Kalotaszegi dance

This short piece is a collection of dance moves from the men's dance competition in Sancriau, Romania.  Watch the feet!  They got moves!

Lad's Dance

Andrew took the time to show me this dance after a hour long teaching session.  He was covered in sweat.  "There is no equality when it comes to dance, nothing is ever the same.  The Lad's dance is an opportunity for a man to show that he has the most power.  Not power in the sense of brute strength, but grace and intelligence."

Rain in Kalotaszegi

 

After 72 hours of madness the last sloppy drunken notes left the last standing violin as I was waking up at 8a.m. after 2 hours of sleep on Thursday.

Over the next 6 hours exhaustion finally took hold of everyone combined with what I believe was food poisoning from the main cafeteria.

The sky takes a deep blue and the rain began pouring as an old man in river boots mozies under the canopy where I am having coffee.

The shop lady struggles to keep what is breakable dry and delivers a palinca and whisky to the local old farm hands.  It looks like it takes a lot to them drunk.  Big mustaches.  Palinca is the Romanian answer to moonshine.  I had bought a round for the gypsies band in Budapest and I paid off the next day in a terrible hangover. 

The rain is pounding.  I would ask for another coffee but everyone is trying to save either themselves or something from the rain.  Booming thunder and every breath of wind empties gallons of rain collected from the top of the tarp.  The barista is almost giving up and the roads are looking like a swimming pool.  The man has taken off his shirt as the barista grimaces and I realize it just started to hail. 

At this point in the story it is too wet to hold ink on the page and anyways I have to help with the unloading of rain from the tarps. 

I took this shot of two elderly townsmen half drunk and arguing with each other.  This resulted in 20 minutes of back and forth gesturing and incomprehensible Hungarian culminating in them giving me their signatures for some strange reason. 

Rhapsody in Sâncrai, Romania

I left Budapest for Huedin, Romania at about 11pm for an 9 hour trip through lightening next to a sweaty stinky man.  I got off the bus in Huedin at 9am as two old ladies argued while sweeping the sidewalk with homemade brooms.  There were no restaurants or cafes but many bars so I stepped into a bar and drank coffee as the old men of Huedin were getting started with their first brew puffing away at their cigarettes in classy hats.  The bar was adorned with lotto machines, naked lady posters and the barkeep looked like a Floridian grandmother. 

From there I hitch-hiked to Sâncrai where a folk dance was to be held.  Very soon I was picked up by an older couple and what I assume was their younger daughter.  Nobody spoke english but the daughter had a tattoo on her arm reading, “I love you baby.”

I walked into town in a sleep deprived haze and plead my case to the operators of this event.  Music was ringing out of several buildings, the sounds of feet pounding the ground and the swelling of over 20 violins chiming the same melody. 

As I write this it is 4a.m. and I can still hear them out the window chanting tougher in an ancient language to songs that begin slow and bittersweet and build until the floor is packed with dancing, singing, spinning and slapping knees and feet in rhythm to a melody that weaves through changing time signatures and builds for about half an hour.

Flat bridge violas keep rhythm as fried sausages are sold for 2 lui each (half a dollar).  The joy spans the faces of multiple generations who are entranced in a frenzy of exuberance. 

What I would pay to import this atmosphere to the U.S.  This was built over the course of many generations and carefully fostered and protected.  Bluegrass comes close but doesn’t have the amount of regional nuances and skilled dancing as the music of Eastern Europe.

Something that makes you sad and joyful at the same time is worth heading into.  This music pushes towards obsession so it is no surprise that the performers and scholars of this music are so detailed about its technique and origin.

Here is the first of what I hope to be many films that explore this culture.  My only limitation is my time here and I have a decent amount.