Tag Archives: Folk dancing videos

Aug30

I’d Rather Be Dancing Norwegian Folk Dances

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Norway is known for Vikings, fjords, and long winters, but also for its beautiful dances, which often involve a lot of twirling.

I don’t know the name of this dance, but the children are performing at the Oslo Museum in a celebration on St. Han’s Day:

Gudbrandsdals Mazurka:

Hallingdans (highlights the male’s skills and is sometimes danced as a male solo):

Hamborgar:

Hans og Hånån:

Hardangervals:

Reinlender (the Norwegian equivalent of a Schottische):

Sandsvaerril (adorable; a lot of flirting potential in this dance):

Tølastep:

Wengurka (the translation is “the Hungarian,” but the dance probably originated in Poland; this is the Norwegian version):

Jul16

I’d Rather Be Dancing Polish Folk Dances

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Dancing is a popular pastime and an important facet of Polish culture.

The Mazurka is one of the most famous Polish dances. This film clip discusses its significance:

W Moim Ogródeczku. This is one of my all-time favorite dances:

Ada’s Kujawiak is a beautiful, graceful couples’ dance:

Goscie Jada was choreographed by Ira Weisburd. The name means “the guests are coming.” Ira calls it the Polish Dance of Welcome:

Trojak. You’ll notice in this dance that each male has two female partners. Tradition has it that in the province where the dance originated (Silesia), females greatly outnumbered males because so many men perished in the mines. This performance appears to be a dance competition, judging by the numbers on the men’s backs. There are many variations of this popular dance; not all of the competitors are doing the same patterns.

Klapok is a mixer that alternates between two patterns—a polka and a hand-clapping pattern. At the repetition of the clapping pattern, you quickly turn and find yourself a new partner. As you can observe, it’s a lot of fun:

Krakowiak is a performance dance from Krakow. There are many different versions. This performance starts with the folk song:

Swir Swir Mazur. This performance occurred at the Pulaski Day Parade in Philadelphia, October 1999:

Varsovienne originated in Warsaw:

Zbójnicki is the Hatchet Dance. You don’t dare zone out during this one:

Jun18

I’d Rather Be Dancing Ukrainian Folk Dances

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Ukraine is on our hearts as the Ukrainians defend their country against Russian aggression.

Let’s celebrate their culture. Ukraine has a vibrant folk dance tradition.

Several of these videos were made when the Tucson International Folk Dancers performed at the 2019 Phoenix International Folk Dance Festival.

Bandura Kozachok. Bandura is a stringed instrument; Kozachok is a Cossack dance. It seems this dance is telling a story. A flirtation is attempted, and is not having the desired effect. But all’s well that ends well:

Donetskii Kozachok is a cute mixer:

Honei Viter  means “whirlwind”:

Hopak Trio is a dance usually done in couples, which has been adapted here for trios. This performance includes a couple of surprises:

Hutsulka means “girl from Hultsulshina”:

There are a number of variations of Khorovod, which is customarily a women’s dance. This one is a couples’ dance, usually done only at weddings:

Kolomeyka W Dwi Pari:

Kozachok Mixer:

Kozachok Trio:

Oj Maju Maju:

Oj na hori stoit khata (A house stands on the hill):

I found all of these wonderful dances on Folk Dance Musings. You can find the instructions there too.