Kopanitsa

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Kopanitsa is the name for a type of lively folk dance from western Bulgaria written in 11/8 meter. Some dancers count the steps in terms of "quick" and "slow", the pattern being quick-quick-slow-quick-quick (counted as 2-2-3-2-2). The name is derived from the act of hoeing, and it is sometimes referred to as a "hoeing dance".^{[citation needed]}

The term kopanitsa seems to be especially used in the Shopluk region of western Bulgaria, which includes the towns of Sofia, Pernik, Radomir and Kyustendil. Some common names are Shopska kopanitsa, Graovska kopanitsa, and Divotinka kopanitsa (from the village of Divotino). There is even a village named Kopanitsa not far from the town of Pernik.

The term kopanitsa is also found in western Thrace and the Sredna Gora regions east of Sofia (Ihtiman, Panagyurishte, Pazardzhik) and even as far east as Plovdiv. The term gankino (Ganka's dance) seems to be used mostly in northern Bulgaria (particularly in the western and central parts) and also refers to dances in 11/8. In western Thrace, dances in 11/8 meter are often called Krivo (or Krivata), a term which means "crooked" or "uneven".

Dances in 11/8 similar to kopanitsa or gankino can also be found in Macedonia (Sedenka, Pletenica, Skopsko, etc.) and Serbia (Kopačka) using other names. It is not the same as the Serbian Kopačka, which is actually a kopanitsa.