ŽABARKA Serbian
PRONUNCIATION:	ZHAH-bahr-kah
TRANSLATION:	Woman from the village of Žabare in Central Serbia. Žaba is a Serbian word meaning "frog" and people who live near water are called "Žabari."
SOURCE:	Anatol Joukowsky learned this dance in Serbia an subsequently taught it to folk dancers in the United States. It is also described in Anatol's book The Teaching of Ethnic Dance, J. Lowell Pratt and Company, New York, New York, 1965.
BACKGROUND:	Žabarka is one of the family of dances known as U šest koraka ("in six steps"). It may be described as a šalivo kolo ("joking or kidding dance") because the last step is supposed to be imitative of a žaba ("frog").
MUSIC:	National (45rpm) N-4517; Jugoton (LP) C6210
FORMATION:	Open cir of mixed M and W facing to R with hands joined and held down in "V" pos.
METER/RHYTHM:	2/4
STEPS/STYLE:	According to Mr. Joukowsky, "The proud dignity, full posture of the Serbian dancer is warrior-like in style."
MEAS	MOVEMENT DESCRIPTION
	INTRODUCTION
	None.
I.	'AJDE (AHEE-deh)
1	Step R (ct 1); step L across in front of R (ct 2);
2	Step R (ct 1); step L across in front of R (ct 2);
3	Step R (ct 1); turning to face ctr, close L heel to R instep (ct 2);
4	Turning to face to R, step bwd L,R,L (cts 1,&,2);
5-16	Repeat action of meas 1-4 three more times.
II.	ČUJEŠ-SKOČI-ČUJEŠ (CHOO-yesh SKOH-chee CHOO-yesh)
1	Facing ctr, step R swd, bending R knee (ct 1); raise L just in front of R (ct &); hop R (ct 2); step L across in front of R (ct &);
2	Step R swd, bending R knee and bringing L to R almost simultaneously (ct 1); hop R (ct 2); step L across in back of R (ct &);
3	Repeat action of meas 1;
4	Step R in place (ct 1); step L in place (ct 2); step R in place (ct &);
5-8	Repeat action of meas 1-4 to L with opp ftwk.
III.	SKOČI-ČETIRI (SKOH-chee CHEH-t'ree)
1	Facing ctr, step R swd, bending R knee and bringing L to R almost simultaneously (ct 1); hop R (ct 2); step L across in back of R (ct &);
2	Step R swd (ct 1); step L across in back of R (ct &); step R swd (ct 2); step L across in back of R (ct &);
3-6	Repeat action of meas 1-2 two more times;
7	Repeat action of meas 1;
8	Step R next to L (ct 1); step L in place (ct 2); step R in place (ct &);
9-16	Repeat action of meas 1-8 to L with opp ftwk.
IV.	TRI SKOČI (TREE SKOH-chee)
1	Facing ctr, step R swd, bending R knee and bringing L to R almost simultaneously (ct 1); hop R (ct 2); step L across in back of R (ct &);
2-3	Repeat action of meas 1 two more times;
4	Step R next to L (ct 1); step L in place (ct 2); step R in place (ct &);
5-8	Repeat action of meas 1-4 to L with opp ftwk;
9-16	Repeat action of meas 5-8.
V.	'AJDE (AHEE-deh)
1-8	Repeat action of Fig I, meas 1-8.
VI.	ŽABA (ZHAH-bah)
	Facing ctr, reach R toe swd, momentarily taking wt on edge of toe (ct & of previous meas);
1	Close L to R taking wt (ct 1); reach R swd, momentarily taking wt on edge of toe (ct &); close L to R taking wt (ct 2); reach R swd, taking momentary wt on edge of toe (ct &);
2	Close L to R, taking wt (ct 1); high leap R in place (ct &); step L next to or in front of R (ct 2); reach R swd, momentarily taking wt on edge of toe (ct &);
3-16	Repeat action of meas 1-2 seven more times with a pause on the final ct & of meas 6.
	Repeat entire dance from beg except that Fig V ('Ajde) is omitted and Fig VI (Žaba) is danced immediately following Fig IV (Tri Skoči).
	Dance only 7 Žaba steps and then step R in LOD (ct 1); step L in LOD (ct &); turning to face ctr, step R swd (ct 2); close L heel to R instep without wt (ct &).
Copyright © 2004 by Dick Oakes