The dance repertoire of the shepherding communities along the Carpathians is thought to be an older layer that interconnects the men’s dances of northern Moldavia through eastern Transylvania to the men’s dances of Mărginimea Sibiului in southern Transylvania.

Context

In general ceata ciobănească or “Shepherds’ Corps Dances” are separated from the common cycle of dances at the village hora.^[2] The dances include Bătrâneasca, Plopoșul, A mutului, Gătejul, Brânza, Siminicul and Pambrâul.^[2][3]

These dances were rarely danced by the 1950s and 1960s, when Giurchescu, Bucșan and Balaci did their research, as the role of shepherding had declined in these regions. From the start of the 20th century occupations changed as people went to work as forestry workers or in wood mills in the Mureș valley and in the villages shepherding was gradually replaced by agriculture. However, the shepherds’ repertoire was still danced at the traditional calendrical festivals: the ‘milk measuring’ (măsuratul oilor) which takes place in the spring; the sheep festivals at the beginning in October (coborâtul oilor de la munte), and the fair at Pentecost.^[4]

A mutului and Căluș

Giuchescu proposed that dances A mutului or muța (the mute’s dance) and Gătejul (small piece of wood) could have been components of a Căluș suite.^[2] This is confirmed by Bartók who recorded A mutului (observed in April 1913) as part of the dance cycle in Idicel village in eastern Transylvanian and the transcription is titled “A mutului (călușeri)” and he also documented Jocul fecioresc mutului in Râpa de Sus village.^[8] The music notation for A mutului was also published by Aurelian Borșianu.^[9]

Dance form

Shepherd’s dances are (mostly) men’s dances and are either in “ceată”^[1] formation (dancers are unconnected to each other, and dance in unison, in a circle), or as a chain dance in “shoulder hold” (Brâul, Sârba). These dances are in the same formation as in ceată dance in customs and rituals elsewhere in Romania, hence the term ceată ciobănească is used for the shepherds dances, however the shepherds do not actually form a society that might be termed ceată.

Giurchescu^[4] gives the typical features of the shepherds’ ceată dances in east Transylvania as:

• Primarily a men’s dance, however some are recorded as mixed dances.
• The ceată formation in a circle.
• The dancers arms are held up high, especially in the “walking” figures, and with hands on hips during the figures with jumps and spur clicks.^[5]
• Concordant to the melody.
• Multiple beats from steps and stamps that have a force downwards and only a slight elevation from the ground giving the specific tropotit (trampling) character.
• Typical motifs include elements of beating stamps, jumping and clicks with spurs, often in syncopated binary rhythm.
• The dance is constructed from a walking or resting step, followed by figures, which are varied using characteristic elements, in a fixed or variable succession.

These dances have a common theme of walking (plimbări) based on a triple-step, often with a stamp or heel scuff added. This is followed by a second part that includes stamps in combination with spur-clicks, finger-snapping, and shouts which are frequently in syncopated rhythms and concordant with the music.^[2]

The notations for Eastern Transylvanian Carpathians versions are typically including a stamp/scuff, the two versions notated by Bucșan from Southern  Transylvanian Carpathians are the plain triple-step:

In Giurchescu’s notations from the Upper Mureș region the walking (plimbări) has an ending motif:

The second figure in the dances from Eastern Transylvanian Carpathians generally comprises  motifs of jumps with heel or spur clicks (either single jump or double jump) completed with a triple step:

Examples of figure 2 from Eastern Transylvanian Carpathians:

The separation between the shoulder hold and ceată formation dances in terms of motifs and themes is not clear-cut. Giurchescu discusses the exchange between Brâul and Ceată dances in the Dumbrava repertoire.^[4] Pambrâul is considered to be a Ceata ciobănească, however it can be danced in chain form or Ceata form. The archive film of the dance Pambrâul from Sohodol, Brașov county, is in a chain using belt hold. This dance is the same structure as Bucșan notated from Rășinari, Sibiu county,

Regions researched

Giurchescu researched in the pastoral zone of the upper part of the Mureș valley up to the Căliman Mountains where these dances were once prevalent, in the villages of Dumbrava, Râpa, Șieuț, Gledin, Monor, Vătava, Săcalul de Pădure, Filea, Rușii-Munți, and Deleni.^[4]

Bucșan researched in the south of Transylvania where dancing in ceată formation is very common^[6] in the villages of Sibiel, Sadu, Gura Raului, Poplaca and Rășinari in the Mărginimea Sibiului region, and also the region of Perșani (Țara Oltului) and the southern slopes of the Carpathians in Muscel region.^[7]

The northern Moldavian and Maramureș men’s dances have similarities to these Transylvanian shepherds’ ceată suggesting some unity of dance tradition along the Carpathians.^[2] Movements of population between Transylvania and Moldavia (pre-18th century) gave rise to “Transylvanian villages” in the shepherding communities of Neagra-Șarului, Dorna, Coșna, Șarul Dornei, Poiana Negri, and Poiana Stampei.^[4]

Giurchescu suggests some traces of shepherds’ ceată dances are in the repertoire in the remote Vrancea regions of the southern part of western Moldavia^[2], however this might only be the “leaping over sticks” dances such as Ciobănașul and Nătânga peste bâtă.

Eastern Transylvanian Carpathians

This repertoire in Dumbrava village upper Mureș region included five dances that can be considered representative of the Ceată ciobănească (shepherds’ group dance); Plopișul (poplar tree forest), Gătejul (small piece of wood), A Mutului (the mute’s [dance]), Bondreasca, and Bătrâneasca (the old people’s [dance]).^[4] Giurchescu researched the shepherds’ repertoire in a few other villages where she recorded the local repertoires; Bătrâneasca in Deleni, Bondreasca in Săcalul de pădure.^[4]

Southern Transylvanian Carpathians

Siminicul from Mărginimea Sibiului

Two variants of Siminicul were documented, firstly in Rășinari where the formation was a mixed group of six people in a circle, and secondly in Poplaca as a men’s dance in shoulder hold in a semicircle. The version from Poplaca would not be included in Ceată ciobănească apart from the commonality in the steps with other variants of Ceată ciobănească. The different formation shows the flexibility in formation and the sharing of choreographic ideas in local dance practice.^[7] The dance consists of two main parts: a walking figure with simple steps, and stamping figures.^[7] In the typical variant the stamping figure is performed by shouting counts for the number of repeats ascending to ten, after which the shouts count in descending order. On the last command the dancers stop abruptly at the end.^[10]

Pambrâul

Pambrâul can be performed in pairs of men in shoulder hold, or individually in a circle. The archive film of the dance Pambrâul from Sohodol, Brașov county is a chain using belt hold. It has the same walking figure as Siminicul followed by syncopated steps and jumps. When documented in the 1960s Pambrâul was rarely performed in the Rășinari Călușeri programme.^[10]  The name Pambrâul is an obsolete term for merino wool, maybe a reference to nobles’ clothes.^[2]

Brânza from Întorsura Buzăului

Balaci and Bucșan investigated the dance repertoire in Sita Buzăului in 1956 and in 1963 the villages to the north of Sita Buzăului (Voinești, Valea Mare, Mârtănuș and Brețcu).^[11] In Ciumemic village Bucșan collected 30 dances, but only one dance, Brânza, can be classed as Ceată ciobănească.

The shepherds of Ciumernic used to dance Brânza in the evening around the fire, but at the time Bucșan researched it was only danced by the elders at parties. The dance has various figures performed on command.^[6] The dance consists of two parts; the walking figure and figures performed in place that includes spur clicks (pinteni). This is fundamentally the same form as the Ceată ciobănească dances from Dumbrava.