The enigmatic Horo.

I was mesmerized, kind of went into a trance when I first saw the Bulgarian horo. I am a photographer and I was shooting a wedding in Razgrad when suddenly these two couples dressed in beautiful traditional costumes started dancing the horo (I found out the name later). And then, all the guests ran in and joined them. It looked fluid, effortless and the best part; the rhythm was flawless. For a moment I forgot my job and kept on watching them till my better half came and nudged me. The photographs in this article were shot at a festival in Veliko Tarnovo.

For my Indian friends, horo is in the blood of Bulgarians, like our feet start moving to the Nashik Dhol during the Ganesha festival, the minute Bulgarians listen to the folklore music everyone from the kids to grandpas and grandmas start moving to the beat. But the horo is far more complicated than our Ganpati Dance :D. For people around the world think of it as a symphony of some mesmerizing music and crazy complicated feet movements. Think of Turkish Halay but a lot faster or the Russian Barynya.

From what I read, the circular horo depicts the cosmic law. The bagpipe player in the centre depicts the sun, and the dancers move in a counterclockwise direction like the planets. They harmonize their bodies, their mind and attain a unison in the form of meditation. Horo’s are not only circular, they can be serpentine lines, straight lines or whatever shape they take based on the available space. It involves not only the feet but the whole body. The beats per measure range from 2/4 and reach 12/16 even 15/16. Each region in Bulgaria have their own form of horo and with a different range of difficulties. The total number of variations can go up to a few hundreds. Different regions in Bulgaria have their own horo which they take immense pride in.

I am so intrigued by this dance form that I went and watched the show “The Eighth wonder” which shows the dance form as a story and takes you on a journey through some of the most intriguing ones.

I promise, someday I will surely learn this amazing dance!

For people outside Bulgaria here’s a link to one of the videos I found which would help you understand what I mean.