Joc din Rebrișoara (ZHOK deen reh-bree-SHOHAH-rah) from the Bistriţa-Năsăud region, Transylvania, Romania was presented by Sonia Dion and Cristian Florescu at the 2015 Stockton Folk Dance Camp. Dance notes…
Rebrişoara is a village in the beautiful mountainous county of Bistriţa-Năsăud, in Transylvania. Its name comes from the Slavic word rebro, which means “hill”. The name of the river flowing through the region has the same origin. The first written mention of this river, Rivulus Rebre, appears in a document dated 1380.
Today the dances mostly done in the valley of Rebrişoara are couple dances, although a few are danced in small circles. The latter are a reminder of times gone by when couple dances didn’t exist. Villagers would form a closed circle and, always dancing on the beat of the music, would repeat the same movements and sequences with no variations or improvisation.
Nowadays in Rebrişoara, during weddings or other celebrations, the dance (joc) may be done simultaneously by couples, threesomes, foursomes and small circles. The 2/4 music is slow and pleasant to listen to. The steps are large and elegant contributing to the dance’s rather sublime nature in which the dancers delight and take great pride.
