Ciganski Orijent

Ciganski Orijent – Romani/Serbia [Zoran Vasilijević*]

Ciganski Orijent is a lively performance number choreographed to the tune of the same name using variants of the Serbian Romani dance Orijent. It was performed by both the AMAN Folk Ensemble and Duquesne University Tamburitzans and introduced to the recreational folk dance community by Zoran Vasilijević in 1966 at the California Kolo Festival. It is one dance in a family of performance and recreational folk dance creations with the appellation “Orijent.” What was actually danced in 1950s Serbia as “Orijent” were simple motifs with leader improvisation. Speculation as to the “Orijent” name is that it refers to the famous Orient Express long-distance passenger train service that passed through the Serbian Šumadija region and surrounding villages of Belgrade, such as Železnik, on its way between Paris and Istanbul.

Dance Steps: What to Work On

The dance has four parts, but if you are already familiar with Dick Crum’s classic “Orijent,” then you have two parts down already, and you can throw in a third, because the first part is so simple. As discussed above, the Orijent Step of Ciganski Orijent, Part 2, can be something derived from the first part of classic Orijent or the identical motif (2 halves swapped, starting with R foot QQS, SS). Part 4 is Part 2 of the classic, but mirrored L|R. That leaves you with new material really only in Part 3.

Part 3 (III): “Hop-Step-Step” QQS, SS

Some do this in-place while other have small progression in LOD. I think Dick Crum taught traveling while Vasilijević and performance groups danced Part 3 in place. Fort Collins does “in-place.”

Part 3, In-Place Version (Vasilijević & other performance, Dick Oakes) Most common in videos

Part 3, Traveling Version (Dick Crum) Videos: Faust & Tucson; Clark Wang & Dunav have slightly different traveling versions

Part Repetitions