Banat Brâul dance form

Banat Brâul

Brâul is a term used for types of men’s chain dances and is applied to several different regional families of dances that have little choreographic similarity. This page is about Brâuri dances in the mountain region of Banat which include two very different types of the Brâul;

• The ‘old-type’ Brâul bătrân is the local generic dance for all occasions, both as a men’s dance and as social dance similar in context to Hora. This is also very similar to the Pădureni region Brâul known as Brâul pădurenesc or Danț. The basic step is a 4 measure sequence [1,0,1,1] in Leibman notation [1]. This step pattern is also the same as Hora indicating a commonality in both step pattern and function. This step pattern also used in the local couple dance De doi but at much greater speed.
• The fixed form Brâul has many variation named after a place (Brâul …ilor) or a dancer (Brâul lui… ). Choreographically the figures of these fixed form Brâuri often adhere to the rhythmic pattern of Brâul bătrân or to the bi-directional dances of the neighbouring Danubian region. Choreographically the figures of these Brâul often adhere to the rhythmic pattern of Brâul bătrân but also to the bi-directional dances of the neighbouring Oltenian region. Musical rhythm is most often 2/4 but can also be asymmetric 7/8 (3+2+2).

Choreographic form, motifs, music