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THE GEOGRAFIC DISTRIBUTION OF THE YUGOSLAV FOLK-DANCES
Ivan Ivančan
; Insitut za etnologiju i folkloristiku, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
By the examination of stylistic, rhythmical, spatial and other characteristics of folk-dances, we can notice congruities in a given geografic area and great differences between the dances of various regions.
Hitherto there were some endeavours to divide the Yugoslav area into definite cultural zones. The most remarcable among these is the ethnographic division of M. Gavazzi, who distinguishes Alpine, Panonian, Adriatic, Dinara's, Morava's and Vardar's zones. The author of the paper compares dance zones with the ethnographic zones of M. Gavazzi and concludes that they almost entirely coincide.
Alpine dance-zone is a part of the broad Alpine area, which comprises all peoples inhabitant in the Alps and their distant spurs. In Yugoslavia these are Slovenia, Istria, Prigorje, Hrvatsko Zagorje and partly Medimurje, Podravina, Moslavina, Turopolje, Banija and Pokuplje. Out of a rather heterogeneous structure of dances following common traits were cristallized: a) the pair dances predominate b) the pairs are uniformly distributed along a circle c) the partners are not firmly bound one with another d) the direction of movement over the dance area is counter-clockwise and the rotation of each pair is clockwise e) it can be traced the former role of the commander f) the characteristic vigorous rotations of the pairs g) appears the beating the legs and other body parts by hands h) string bands predominate as musical accompaniment to the dance, but the tendency to the domestic instruments is manifested too i) a dance is seldom accompanied by a song j) the rhythmical base is formed by the polka and waltz forms.
Panonic dance-zone is placed east of Zagreb, and north of the Sava and the Dunav. Somewhere the boundary line lies a little more to the South. The main characteristics of the Panonic dance-zone are following: the dances are a) performed in closed circles; b) the dancers are compactly connected each holding the next one; c) in the West of the area the direction of movement is clockwise and in the East it is counter-clockwise. This is the case in the Dinara zone too. In Podunavlje and Podrinje we have kolos, which move in both directions; d) the motion in the kolo is very mild; e) an important stylistic characteristic is »drmanje«, i. e. dancing with vigorous but short vertical vibrations; f) the rhythmical form is bipartite and it moves in two ways. Slavonia has a stressed crotchet followed by two avers, all other regions have a stressed quaver followed by a quaver and a crochet; g) a great number of kolos is performed accompanied only by singing; h) the distichs in the songs and in the poskočnicas (shouted verses) are important. By their content they are closely connected with the actualities of the village; i) in the times past it has been danced by the accompaniment of solo instruments: bag-pipe (gajde and dude), shepherd's pipe (dvojnice) and solo tamburica (tamburica samica), but now tamburica bands are prevalent.
Dinara's dance-zone comprises the widest area. The northern boundary on the Sava and the Kupa, the western on the Adriatic coast, the eastern on the Kolubara and the Sitnica. This is the area of the oldest traditions. Here are tie main characteristics: a) the open and closed kolos with possibility of separating an independent pair; b) the kolos are not congested; c) the mastering the dancing ea is very intensive; d) high and strong jumps are characteristic for the style. In he kolo men choose their future wives examinating their strength in the dancing; the dance is performed in a very archaic senary time dance form; f) the kolos are usually performed without musical accompaniment.
Adriatic dance-zone comprises all isles and, for the most part, the arrow coast belt from Rijeka to the Boka Kotorska. Here are the main characteristics: a) the dances are performed in pairs or in two opposite rows, one of men and the other of women; b) the pairs are not uniformly distributed over the dancing area, "but several of them follow one another; c) the direction of movement over the dancing area is counter-clockwise and the rotation of a dancer or a pair is possible in both directions. In the double-row-dances it is danced stationary or one row dances toward the other frequently changing the places; d) there are two main stylistic characteristics: the first is the quick movements of legs during the dancing and the other the intensive individual rotations; e) all dances are characterized by two tripartite and one six-quavers rhythmical forms; f) a characteristic is the heterorhythmia between the dance and the musical accompaniment: g) it is never danced with the accompaniment of a song, only sometimes by imitating an instrument; h) the main instrument of accompaniment is bag-pipe and, in times past, the lijerica was very spread. The sopile are known only in the Istria and Kvarner areas.
Morava's dance-zone has as the northern boundary the Dunav. In the West it borders upon Dinara's zone, in the East the limit is Bulgarian state-frontier and in the South the frontier of Macedonia. Here are the main characteristics: a) the dances are mostly performed in a open kolo; b) the direction of movement is counter-clockwise: c) a stylistic characteristic is the minute interweaving of the legs; d) the bar of the melody of the accompaniment usually coincides with the bar of the dance; e) the dance is most frequently accompanied by the instruments, but there are the dances accompanied by a song. In the times past the bag-pipe was important, but today the pipe and the bands with the accordion as the dominant instrument prevail.
The elements of aculturation are nowhere so well marked as in the Morava's dance-zone.
Vardar's dance-zone in the West borders upon Dinara's. In the North upon Morava's, in the East the limit is Bulgarian state-frontier and in the South some elements intrude deeply into the territory of Greece. The main characteristics are: a) the open kolos, where the men are strictly separated from the women: b) the direction of movement is counter-clockwise; c) the motions with tightened joints on the legs are characteristic for the style; d) the melodic bar does not coincide with the dance bar, and there is an apparent heterorhythmia between the dance and the musical accompaniment; e) the rhythmical forms are mainly odd, from the quintuple through the most popular septuple to the forms with more parts; f) it is danced with the accompaniment of a song or the beats (tarabuka, tapam), or the pair of
zurne combined with beats (they are more and more substituted by clarinets), or the bag-pipes and pipes and kaval, which are mostly combined with other instruments in the form of čalgi band.
Except ths differences, which appear between the dances in various zones, there are certain similarities.
The appearance of so called walked kolos with only accompaniment of the song could be interpreted by the existence of an older stratum of dances, which had in the times past a more prominent role than today. Some elements were carried to the various regions by the migrations of the population, specially from the Dinara's zone to the other, but we must emphasize the strong natural expansion of the sexpartite dance of the Dinarians to all other zones. Influenced by the song or the music the sexpartite dance form was considerably accelerated and the dance adopted new stylistic characteristics. The above-mentioned phenomenon of heterorhythmia is, maybe, the result of the poor adaptation of the sexpartite dance form to the bipartite rhythm of the musical accompaniment in the Adriatic, or to the odd one in the Vardar's dance zone.
In the boundary regions between the zones there are various compromised solutions and same elements penetrated deeper into the territory of the othur zone. As instances are mentioned typical Alpine rotations in the neighbourhood of Dubrovnik and some other characteristics.
The influences of the neighbour peoples end the dances of national minorities even more complicate the picture of the dance and we must add to the basic division into zones some varieties different to the enumerated characteristics.
An important variety is Sopian with the vigorous ejecting of the legs and loud outcries, then the Siptarkin with dancing, where the activity of hands is more important than the activity of legs, then the Hungarian variety with »verbunka« as the stylistic base, which influences on the Moravians, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Romanians and on the Italians with their furlanas and vilotas. Particularly is interesting the Vlahic variety, for some Vlahic stylistic characteristics from the eastern Serbia sporadically occure and in other regions of Yugoslavia. The strong beating the floor with the legs appears in Lika, in Krk, in Istria and in some regions of Bosnia. The influence of the gipsy's »čoček« was considerable, specially in the eastern regions of Serbia.
The national characteristics of the described dances, the characteristics of their expression and style, are not uniform and do not coincide with appertaining to this or that nation as a whole. The difference between the zones often is greater than between neighbouring nations. For instance, in Dinara's zone three nations dance almost identically in the frame of the above-mentioned archaic sexpartite rhythm. The Istrian »balon« is more similar to any Austrian or German »Ländler« or to the Slovenian dance than to the kolos from Slavonia and Lika. In any case, when we speak of the geographic spreading of dances, it is better to use zones than the regions inhabited by the separate nations. This is natural, while the most of the dances, specially the old ones, which characterize particular zones, appeared in the mentioned areas earlier than the nations were definitely formed.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
35057
URI
Datum izdavanja:
12.5.1965.
Posjeta: 4.032 *