It's been a nostalgic week for me and I guess the weekend won't be any different. So I decided to start this series of photo-posts here on the blog, listing the 'things' I miss the most when it comes to Belgrade. I won't mention all the people I miss, cause then the list would be waaay to big - and besides, those I miss know who they are and how much I miss them :)
So, number 1 thing: the "music all around" factor: there's always someone playing something on some corner.
Slightly new look here on the blog for a new trip do Serbia real soon - I can't barely wait!
Me plus 4 or 5 friends should be arriving in Serbia on the first days july and staying almost til the end of august - it's gonna be epical! 4 out of those 6 friends had never been to Serbia before, and 3 of them had never been to the Balkans. I'm counting the days! :)
While boarding time won't come, I keep carrying some projects here to bring me closer to the Balkans in some way. The latest of these projects - with my super partner in production and DJing, Sol - is GO EAST ORKESTAR: a reunion of great musicians from Rio de Janeiro interested in playing music from all over the Balkans. The band is gonna be resident at GO EAST, the balkan music party me and Sol produce together here in Brazil, for over two years now.
So far we had two rehearsals, and I can't barely wait for the 3rd! I leave you here with 3 videos of GO EAST ORKESTAR's first 2 rehearsals:
I can't wait to be able to post here on a daily basis again. I mean, I could write entries now and all, but if I'm not in Belrgade or in the Balkans, what's the sense in it? As this blog is entirely dedicated to my adventures in Southeastern Europe, the answer to the previous question I just made has to be "none". Unless I had any unwritten story to tell you guys, which is not the case. Anyways...
Hopefully I'll be back to Belgrade by May (fingers crossed everybody!), and this time I'll definitelly roam around the region a lot. Can't tell you more than this for now, but I'd suggest you people to watch this blog closely within the next couple of months, as I believe some exciting news will follow shortly ;)
For now, I'll leave you with a track by one of my favourite DJs/producers/musicians, Mr Kiril Džajkovski, from Macedonia. The guy is a genius, and his new track (featuring the wonderful Esma Redžepova!) is totally great!
I guess by now everyone who reads this blog is already aware of my huuuge passion for kolo and folk dances, in general. Made a post a while ago on the basics of kolo, and a couple of videos to illustrate the post and all (you can scroll this page down for the previous post on kolo or click here)
Anyways, as people here seemed interested in kolo, here's a some videos for you guys (bear in mind we made these videos for fun only :)
This is from a couple of years ago... I had just learned how to dance it and was trying to "teach" it to a friend :)
This one is waaaay more recent: me and Chica having some fun with Čačak :D
And at last but not least, this is me and Chica again, memorising a Vlaške igre routine for a presentation:
My return to moj dragi Beorgad had to be postponed a few months, but's gonna happen, of course. Tours, car trips, parties and so on... Lots to come!
In the meantime, I keep drinking my špricer, having my burek (brought from a bulgarian shop in São Paulo, since we don't have it in Rio) and, of course, partying big time - Balkan style, of course!
Ladies and Gents: the party I produce in Rio on Brazilian television, with english subtitles!
Anyone who have been to Serbia and surroundings have for sure heard about "kolo". Kolo is for Serbia as samba is for Brazil: kolo is the quintessencial serbian dance, is the thing that each serbian citizen is supposed to know how to dance from the day he/she was born - even though (like samba in Brazil) this is not always necessarily true (I am brazilian and I have no clue on how to dance samba).
Kola (serbian plural for kolo) can be very slow and easy, or fast and freaky, depending from the rigion they come from, as kolo can be found all over Serbia and neighbouring countries. The music is usually played by accordions, frula (a serbian flute), violins, percussion and, several times, by brass instruments like trumpets (those played by as many different instruments as possible are the coolest although, in my opinion, accodions are a must when it comes to kolo).
Kolo dance is usually danced in circles - hence the name (kolo means "wheel", "circle" in serbian) - or lines, by two people to several dozens, holding each other's hands while doing the basic steps (always starting to the right):
two steps to the right one to the left another one to the right
two steps to the left one to the right another one to the left
Discribing it like this might makes kolo sounds rather boring, but it isn't: once you get used to the rithym and the basic steps, kolo becomes rather addictive. I always catch myself moving my feet when I'm sitting on a bus, or waiting on a queue :)
Although the basic steps are rather simple, due to it's many variations from town to town kolo can be added of many ornamental elements and some crazy syncopated steps. Some of the most famous kolo types are Užičko (from the Užice region), Moravac and Čačak (these two from regions with the same name) among many, many others. click on the word links to see videos In Serbia, kolo is all around: musicians on the streets always play it, people dance to it on kafanas (Serbian bars), clubs, parties and so on. It's kinda magical, cause it's a dance that makes people that never met before get together and dance, hand in hand. I'll never forget when me and my brazilian friends danced kolo for the first time on a kafana or when me and my belgian friend, Valerie, stopped in front of a roma brass band on Knez Mihailova (Belgrade's most famous street) and danced together with some gypsy kids that were around, attracting a crowd of several dozen people that stopped to watch us - an unforgettable moment :)
Kolo is the dance that best expresses the "spirit" of Serbia and it's warm, welcoming and well humoured people. That's probably why I love kolo as much as I do.
So people, just a quick post to wish you all a Merry Christmas - or, how we say in Bulgaria, Весела Коледа ("Vesela Koleda")!.
Since it's been exactly a year since my Wild Christmas Adventure (lost!) in Shabla (Bulgaria) took place, I decided to give you, my dear readers, a "gift". For those who keep asking me "But why didn't you take any pictures while in Shabla?", here it is:
Ladies and gentlemen, (thanks to Google!) here it is: Shabla!
(Click the image to enlarge) Where you people can read "Shabla" is the exact place where the bus driver left us. The triangular-shaped "square" right beside it is the square we crossed while heading to the trashy bar (where is written "Buteco de Shabla"), in which we sat in and waited to be rescued by Kosta and his brother.
And this is the trashy bar itself. We got in through the door you can see on the right side.
If by any chance you don't know what the hell I'm talking about, I highly reccomend you to read these entries:
I'm back to Brazil for almost two weeks now. I'm still a bit dizzy and "lost in translation" after several months in Belgrade, reason why I didn't post anything since I'm back. Actually, I didn't post anything for quite, quite some time...
But I do have tones of writings and things to tell, that shall be posted and told soon, I promise :)
