Thrace is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Sea to the east, it comprises present-day southeastern Bulgaria, northeastern Greece, and the European part of Turkey, roughly the Roman Province of Thrace. Lands also inhabited by ancient Thracians extended in the north to modern-day Northern Bulgaria and Romania and to the west into Macedonia.
The Thracians were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe and north-western Anatolia in antiquity. They primarily resided on the territories of modern-day Bulgaria, Romania, northern Greece and north-western Turkey.
A number of ancient civilizations, including the Thracians, ancient Greeks, Scythians, Celts, ancient Romans, Goths, Slavs, Varangians and the Bulgars have left their mark on the culture, history and heritage of Bulgaria. Due to this great variety of influences, Bulgaria has adopted many unusual traditions. Thracian artifacts include numerous temples, tombs, golden treasures and ancient rites and rituals, while the Bulgars have left traces of their heritage in statehood, early architecture, music and dances. Thracian rituals such as the Tryphon Zarezan which is dedicated to Saint Tryphon of Campsada, Kukeri and Martenitsa are to this day kept alive in the modern Bulgarian culture. The oldest treasure of worked gold in the world, dating back to the 5th millennium BC, comes from the site of the Varna Necropolis.
The music of Bulgaria refers to all forms of music associated with the country of Bulgaria, including classical, folk, popular music, and other forms.
Hora, also known as horo and oro, is a type of circle dance originating in [Bulgaria] and Romanian communities, especially in Romania and Bulgaria. It is also found in other South East European countries and culturally adopted by ethnic minorities such as the Ashkenazi Jews and the Roma.
Rhodope is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace. Its name is derived from the Rhodope Mountains, which cover the northern part of its territory. Together with the regional units Evros and Xanthi, it forms the geographical region of Western Thrace. The capital of the prefecture is the city of Komotini. The second largest town is Sapes. Most of the Muslims of Thrace, the only officially recognized minority in Greece, are settled in this area, where they form around half of the regional unit's population.
Bulgarian folk dances are intimately related to the music of Bulgaria. This distinctive feature of Balkan folk music is the asymmetrical meter, built up around various combinations of 'quick' and 'slow' beats. The music, in Western musical notation, is often described using compound meter notation, where the notational meter accents, i.e., the heard beats, can be of different lengths, usually 1, 2, 3, or 4. Many Bulgarian dances are line dances, in which the dancers dance in a straight or curved line, holding hands.
Pajdushko horo; is a folk dance from North Macedonia and South-west Bulgaria. It features a 5-beat meter divided into "quick" (2-beat) and "slow" (3-beat) units, abbreviated quick-slow or 2+3.time. Like many other Balkan folk dances, each region or village has its own version of the dance. It is traditionally a men's dance, but in modern times it is often performed in lines of both men and women.
Zonaradiko is a traditional Greek folk dance from Thrace (Greece) that is named after the dance's handhold. Dancers hold the adjacent dancer's zonaria (belt) during the dance. Zonaradiko is a village line dance done in one form or another all over Greece. In each village the dance will look somewhat different, but the basic structure is essentially the same. The same dance is done in Bulgaria under the name Pravo. The variations below are a collection of steps commonly done by folk dancers throughout the US and as seen done by various groups in Greece.
Perperikon, also Perpericum, is an ancient Thracian city located in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains, 15 km northeast of the present-day town of Kardzhali, Bulgaria on a 470 m high rocky hill, which is thought to have been a sacred place. The village of Gorna krepost is located at the foot of the hill and the gold-bearing Perpereshka River flows nearby. Perperikon is the largest megalith ensemble site in the Balkans. In the Middle Ages Perperikon served as a fortress.
Greek traditional music includes a variety of Greek styles played by ethnic Greeks in Greece, Cyprus, Australia, the United States and other parts of Europe. Apart from the common music found generally in Greece, each region of Greece contains a distinct type of folk music that originated from the region due to their history, traditions and cultural influences.
Turkish folk dances are the folk dances of Turkey. Facing three seas, straddling important trade routes, Turkey has a complex, sophisticated culture, reflected in the variety of its dances. The dominant dance forms are types of line dance. There are many different types of folk dances performed in various ways in Turkey. Zeybek, Teke Zortlatması in Aegean region, Bar in Erzurum province, Halay in the central, southern, eastern, and southeastern parts of the country, Hora in Thrace, Horon in the eastern Black Sea region, Spoon dances in and around Konya, and Lezginka in Kars and Ardahan are some of the best known examples of these.
Greek dance is an old tradition, being referred to by authors such as Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch and Lucian. There are different styles and interpretations from all of the islands and surrounding mainland areas. Each region formed its own choreography and style to fit in with their own ways. For example, island dances have more of a different smooth flow to them, while Pontic dancing closer to the Black Sea, is very sharp. There are over 10,000 traditional dances that come from all regions of Greece. There are also pan-Hellenic dances, which have been adopted throughout the Greek world. These include specifically the Syrtos, Kalamatianos, Pyrrhichios, Ballos, Zeibekiko, and hasapiko.
Pravo horo is a very popular, simple folk dance from Bulgaria that is done throughout the Balkan countries. In Greece, it is called Zonaradiko. It is considered the "national dance" of Bulgaria, Albania, and North Macedonia. It is a rustic village line dance with a three-measure pattern, done to 2
4 or 6
8 music, and is a staple of weddings, feast days, and other celebrations. As with other Balkan dances, each country and even local region has its own variation of the dance, often interspersing other steps with the basic pravo step, to the extent that these different versions amount to distinct dances.
The history of Thracian warfare spans from the 10th century BC up to the 1st century AD in the region defined by Ancient Greek and Latin historians as Thrace. It concerns the armed conflicts of the Thracian tribes and their kingdoms in the Balkans. Apart from conflicts between Thracians and neighboring nations and tribes, numerous wars were recorded among Thracian tribes.
EastWind is an album by Andy Irvine and Davy Spillane, showcasing a fusion of Irish folk music with traditional Bulgarian and Macedonian music. Produced by Irvine and Bill Whelan, who also contributed keyboards and piano, it was widely regarded as revolutionary at recording.
Bulgarian wedding music is a genre of Svatbarska muzika or a "wedding music" style that evolved in the late 1960s in Bulgaria. Its popularity has spread in Europe and North America. This style of music is performed elaborately in weddings in a festive atmosphere, and also on other happy occasions. It was not given state privilege initially by the socialist regime of Bulgaria as it was considered folk music. The music is a fusion of "an eclectic array" of Bulgarian, Romani, Turkish and Macedonian music and is very popular in the southern Balkan region. Following the end of the People's Republic of Bulgaria in 1989, the popularity of wedding music has soared.
Live from the Powerhouse is an album rehearsed in six days, starting on 1 March 2002 in the seaside town of Rye, Victoria in Australia, by multicultural group Mozaik featuring Andy Irvine, Dónal Lunny, Bruce Molsky, Nikola Parov and Rens van der Zalm.
