This is the website of Liz Mellish and Nick Green, independent academics and researchers, whose work is centred on dance, music, customs and ethnography of Romania, Bulgaria and surrounding areas in southeastern Europe.
Please visit our other website on ethnography at eliznik.org.uk.
The name “paydushka” (пайдушка) is both a generic term which is applied to various different dance types in the “short-long” rhythm, and a name given to a popular dance in this rhythm, which is widespread in Bulgarian and adjacent countries.. These dances and their variations are built from a limited number of patterns of very few motifs. Culturally concordance with the music is not required which leads to the dance phrase length in musical measures being dependent on the sequence of patterns.
Chandler tells us of an oral story that during the 17th century there was a Morris dance team from the village of Ilmington which performed at the famous Dover’s Games,
“To the accompaniment of the old tabor and pipe they danced for a week to the delight of all, their favourite pieces being ‘Shepherd’s Hey, and Heigh-ho to the Cotswolds.”
Ilmington is a village in the South Midlands of England, on the border between the counties of Warwickshire and Gloucestershire. The local town is Shipston-on-Stour and further north is the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. Many villages in the South Midlands – Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, and Buckinghamshire – had morris teams …read more
In 2024 the current Ilmington Morris celebrates 50 years since its revival. In 1974 Paul Bryan, Stan Jones and Chris Green (my father) met to discuss restarting Morris dancing in Ilmington. However, the history of Morris dancing in Ilmington can be traced back some two centuries before this revival. Although …read more
The Danube Gorge in Romania connects the Banat plain region to the Oltenian region through the Banat mountains at the southern end of the Carpathians. The villages at the western end of the Gorge are predominantly Serbian where those at the eastern end are predominantly Romanian. The dance practices of …read more
Bob Leibman (a mathematician by profession) formulated a system based on his research of southern and western Balkan dances. Using Bob Leibman’s system to notate step “weight changes” we end up with a simple concept that generally remains invariant between different variants within a family of dances – for example Serbian Kolo 0111, Romanian Hora 1101, the ubiquitous Balkan dance 011 etc.
This paper explores the transmission of local dance knowledge in contemporary Romania by focussing on ‘motivation’ and ‘continuity’ as key parameters. We examine the methods currently used by dancers to acquire their local dance knowledge; the dance experience of the teachers and mentors who transmit this knowledge; and the situations …read more
The annual celebration of designated days in villages is a widespread custom in southeastern Europe and beyond. In Christian locations these are often linked to the day of the patron saint of the village church. In Romanian Banat these are usually called ruga, plural ruge (literally prayer). Alternately the day …read more
The căluș ritual of southern Romania (also found in certain villages in northern Bulgaria) takes place every year at the time of Rusalii (Pentecost, 50 days after Orthodox Easter). The căluș has drawn the attention of many researchers, from a range of backgrounds and disciplines including folklorists, religious historians (spiritual …read more
Head of dance research at the Institute of Folklore (Bucharest). Vera Proca-Ciortea (1915-2002) from Sibiu studied at the National Academy of Physical Education in Bucharest (1932-1936), then further in Berlin (1937-1938) and again in Germany (1962-1981). She was a lecturer at the Institute of Physical Education, a university professor at …read more
Dance researcher at the Institute of Folklore (Bucharest). Emanuela Bălăci (born 1930) studied at School of Choreography in Sibiu, and was a teacher at the School of Art in Sibiu (1952-1953), and then a folklorist-choreographer at Institute of Folklore (Bucharest) from 1953-1972, leaving to live in Germany from 1973. Her …read more
Dance researcher at the Institute of Folklore (Bucharest). Constantin Costea (1931–2002) from Bucharest was a dancer, choreographer and researcher. Between 1948 and 1959 he was a dancer, soloist and assistant ballet master at the C.F.R.Giulești Ensemble and a ballet master (folklorist choreographer) at the Institute of Folklore Bucharest from 1952. …read more
Dance researcher at the Institute of Folklore (Bucharest). Andrei Bucșan (1921–1995) from Bucharest graduated from university in literature and philosophy. He initially worked in industry until 1951 when he became a researcher at the Institute of History in Bucharest (1951-1954), then at the Institute of Ethnography and Folklore (IEF) (1954-1974). …read more
The “Balkan dance” scene emerged as a sub-scene of the recreational “international folk dance” scene in the post second world war period in the US, UK, Netherlands and other western European countries, as well as in Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. However the history of interest in dances …read more
Béla Bartók collected numerous traditional melodies in villages throughout the old “Hungary” in his pursuit of the old layer of Hungarian song. In the years before WW1 he made visits to many Romanian villages in Transylvania and Banat with the purpose of collecting material as he found that in the …read more
The Hungarian Institute for Musicology in Budapest has a large collection of research films dating from the 1950s to the 1990s. Unlike most “state folklore research institutes” this institute can be visited in Budapest, the collection index is searchable online, and a sizable collection of films are digitised and some …read more
GT Niculescu-Varone – part 1: collector of dance words GT Niculescu-Varone – part 3: locations It is clear that Niculescu-Varone was primarily interested in strigături (rhythmic shouts) that accompany dancing, although he sometimes adds a paragraph describing the context and action at the dance event. His commentary on the dances …read more
GT Niculescu-Varone – part 1: collector of dance words GT Niculescu-Varone – part 2: table of dances names This map shows all locations where his publications include a reference to a dance name. We can guess the locations that he visited and made detailed research, versus locations that he only …read more
GT Niculescu-Varone – part 2: table of dances names GT Niculescu-Varone – part 3: locations (One of the) first folk dance collectors in Romania was G.T. Niculescu-Varone (1884-1984). Varone, a Romanian folklorist, was born in Bucharest in 1884. He graduated in law from Bucharest University in 1908, and between 1905 …read more
The Kruggel family can be traced in Lutheran parish records back tot he mid 18th century in the village of Gross Mausdorf, in the then Danzig region of Prussia. Complete family tree My first luck was that my grandfather drew out a family tree a long time ago which has …read more
Over the past century more than 200 collections of national and traditional dances have been published in Romania. The table below includes all that I know about, however, there are more books, particularly those with small print runs and those that have been produced more recently. A few are authored …read more
Regiunea Banatului poate fi împărţită în linii mari în trei zone etnografice – câmpia Banatului, dealuri şi munţi. In toate cele trei zone, Hora este cel mai inclusiv dans din comunitate. Hora este folosită pentru a deschide evenimente şi este un element esenţial în ciclul vieţii si la obiceiuri si …read more
This book is an edited collection of papers presented at the sixth biennial symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe that was held in the town of Sinj, Croatia in April 2018. The 24 papers, including two panels, are grouped under the headings of …read more
Anca Giurchescu (1930-2015), etnochoreologist and Romanian dance researcher, published numerous works in many languages during her career covering over six decades. This page lists the majority of her works in the table below. Anca published two books on her ethnographic research: 1. Folclor Coregraphic din Tara Vrancei, 1974, (co-author Constantin …read more
This is a list of the academic articles published following the symposia of the ICTM Study Group on ethnochoreology. Those who know us will know that we keep everything databased and indexed! We are not aware this reference information is available elsewhere, so I have posted our data files here. …read more
This is a list of the academic articles published following the symposia of the ICTM Study Group on Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe. Those who know us will know that we keep everything databased and indexed! We are not aware this reference information is available elsewhere, so I have …read more
This blog note explains the way I (as a partially competent musician) have rationalised the concept of ‘meter’ from the perspective of dancing (at which I am more competent). The problem to somehow mediate between a dance concept and the established de facto western classical musical understanding of ‘meter’. From …read more
We have to think about why we are using notation and does it contribute to analysis. The wonder of the various mathematical notations is that they enable abstract logical deduction. Something that is not possible with say Roman numerals, written language or graphical dance notations. In the later there are …read more
At academic meetings the themes of ‘improvisation’ and the ‘individual’ are common, but what does this actually mean in the context of a chain dance? Here I summarise the three logical constructions that could be termed ‘improvisation’. First construction … non-Western music, in which one cannot really distinguish between improvisation …read more
Western classical works in music and dance are generally quite tightly fixed and rigid compositions, which can be notated, and are played or danced near identically every time. However, this is not typical of social dancing and many forms of music. … establish the rules according to which a dance …read more
Nick, as a scientist by training, profession and upbringing, has always taken an interest in dance structural analysis methodologies, where structure is the organisation and arrangement of the parts in a system of dancing. In participative dance genres the focus often is on the repetitive patterning and the relationships between …read more
This paper will examine the politics of representation and identity as portrayed through dance by the co-located ethnicities in the Banat region of Romania using three main parameters, the ‘representation’ that the dancing is portraying, the context in which the dancing takes place and the adaption of the dancing to …read more
During crazy week (the week in which lent commences) carnivalesque events, in various manifestations, take place in many villages in Banat. The commonalities between these events are that they focus around local music, dance and customs and only local people are involved. Although each event may be nominally organised by …read more
The celebration of the day of patron saint of the local church is a custom that is widespread among Christians in various parts of the world. In the plain and mountain areas of Romanian Banat this day is referred to as ruga (plural ruge), literally meaning to pray. These customary …read more
At Easter in 2013 we took part in a ‘fieldwork experience’ with the ‘ICTM Ethnochoreology sub study group for field research’ in the village of Svinița on the Danube Gorge in southern Banat. This trip was organised by our Serbian colleague, Selena Rakočević, from the Institute of Musicology in Belgrade, …read more
Carnivalesque events known as fășanc, fărșang or fășang, nunta cornilor take place in Banat during the week preceding the start of the pre-Easter fasting, postul mare, (the precise week depending on catholic or orthodox calendars). These events mark the transition between the end of the winter and the beginning (re-birth) …read more
The annual celebration of the patron saint’s day for the local church is widespread. Within southeast Europe these celebrations mostly follow similar formats. These celebrations are known as ruga (plural ruge) in Banat, or in the Banat mountains also as nedeia (spelt in various ways). Ruge in Banat usually take …read more
This analysis is based on a comparison of my particular experience of two dance cultures-western classical dance training and participation in Romanian traditional dance. I discuss aspects of movement of the centre-of-mass based on a consideration of vertical and lateral movement in the context of very fast stepped dances that …read more
1817 Major Simpson marries Mary Davy Major Simpson married Mary Davy in Otley 18-Feb-1817. I am related to the Davy family descended from Francis Davy. 1823 Major Simpson marries Diana Weggen Marriage record for 27-April-1823 in Shoreditch, London. They live in Otley and had four children with Diana, all born …read more
Possibly the second illegitimate son of a teenage mother, who a few years later marries just before a daughter is born. My grandfather documented the family information that he was a “Woolcomber”, location Normanton and his name is on the wedding certificate for his son Christopher Davy and Rosetta Beech. …read more
If anyone researching their family thinks there could be a link please e-mail us info (at) eliznik.org.uk Beech family from Little Wenlock, Shropshire Davy family from Otley, Yorkshire Amelia Briggs, née Davy Emily Maston, née Davy Francis Davy Ruth Wraith, née Davy William Davy Ford family from Wellington, Shropshire Green family from Osmotherley, North Yorkshire Thomas …read more
This chapter explores Romanian dancers’ participation in organized dance competitions, both within Romania and internationally, and investigates the informal competition that exists between the members of the Banat Romanian dance community. It includes three themes. The first traces a historical trajectory on the changing importance of performances of local, regional, …read more
The “Research” section of our personal website covers our published work in academic dance research (ethnography, anthropology and ethnochoreology) and our involvement in local dance practice. Please see our website at eliznik.org.uk for dance, costume, music and ethnography. You can find on us Academic.edu – Liz Mellish and Nick Green – …read more
This book is a collection of case studies written by authors who have a long term research interest in folk dance festivals as part of their overall research as dance ethnologists, ethnochoreologists or anthropologists. The chapters that follow draw on the authors’ research on the role of folk dance festivals …read more
This chapter discusses the relationship between local dance groups at festivals and sustaining local dancing in the community. Festivals in south east Europe traditionally include food, drink, music and dancing, and in Timișoara this format is used for many events from the village Saint’s day to the large international folk …read more
This chapter explores the question of what is considered as an (ideal) international folk dance festival by drawing from longitudinal ethnography among festival organisers in Romania, participants in international folk dance in festivals within Romania and Romanian participants in festivals elsewhere, as well as from archival and published sources. It …read more
The ‘Cultural Development of Folk Dance Festivals and the Sustainability of Tradition’ is a collection of case studies written by authors who have undertaken long term research on folk dance festivals, in many different locations, as part of their overall research as dance ethnologists, ethnochoreologists or anthropologists. All the authors …read more
În luna noiembrie a anului 2016 am avut plăcerea să fiu invitat de colegul meu de breaslă din Timişoara, coregraful Marius Ursu, pentru a preda jocuri populare sud-moldoveneşti în cadrul unui seminar la care au participat studenţi din mai multe centre universitare, membri ai unor ansambluri folclorice studenţeşti. Alături de …read more
This paper considers perspectives from dancers within a particular genre of recreational dance known as “Balkan folk dance” in the UK. Through asking participants about their understanding of dancing I consider, firstly their preference to Bulgarian dances over Romanian dances, secondly their lack of relationship to Bulgarian dance groups in …read more