KOPRIVSHITSA, BULGARIA: Bulgarian women sing as they dance the 'horo', a chain-style folk dance, at the Ninth National Festival of Bulgarian Folk Art. (Valentina Petrova/AFP/Getty Images)
ATHENS, GREECE: A Greek folk-dance group performs the horo in front of the Olympic Velodrome at the Olympic Complex in Athens during the Games of 2005. (Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images)
The horo is a folk dance in which the participants form a circle or a straight line while holding hands. They perform special step patterns—hops, leaps, crossing of the feet, going forward, going backward—which are repeated according to the musical accompaniment.
Not only the feet take part in the horo, the whole body does—the hands, the torso and even facial expressions follow the dance rhythms and convey its moods. Sometimes it is quick and buoyant; sometimes slow and sorrowful.
The horo is unique in its great diversity of beats per measure, varying from 2/4, through the more complicated 5/8, 7/8, 9/16, 11/16, and even reaching 12/16, 13/16, 15/16. Thus, performing the horo is not easy and requires some skills which are often developed in childhood. In Bulgaria, there are clubs for horo training, and professional and amateur ensembles perform this folk dance.
There are many kinds of horo. Pravo horo (straight horo) is considered relatively easy to perform but can lead to a hypnotic state after half an hour of dancing.
SKOPJE, MACEDONIA: The Macedonian folk music ensemble 'Tanec' performs the horo during a New Year's concert at the Macedonian Opera and Ballet House. (Robert Atanasovski/AFP/Getty Images)
Elenino horo is named for the beautiful folkloric maiden, Elena.
Dunavsko horo (Danube horo) is one of the most beloved dances in Bulgaria, performed in city squares at every wedding and national holiday.
The Greek sirtaki, although not an ancient dance, has its roots in traditional Greek music, particularly in the “dragging style” dance of the Cretan people. It consists of slow and fast sections which follow one another.
The Bulgarian horo also dates far back in history. Some have dated it to the Thracian tribes of 3000 B.C. Others believe that the uneven beats were peculiar to the semi-nomadic Proto-Bulgarians.
Purpose Behind the Dance
But what is even more interesting is why the dancers join hands.
According to the Bulgarian astrologist Nikolai Radev, the aim of the horo is to duplicate the cosmic law—the circle resembles our solar system. A bagpipe player, who usually stays in the center of the circle, is like the sun. And, like the planets rotating around it, the horo dancers move counterclockwise.
In the past, when people formed the circle and danced in unison, they tried to achieve a higher vibration and to tune their bodies and minds to nature, thus becoming one with their Lord-Creator. While following the rhythm, they meditated and harmonized to balance their energy as individuals and as a group at the same time.
Radev believes that the horo is the Bulgarian version of qigong practice and the nation’s traditional yoga. In his book “The Ancient Code 681” he expresses hope that its ability to heal, energize, and unite people will be revived again—and that maybe miracles will happen.
