Our country is small in terms of territory, but it gathers seven folklore regions, each unique for itself with its own specific features in terms of clothing, music, songs and dances.
The Shop folklore region extends in Central Western Bulgaria. It includes the western part of the Central Highlands (Sofia field and Vitosha) and the Bulgarian regions of the Kraishte district. In the north it reaches Stara Planina, in the east - up to the Ikhtiman Heights, in the south - up to Osogovska Planina and Rila, and in the west - up to the state border with Serbia and Macedonia, the Regions where the traditions of this area, which we also call " Shopluka" are Ikhtimansko, Samokovsko, Kyustendilsko, as well as in the areas around Elin Pelin, Svoge, Godech, Pernik and Radomir.
You can learn more about the holidays and customs, about the types of clothing and embroidery here
Folklore collection "Once upon a time - manners and worldview of the Bulgarians"
Dances
Shop dances are exuberant, fast, varied, energetic and temperamental and show above all the manners of the shop. In some of the dances we have a slight forward movement and crouching, towards the ground, characteristic of the Dobrudzha region. In the Shopian dances, there is also the other type of movements characteristic of the northerners – the direction is towards the sky, as if they are breaking away from the earth. Shopian dances have two main distinguishing features: the so-called "drawing", which is a swaying of the body from the waist up, especially in the shoulders, and springing with a small amplitude, due to the speed of the dance performance. The main movements of the legs in the dance are big, high and wide, and all the others are small and agile. While dancing, the Chop often calls out energetically. It's like he's fighting someone and stomps on him, hence the expression "Hold on to the ground, I'm stomping on you!". The Shopian choirs are mostly closed, led and choirs "in the forest" - with a cross grip on the belt. The most popular is the lead dance (the "Rural"), with a belt grip. The dance is mixed, performed by men and women.
Shopian folk dances are popular: Shop dance, Graov dance, Petruno, Quad dance, Bistrishka kopanica, Kasap dance, Kukunesh dance, Trun dance, Kyustendil ski dance, Troiche, Kopche, Jovino, Dilmano, Sedi Donka
Musical folklore
Extremely rich songwriting with rich ornamentation. We observe unison and two-voice singing. Youth, Sedenkar, table and harvest songs are performed, the most traditional being the youth songs, in which they sing about the Marko Kings, as well as the songs with historical plots from enslaved Bulgaria. Songs that begin and end with ornamented exclamations are very characteristic. Monophonic songs are usually short, with a uniform melody, in a small tonal volume, with a cutting of the tone. Two-part songs are characterized by a sharp and sharp performance, which is often described as piercing.
Popular Shopian folk songs are:Wow, Swashke, The sun is shining, She fell asleep, She got up, Girl thin tall, Drink kume, drink, A girl comes from the forest, Oh Nedo, Nedo, Bre Tudoro, Tudoro, A celebrant is asleep, Small village, Boy gives gold, Sea, early wounds Dena , The horse did not come last night.
Musical instruments
The most typical instruments for the Shop ethnographic region are the gudula, the bagpipe, the shepherd's whistle and the two-piece. In general, two-voice instruments are heard in the region.
Folk rites and customs: Survakari (Carnival Games); Lazarki; German; Imported.
Folk crafts: abbey (Sofia, Samokov); bagpipes (Samokov, Pirdop); wood carving (Samokov); pottery (Samokov); goldsmithing (Sofia); carpet weaving (Samokov); swordsmanship (Ikhtiman).
Costumes: female – cloth costume; men's white dress costume.
© 2024 Iliana Dechkova