On this page I have included mostly the dances in Marcu’s category of “swaying” dances (Leuca, Pe picior and Lența (variant 3)) which he linked by observation of a characteristic body swaying movement when changing body weight from one foot to the other.[1]
Grupa D. Jocuri cu legănări de corp şi schimbarea greutăţii corpului de pe un picior pe altul.
In addition to Marcu’s movement observations, these and other couple dances from the Banat plain also have a step pattern structure of “1101” in Leibman notation[2] – “slow-slow-quick-quick-slow”. This this step pattern is the same as the Banat Hora and the mountain De doi through the common use of “1101” step pattern, however these dances appear to be specifically Banat plain dances.
My grouping of Marcu’s “swaying dances” and “1101” step pattern couple dances includes: Legănata, Lența, Leuca, Pe picior, Cărăbășeasca, Iedera, and Pogacea.
There are two musical notations of Leuca by Bartók,[3] Cârnaleuca and Babaleuca. Cârnaleuca from Jadani (Timiș) is a similar melody to Leuca (Satchinez). Leuca is often the name for a men’s chain dance such as Druga Leuca[1] so we cannot know if Babaleuca (Seleuș) is a column dance.
Cărăbășeasca is named after the local name for a bagpipe and is played on a violin in a way that imitates the sound made by this bagpipe. Recordings include Cărăbășeasca Efta Botoca (EPD 1288/2), Joc ca din cimpoi Nelu Stan – Vioară (ST-EPE 01336/3). Cărăbă Ensemble folklorique Banatul (ST-EPE 01263/1).
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dance title | “1101” form | other figures |
---|---|---|
Pe picior (Satchinez)[1] | Bilateral in column formation | |
Pe-un picior (Șeitin, Arad)[4] | Bilateral in column formation | Bilateral promenading column formation. Turning as a couple. |
P-on picior (Cuvin, Arad)[5] | Bilateral in column formation | |
Legănata de la Cornești[1] | Bilateral in column formation | Walking turn with partner |
Lența leganata (Comoșul Mare)[1] | Bilateral in column formation | |
Leuca (Satchinez)[1] | Bilateral in column formation | 3+3+7 (similar pattern to the Măzărica, Toldăul, Poșovoaica type) |
Cărăbășeasca (Izvin)[1] | Bilateral in column formation with sways | Turning as a couple then four leap-point steps in place. |
Iedera (Banloc)[1] | Bilateral in column formation with sways |
Pe picior, Pre picior or Pe picioare
The earliest documentation I can find is from an event in 1894 in Arad where Pre picior follows Hora and Ardeleana[6]. Bartók[1] noted this dance for couples in 1912– 1913, not in a group formation, using the hold with man’s hands on woman’s hips, women’s hands on partner’s shoulders whereas Marcu in the 1960s describes Pe picior (Satchinez) as couples in column formation.[1] This discrepancy in formation, where Bartók documents a formation with scattered couples and Marcu notates a formation with couples in a column is the same as for the dances Pre loc and Întoarsa.
The step patterns described by Marcu (Pe picior (Satchinez)[1] and Nistor (Pe-un picior (Șeitin, Arad)[4] and P-on picior (Cuvin, Arad)[5] have a “weight change” step pattern (1101 in Leibman notation). The form of the dance in Șeitin (Arad) described by Nistor is very similar to the De doi of the Banat hills and mountain regions.
Rhythm
South of the Mureș valley region the notations are in binary 2/4 meter; in the Banat plain[1], in the Făget region[7] and Valea Carașului region.[8] There are recordings on the state record label (Electrecord) by local musicians Efta Botoca (ST-EPE 03783) and Ion Peptenar (ST-EPE 03653).
Bartók[1] notated the melodies in asymmetric rhythm in the locations of Mănăștur (Arad) (7/8 as 3+2+2) and Pârnești (Arad) in various different asymmetric combinations (2+2+3+3 or 4+3+3 or 2+2+3+2 or 4+3+2). This use of asymmetric rhythm is consistent with the 7/8 rhythm music notations[4] [5] [9] and recordings (Arad orchestra, Rapsozii Zarandului (ST-EPE 03781)) in the Mureș valley region of Arad. Rather confusingly Institutul de Folclor[10] has the version from Covăsinț (1930) notated in 2/4.
Locations
Bartók (Bartók, 1967:36) recorded melodies with a tempo range of 136–160 beats per minute in seven locations in Banat, in the northern Timiș and Arad region regions. The location distribution of the published and recorded examples is along the Mureș valley, in the Făget region and some scattered villages in the northern part of Timiș county.
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Notation / recording | Locations – binary rhythm | Locations – asymmetric rhythm |
---|---|---|
Bela Bartók[3] | Ghilad, Cernadul Mare, Săvârșin, Mănăștur, Tolvadia (Livezile) | Mănăștur, Pârnești |
Tiberiu Brediceanu[11] | Bata, Belotinț, Birchiș, Chelmac, Jupani, Lipova | |
Ionel Marcu[1] | Satchinez | |
Sava Ilici[7] | Făget | |
Achim Penda[8] | Românești, Dubești, Pădurani, Ciclova, Naidăș | Sâmbăteni |
Ioan Florea[9] | Semlac | Sâmbăteni, Pârnești, Covăsinț, Felnac, Roşia Nouă, Cuvin |
Viorel Nistor[4] | Șeitin, Cuvin | |
Ion Peptenar (ST-EPE 03653) | Bazosul Vechi | |
Rapsozii Zarandului (ST-EPE 03781) | Semlac, Mândruloc | |
Efta Botica (ST-EPE 03783) | Unip |