Opincă is a chain folk dance presented by Sonia Dion and Cristian Florescu choreographed in the Romanian dance style of the historic Bukovina region. Geographically located in the border area of northern Romania and southwestern Ukraine, historic Bukovina had been home to many ethnicities and passed in and out of various political borders, including Moldova. Opincă is the singular form in the Romanian language of opinci, which are traditional laceless, leather shoes worn mostly by peasants throughout the Balkans until the 1950s. You can still find them worn at festivals and as part of dance costume. Opincă is part of Sonia Dion’s and Cristian Florescu’s Romanian Realm, Vol. 1 collection of folk dance music and demonstration videos.
| Dance Name: | Opincă |
| Pronunciation: | oh-PEEN-kah |
| Translation: | opinci = primitive leather shoes |
| Country (Style of): | Romania |
| Region: | Bukovina (historical region between N. Romania and Ukraine) |
| Presented by: | Sonia Dion and Cristian Florescu |
| Year: | ca 2002 |
| Dance Type: | Non-Partner | Circle/Chain |
| Dance Category: | Modern RIFD |
| Folk Status: | Arranged Folklore |
| Skill Level: | Intermediate |
| Energy Intensity: | Moderate |
| Tune: | Opincă |
| Time Signature: | 2/4 |
| Pattern/Rhythm: | Part I: SQSQS |
| Dancer Formation: | Open Circle or Short Lines |
| Hand Hold: | Part I: V-pos, Part 2: W-pos |
| Leads to: | R w/ R |
| Date Taught: | |
| Teacher: | |
| Published: | June 13, 2025 |
| Updated: | June 13, 2025 |
The Dance, Opincă
Opincă combines two distinct dance forms to match the rhythm of the music. The first, titled “Opincă” in the dance notes, is from a very old dance form with a syncopated rhythm expressed as SQSQS or “get your papers please.” This rhythm is suggestive of the gait of elderly dancers. The second form is of familiar Moldovan Hora figures with grapevine travel and movement inwards and back out of the center of the circle.
It is common in Romanian folk dance for the dancers to shout in rhythmic verse. In modern times we might call this “rap,” but the tradition of strigături far predates DJs and MCs, but the function is the same. The topic are spontaneous and can sometimes take the same form as a rap battle between dancers. For international folk dance groups, who generally shy from spontaneity, Sonia and Cristian supplied some ready-to-shout strigături, given below.
The simplest strigături for Opincă is to shout “Hopa shah!” on the second rep in Figure 4 (bar 12 in Dion’s and Florescu’s notes, but not written).
Dancing Examples
Music Examples of Opincă
Strigături for Opincă
Strigături is a rhythmic shouting or chanting that is an integral part of Romanian folk dances. It’s usually crafted on the fly from thoughts of the day, but here is a suggestion for you.
from 2004 and other Sonia Dion and Cristian Florescu notesHălr cine joacă şi nu strigă
Are-n gură mămiăligă
Cine strigă şi nu joacă
Facăl-se gura seacă
Asta-l hora horelor
Hora moldovenilor
Hora mare românească
Cine-o joacă să trăiascăAnyone who dances and doesn't shout
Has mamaliga* in their mouth
Anyone who shouts and doesn't dance
Will have a dry mouth
This is the Hora to end all Horas
The Hora of the Moldavians
The great Romanian Hora
Long life to those who dance 1t
*Mamaliga: Romanian dish made of cornmeal, similar to Italian polenta