Hora
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- For the Greco-Roman goddesses of the hours, see Horae.
Hora in Romania and Moldova
Hora is a Romanian (hora-singular; hore-plural), traditional circle dance which gathers all people present in a big closed circle. The dancers hold each other by hands and the circle turns on itself usually clockwise as each participant follows a sequence of taking three steps forward and one step back.The dance is usually accompanied by musical instruments such as the cymbalum, the accordion, the violin, the viola, the double bass, the saxophone, the trumpet or even the panflute.Hora is popular during wedding celebrations, popular festivals, and it's an essential part of the social entertainment in rural areas. One of the most famous horas is the Hora Unirii. The hora was also danced by the Vlachs (Romanians) of Bulgaria, hence it has been introduced into the folklore of Bulgaria under the name of horo (singular), hora (plural).
Variants:
Oro in Montenegro
A similar dance is popular in Montenegro, under the name "Oro" where the dancers dance in circles while the gusle is being played and end with the dancers standing on top of the other dancer's shoulders and a toast from the head of the household.
Hora in Israel
During their living in the Romanian Pricipalities, Jews were heavily influenced by the traditional Romanian folklore, in music (see klezmer), and in dances. The Hora is now the unofficial king of Israeli folk dances.
Everybody gets in a circle, holding hands and starts stepping forward toward the right with the left foot, then followed by the right foot to match. Bring the left foot back again followed by the right foot. All this is done while holding hands and circling together in a fast and cheerful motion to the right. In large groups you can create several circles while the smaller circles are inside the bigger circle and so on..
In the early days, Hora was popular mainly in the Kibbutzim and small communities, later on becoming a "must" in weddings, celebrations and group dancing all over Israel.
The Hora dance could be performed to many of the traditional klezmer and Israeli folk songs. Typically, Hora is danced to the music of Hava Nagila, a popular, well-known song in Israel and throughout the world.
See also
- Hora can also refer to the horagai, a Japanese conch shell trumpet.
External links
- [The history of sacred dances: Choros, Hora, Calusul and Morris dance]
- [How to dance the Hora]
- [A history of Jewish Hora] (in Romanian, written by Romanian Jews)
- [Description and history of Romanian Hora] (in French)
- [Hora Music]How do you dance the Hora in Israel
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