CÎRLIGUL

Romanian

 
PRONUNCIATION: KER-lee-gool

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 cîrligu = "crochet hook," cîrligul = "the crochet hook."

 
TRANSLATION: Crochet hook
 
SOURCE: Sunni Bloland introduced Cîrligul at the 1969 Balkan/Near-East Festival in Portland, Oregon. She learned the dance during her 1967-68 research trip to Romania from Anca Giurchescu, dance ethnographer at the Institute of Ethnography and Folklore in Bucharest (Bucureşti). The music, specific to the dance, was played by the local musicians.
 
BACKGROUND: The dance movements of Cîrligul are typical of dances from Southern Oltenia.
 
MUSIC:Naroc Records (7"EP) NA 1054-EP, Romanian Folk Dances, Side B, Band 5
 
FORMATION:Closed cir of M and W with hands joined and held down in "V" pos.
 
METER/RHYTHM: 2/4
 
STEPS/STYLE: PAS-DE-BASQUE: Facing ctr, step R in place (ct 1); step L across in front of R (ct &); step R in place (ct 2); pause (ct &). The repeat is with opp ftwk. Steps are rather flat-footed except in meas 5-6 where wt is taken on the ball of the ft. Notated as PDB.
 

MEASMOVEMENT DESCRIPTION

 
 INTRODUCTION
 
1-6No action.
 
I. WALK AND PAS-DE-BASQUE
 
1Facing slightly diag R and moving in LOD, step R as arms swing slightly fwd (ct 1); step L across in front of R as arms return naturally to sides (ct 2).
 
2-4Dance 3 PDB steps, RLR, ending facing ctr.
 
II. SINGLE CROSS AND BACK
 
1Facing ctr, step L slightly to L (ct 1); step R across in front of L (ct &); step L in place (ct 2); step R diag bwd to R (ct &);
2Step L in place (ct 1); step R across in front of L (ct &); step L in place (ct 2); pause (ct &);
 
3Moving bwd out of cir, step R (ct 1); step L next to R (ct &); step bwd R (ct 2); pause (ct &).
 
III. WALK AND CLICKS
 
1Facing slightly diag L and moving in RLOD, step L as arms swing slightly fwd (ct 1); step R across in front of L as arms return naturally to sides (ct 2);
 
2Moving slightly diag bwd to L, step L (ct 1); close R to L with a "click," taking wt, which displaces L and causes it to shoot out swd (ct &); step L diag bwd to L (ct 2); close R to L with a "click," taking wt, which displaces L and causes it to shoot out swd (ct &);
3Step L diag bwd to L (ct 1); close R to L with a "click," taking wt, which displaces L and causes it to shoot out swd (ct &); step L diag bwd to L (ct 2); pause (ct &).
 
 FIG I, II, III REPEATED
 
1-10Turning to face slightly diag R, repeat action of Fig I, II, and III, taking wt on L on final ct &.
 
IV. CLICKS TO L
 
1Heavy accented step R across in front of L (ct 1); close R to L with a "click," taking wt, which displaces L and causes it to shoot out swd (ct &);
2Step L diag bwd (ct 1); close R to L with a "click," taking wt, which displaces L and causes it to shoot out swd (ct &); step L diag bwd (ct 2); pause (ct &).
 
3-12Repeat action of Fig IV five more times.
 
 Repeat entire dance from beg.
 

Copyright © 2005 by Dick Oakes