The "Hora" of Romania ~ Folk Dance

The Hora is a social dance found in many cultures. The Romanian Hora has a special place in its culture as a symbol of unity--unity of a village and unity of the country. The way dancers join arms to dance together represents this, as does the fact that anyone can join the hora: It is simple, and does not require partners or an even number of dancers.

Style:
The hora does not have a particular style in the sense that it represents a particular mood or tone. It is performed at all types of ceremonies, from weddings to funerals to religious occasions, but it is also danced at other, less formal social gatherings, such as parties or festivals. The dance is circular--all dancers form a circle and either join hands or place their hands around one another's shoulders or waists. This is called a closed circle dance. In some parts of regions of Romania, the dance is done as an open circle. This means the dancers are in formation, but their arms are not joined, and a leader may move the circle around or turn it into a spiral.

 At its most basic, the Romanian hora involves just moving your feet in time to the music and knowing which way the circle is moving. In addition to going around in a circle, dancers sometimes move in toward the middle, contracting the circle, or move outward and expand the circle. The direction of the dance may change once or several times. When traveling around the circle, the traditional step is a grapevine step, in which the left foot crosses in front of the right, the right steps out, the left crosses behind the right, and the right steps out again.

Many variations exist on this basic cross-step, some that are choreographed into the dances, and some that are simply invented spontaneously as the dance is going on. In addition to changing directions, steps can be added or altered to add variation to the dance. As well as changing the form of the dance by making it an open circle dance or a spiral, dancers may choose to form two circles, one inside the other. The inner circle can follow the direction of the outer, or it can turn in the opposite direction.

The grapevine movement around the circle can be varied with a skipping motion, and a common addition is one or two hops in place at the end of the musical phrase (usually two or four bars ). Another variation is to add a kick at the end of a step, making the movement left-right-left-kick (with the right foot) or right-left-right-kick (with the left). Kicks can also be done as "scissor" kicks, in which the dancer kicks both feet in an alternating pattern, kicking in the right foot while hopping on the left, and then kicking the right while hopping on the left.