|
The Society of Folk Dance Historians (SFDH) Alunelul
[
Home |
About |
Encyclopedia | CLICK AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
BACKGROUND
Information: A dance family.
Originally from Oltenia, a region in southwest Romania, Alunelu entered the Romanian school system curriculum in the early 20th century and spread country-wide. Larisa Lucaci taught it to United States folk dancers in 1955; thence it spread worldwide.
(Being the generic name of a huge and disconnected family of dances, "alunelu" may have nothing to do with the subfamily of birches, Betulaceae, commonly called hazelnuts, cobnuts, filberts, or (noix de) Philibert, named for a Frankish abbot and then saint who died in A.C.E. 684.)
Translation: Little hazelnut. Traditionally, it has been thought that "alunelul" means "the little hazelnut" but Romanian folklore specialist, Theodor Vasilescu, favors the meaning as a contraction of "a lu Nelu" (where Nelu is the name "John" so the meaning is "John's dance") because, with the exception of Floricica ("little flower"), dances are rarely named for trees, plants, or flowers.
Pronunciation: ah-lu-NEH-loo
Other name: Alunelul – the -ul ending, pronounced "-oo" (colloquial) or "-ool" (more formal usage) is a form of the Romanian definite article, the equivalent of English "the;" hence alunelu = "hazelnut," alunelul = "the hazelnut;" Alunelul Comun; Alunelul Cunoscut; The 5-3-1 Dance.
Region: Romania
Meter: 4/4
Formation: Circle, your hands on your neighbors' nearer shoulders.
DANCES
- Alunelul (Comun/Cunoscut) – Folk Dance Problem Solver (1987), Society of Folk Dance Historians (SFDH), San Antonio, TX. Alunelu. The first dance chosen (from Oltenia, originally) by the Romanian cultural ministry as the dance to represent Romania to schools.
- Alunelul – another version taught by Dick Crum, introduced to the United States by Eugenia Popescu-Judetz in the late 1960s: Dancers in small circles, shoulder-hold: dance right and left three steps, then the circles move around one another as a circle counterclockwise.
- Alunelul Ampueți – contrived by folk dancers from Alunelul and Sunni Bloland's Ampueți. The recording begins with the words "Ampueți de la Film" because it was recorded for a film. The dance starts with the familiar 5 steps and 2 stamps, like Alunelul, but stepping accross in front instead of behind. The dance ends with jumps astride and together, turning on the diagonals.
- Alunelul Bătut (from Bistreț) – Folk Dance Problem Solver (1987), Alunelul Batut.
- Alunelul de la Urzica.
- Alunelul ca la Sadova.
- Alunelul ca la Ursica (like a little bear), by Niko Hilferink.
- Alunelul de la Orodel - Hajda, Hajda.
- Tsaran in Valea - Nicolae Feraru described two tunes for Alunelul, one identical to Farmer in the Dell, apparently adapted for the Romanian school system.
| BARS | ACTION | |
| Introduction. |
| 1-2 | No action. One version has 4 bars, one has 6. You'll work it out. |
| 1. | Fives. |
| 1 | Step to R onto R ft (ct 1), step behind R ft onto L ft (ct 2); repeat (cts 3,4). |
| 2 | Step to R onto R ft (ct 1), stamp twice beside R ft with L ft, no weight (cts 2,3). |
| 3-4 | Repeat action of bars 1-2 with opp ftwk and dir. |
| 5-8 | Repeat action of bars 1-4. |
| Note: | Note: Some say this dance represents the cracking of hazelnuts. Not likely! My dictionary says hazelnuts are a smooth-shelled edible nut enclosed in a leafy husk. Stamp on one and you indeed would have little hazelnuts. |
| 2. | Threes. |
| 1 | Step to R onto R ft (ct 1), step behind R ft onto L ft (ct 2), step to R onto R ft (ct 3), stamp beside R ft with L ft, no weight (ct 4). |
| 2 | Repeat action of bar 1 with opp ftwk and dir. |
| 3-4 | Repeat action of bars 1-2. |
| 3. | Ones. |
| 1 | Step to R onto R ft (ct 1), stamp beside R ft with L ft, no weight (ct 2), repeat to L (cts 3,4). |
| 2 | Step to R onto R ft (ct 1), stamp twice beside R ft with L ft, no weight (cts 2,3). |
| 3-4 | Repeat action of bars 1-2. |
LYRICS
|
// Alunelu, alunelu, hai la joc, să ne fie, să ne fie cu noroc. // Cine-n horă o să joace, mare, mare se va face. Cine n'o juca de fel, va rămîne mititel. Alunelu, . . . Joacă, joacă tot pe loc sa răsarâ busuioc, joaca, joaca tot așa, joacă și nu te lăsa. |
Hazelnut, hazelnut, come let's dance and be happy. He (or she) who dances will grow strong and tall, He (or she) who doesn't will stay tiny and small. Hazelnut, . . . Dance, oh dance on this spot until the grass grows, dance, oh dance, never stop or slow down. |
DOCUMENTS
- Larisa Lucaci, an article.
- Romania, a country.
This page © 2018 by Ron Houston.
Please do not copy any part of this page without including this copyright notice.
Please do not copy small portions out of context.
Please do not copy large portions without permission from Ron Houston.