember when viewing the videos.
Most of the videos are not of native dancers, but of folk dance groups. The style and steps are reflection of that groups cultural variations and therefore, may be different than how the dance is danced in your area.
http://www.dunav.org.il/balkan_folkdance_videos.html
Anther good video site. Make sure you checkout their culture videos.
My folkdance video site.
I teach beginning folk dance in the Sacramento, Roseville, Auburn and Grass Valley Area . Beyond Balkan Folk Dance Patty and I can also teach: East Coast Swing and Zydeco.
I am currently teaching in association with Andre and Yvonne Couvillion at Social Dances of the World. I also teach and independent class, Roy Butler Dance School in Lincoln.