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Volume XX, Number 4 • December 1999

Perspective: Balkan dancing for all

We had elected to allow the over-aged column “Perspective” to expire of natural causes, a wise decision that should not be violated, but the Balkan Question has been allowed to become too compelling for this former forum to leave unmolested. Besides, a writer of that old column started the trouble.

In a review of Balkan Gypsy Night in the June issue he mentioned crossing the border from the folk dance to the geographic Balkans between Romania and Bulgaria, to which our editor added a qualifying footnote that revealed that respected references disagreed on whether Romania is a Balkan state. In the August issue she revisited the matter by quoting a long and uncertain paragraph from the online Encyclopedia Britannica, which waffled and slushed the northern border from the middle of Bulgaria through Croatia to somewhere in Romania, and the southern one tacitly into Turkey, although it also said that Turkey is not a Balkan state.

Well, this is grand, for if the experts can waltz through such a vastly variable roster of True Balkan States, then we should be able include any we wish to round out a Balkan dance evening.

We have been granted carte blanche, so let’s have at it.

If Croatia and Slovenia can be included, even though they do not, for the most part, use a funny alphabet, it is a light linguistic leap to Romania, which, we recall, our editor discovered is officially considered a Balkan state by some authorities, even though it is in a rather fat part of the Peninsula, to say the least. If we accept every other country, nation, and duchy in that fat part, we are well on our way to such romantic Balkan lands as Bonn, Belgium, and Brittany. Could not An dro be called a kolo?

If this quantum leap across Europe is disquieting, we can approach the Balkan question more incrementally. Hungary shares a long border with Romania, as well as some dance forms and, ethnically, Transylvania, as well as about the same alphabet, so it seems rude not to let the Hungarians come along too. But the Hungarians share a language form with the Finns and Lapps. If we then feel obliged to accept these reaches, we are even further north, and now all of continental Europe has been absorbed into our Camelot. The traditional departure in the middle of Scandinavian Week at Buffalo Gap to a night of Balkan dancing will no longer be a departure at all. Any guilt at the need for this fix will be neutralized, as Norway and Sweden will have become embraced along with the rest of the continent as just two more Balkan nations. Not even the EU can claim such pan-nationalism.

Holding to the funny alphabet requirement seems to be the more reasoned and disciplined course. However, some of the True Balkan States use exactly the same funny alphabet as Russia, and Russia was rather chummy, to say the least, with one of those states for a century. If we have a problem ignoring these facts, we are soon off and running, again. All the way to the Steppes, wherever they are. And didn’t most of the people we know come from the Steppes, one way or another, anyway?

Turkish dance must be included. Besides help from the Encyclopedia Britannica, we have confidence from the fact that Turkey also has a funny alphabet and occupied some of the Balkans for half a millennium. If we can accept Russia’s mere century of presence as worthy, we must accept Turkey as Balkan, and the whole membership of the Ottoman Empire at its best, while we are at it.

Balkanization describes the philosophy of dicing land into little bits, and categorizing everything into little bits is the American way. Also, a capella singing in the Appalachians is remarkably similar to a capella singing in Bulgaria. Thus, clogging can safely be considered a legitimate Balkan dance form. Appalachia shares some striking linguistic and political roots with New England, so we should not feel at all uneasy about including contra dancing in a night of spirited Balkan dancing, too. And through generous borders and NAFTA we should extend the courtesy from La Bastringue to Jarabe Tapatio, and on through Carnavalito to the Balkan Argentine Tango.

Through their fault of not being part of Continental Europe, the British Isles would seem not to be able to qualify their dances as Balkan. This is sad, as it would be so limiting not to be able to do a strathspey, rant, reel, or step dance, or to invite the Boston Scottish Fiddle Club as guest musicians, at a Balkan dance. Worse yet, we could not have Balkan ceilidhs. However, we can probably grandfather the Isles in from the United States through their similar major language and claim to many of our music and dance roots.

There are still some omissions. For instance, it remains to figure a way to include Africa-- all the way to Johannesburg, if we are to comfortably enjoy Pata Pata at Balkan Night.

But we can be confident that it is only a matter of time before we become mature enough to proudly advertise “Balkan dancing from around the world,” at which the constant impediment of style differentiation need no longer be in the way of a good time.

Articles are copyrighted by the Folk Arts Center, and may not be reproduced without permission of FAC.