Ardeleana dance form

The couple dances of west Romania – Bihor, Arad, Banat and the Apuseni mountains – are generally grouped under the title of Ardeleana couple dances. The dances among Romanians living within adjacent parts of modern Hungary in the villages of Micherechi (Méhkerék) and Aletea (Elek) also fall within the Bihor and Arad ethnographic zones.

Ardeleana couple dance

Ardeleana are performed by couples facing their partners, arranged in a column or arc, in a compact formation. Most basic figures involve the dancer moving to side to side, either in the same or opposite direction as their partner, and additional motifs from men’s dances can have been added. More some places the column structure has been replaced by scattered couples or by dancing in a small circle.

The name Ardeleana suggests a Transylvanian origin and are in many respects similar to the simpler forms of the Transylvanian couple dances, but without the turning figure, which could imply an origin pre-dating the Învârtita couple dance.

Ardeleana couple dance types

There are basic variants of the Ardeleana, similar in definition to the variants of Învârtita, each of which is represented by different dances in Bihor, Arad and Banat;

• syncopated Ardeleana
  • Pe Picior (Bihor, Arad) is related to the men’s Bărbătesc in Maramureș and Învârtita and Roata in Oaș in terms of the step patterns, particularly the men’s stamping motifs.
  • Sorocul (couple dance type) is only danced in the Banat plain region and appears to be a slow syncopated Ardeleana to slightly asymmetric music related to the southern Transylvanian Învârtita.
• slow Ardeleana
  • Polca, Poarga, Luncanul (Bihor), Țarina (Țara Moților)
  • Ardeleana, Lența, Duba, (Banat)
• fast Ardeleana
  • Mânântel (Bihor, Arad), Pre loc (Banat plain)
  • De Doi (Banat mountains) and is related to the local Brâul bătrân in terms of the step pattern

Choreographic form, motifs, & music