About the dance: This was another French discovery,
we'd heard the CD in Paris and had bought it for the 'Andy's Waltz'
music for Winds on the Tor. Although this piece of music was called
Hora I didn't feel any of the Horas I knew fitted well enough to dance
to it, but it was so good that it deserved a dance. It had a real
'train' rhythm and was not only long but varied enough to keep it
interesting even when just sitting and listening.
The musical structure consisted of 16-beat phrases that repeated, there
was an A-B-A-B pattern early on in the dance but this wasn't maintained
all the way through. Within each phrase there were four 4-beat parts.
Having two alternating, repeating 16-step sequences fitted nicely with
the overall musical structure (by the time the A-B-A-B pattern broke
down the dance was firmly established and this didn't lead to problems)
and using groups of fours steps made the most of the 'help' that the
music could provide
As the beat was quite fast I wanted to start with something 'safe' for
people get into the rhythm of the dance. Although there was no melodic
connection the general speed of the music reminded me of several
Romanian dances and I decided to try an in-and-out section to start.
Three steps and a tap close going forwards and backwards fitted nicely,
the movement was very secure and grounded and yet allowed people to
make their steps bouncy to respond to the music.
For the second part I wanted to move around the circle with a smooth,
continuous pace and direction, to have the sense of being carried along
with a 'runaway' feeling of not being able to stop. I also liked the
image of the individuals moving forwards while the group turns like a
wheel.
The easiest way to start moving was to face around the circle and take
four steps forward, the obvious continuation (at least to me) was to
then turn and take four steps backwards, still moving in the same
direction. Adding a couple of grapevines continued the motion while
giving people a chance to 'stabilise' after the quick turns, facing
centre allowed them to appreciate the speed at which the circle was
moving and to enjoy and keep contact with the group. The sequence
repeated with the music but just as the music had a 'cue' for the next
section I wanted a transition back to the first part of the dance. For
the last four steps the second grapevine was replaced with a moving
turn, reflecting the overall turning wheel within each dancer and
giving a further sense of running away, out of control, before arriving
at the security of the first part.
I tried various handholds and changes of handhold while finishing off
this dance with my group, but in the end I stuck with a simple 'W'
throughout.
Music: 'Hora' by Archetype from 'Archetype' (Excalibur CD 831). An alternative version is 'Hora' by Bratsch from 'Sans Domicile Fixe' (Griffe GRI 19012-2 CB 811) - just the first half of track 16.
Formation: Circle, with arms in a 'W' hold.
Steps: All the steps are of even length.
The introduction is, at best, a quarter of a bar. Usually I find it easier to miss out the first time through of the first part and use that as an introduction.