Căluşari

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For other uses, see Căluşari (disambiguation).
Căluş dancer from Arad, Romania, early 20th century. Notice the costume, similar with the costumes of the Morris dancers and the costumes of the Aromanians (who had brought the fustanella garmet type into Greece and Albania).
Căluş dancer from Arad, Romania, early 20th century. Notice the costume, similar with the costumes of the Morris dancers and the costumes of the Aromanians (who had brought the fustanella garmet type into Greece and Albania).

The căluşari (/kə.lu'ʃarʲ/) is the Romanian word for participants in a traditional folk dance, the căluş, nowadays mainly found in Southern Romania. The dance closely resembles the English Morris dance, in choreography, the meaning of the ritualistic sword dance, and the costumes, and it is believed it was borrowed from Dacia to western Europe (Spain, later England) via the Celts or the Goths[1]. The word may also be found spelt as căluşarii (Romanian for "the căluşari"), căluşeri, căluş, căluşel, and also (due to the lack of diacritics in the English alphabet) calusari, calushari, caluseri, calusheri, etc. The tradition is also played by the Vlachs (Romanians) of Serbia and Bulgaria, and hence was introduced into the folklore of Bulgaria under the same name, spelled "Kalushar"/"Kalushari".

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[edit] Origins

The dance is thought to be derived from a pre-Christian fertility ritual and spring rite, and is said to bring luck, health and happiness to the villages in which it is danced. Others maintain that it is rooted in the ancient Indo-European worship of horse. It is quite possible that various traditions became mixed in the course of history. For example, căluşari are also supposed to have healing powers.

The oldest records are the musical notations of Ioan Căianu (17th century), and its mentioning in Dimitrie Cantemir`s Descriptio Moldaviae (1714).

[edit] Etymology

The generally accepted derivation of Căluş is from the old Latin double form "collusium, collusii", meaning both "a dance group" and "a secret society", however other derivations have been proposed. The Romanian word căluş also means "a small piece of wood placed in the mouth to prevent talking", and derivation from this word has some support from the presence of the mute figure in some groups, and the ritual silence that used to be observed by the entire group. Others see căluş as a diminutive of cal "horse", in turn derived from the Latin caballus, and point to the horse's mythical associations with fertility and war, as well as the imitation of horses found in certain Căluş dances, although these dances do not currently play a principle role in the ritual. Another theory is that it derives from "Coli-Salii", the Roman priests dedicated to the worship of Mars.[1]

[edit] Description

The căluş is a male group dance, although there are records of traditions from Oltenia region that included 1-2 young girls, now obsolete.

Dancers wear white trousers and white tunics, with brightly coloured ribbons streaming from their hats. Bells are attached to their ankles, and dances include the use of sticks held upright whilst dancing, or pointing at the ground as a prop.

Like many morris dances, in many traditions căluşari dancers include a fool, known as the "nebun", or "mute".

The dance includes the following elements.

  • The starting figure of walking (plimbări), or a basic step, in a circle moving counter clockwise.
  • More complex figures (mişcare) performed in place between walking steps.
  • Figures are formed from combinations of elements, often have a beginning-middle-end structure.

[edit] Similar dances

Other male group dances originating from ritual dances are found along the Carpathians and in Transylvania. The Carpathian variants such as Trilişeşti and Ţânţăroiul from Moldavia and Bărbătescul and De sărit from Maramureş include only the most basic features whereas the De bâtă, Haidău, and Fecioreasca of Transylvania are very close to the Căluşari with the addition of more complex later developments.

[edit] In popular culture

A second-season episode of the television series X-Files, entitled "The Calusari," featured a group of Romanian elders (ethnicity and religion unspecified) attempting a folk exorcism on a Romanian-American boy. Their practice--which on the show involves chicken sacrifice, ritual dagger-waving, and the drawing of a swastika in blood on the boy's stomach--is ultimately revealed to be well-intentioned and effective rather than sinister, as it first appears.

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Kligman, Gail (1977). Căluş: Symbolic Transformation in Romanian Ritual. Chicago: Chicago University Press, pp. 45-6. 

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[edit] See also