Căluşari (Romanian pronunciation: [kəluˈʃarʲ]) is the Romanian word for participants in rituals the căluş, nowadays mainly found in Southern Romania. The word may also be found spelt as căluşarii (Romanian for “the căluşari”; the title of the article is in the indefinite form, whereas căluşarii is the definite form), căluşeri, căluş, căluşel, and also (due to the lack of diacritics in the English alphabet) calusari, calushari, caluseri, calusheri, etc. The tradition is also played by the Vlachs (Romanians) of Serbia and Bulgaria, and hence was introduced into the folklore of Bulgaria under the same name, spelled “Kalushar”/”Kalushari”.
Origins
The dance is thought to be derived from a pre-Christian fertility ritual and spring rite, and is said to bring luck, health and happiness to the villages in which it is danced. Others maintain that it is rooted in the ancient Indo-European worship of horse. It is quite possible that various traditions became mixed in the course of history. For example, căluşari are also supposed to have healing powers.
The oldest records are the musical notations of Ioan Căianu (17th century), and its mentioning in Dimitrie Cantemir`s Descriptio Moldaviae (1714).
Etymology
The generally accepted derivation of Căluş is from the old Latin double form “collusium, collusii”, meaning both “a dance group” and “a secret society”, however other derivations have been proposed. The Romanian word căluş also means “a small piece of wood placed in the mouth to prevent talking”, and derivation from this word has some support from the presence of the mute figure in some groups, and the ritual silence that used to be observed by the entire group. Others see căluş as a diminutive of cal “horse”, in turn derived from the Latin caballus, and point to the horse’s mythical associations with fertility and war, as well as the imitation of horses found in certain Căluş dances, although these dances do not currently play a principle role in the ritual. Another theory is that it derives from “Coli-Salii”, the Roman priests dedicated to the worship of Mars.[1]
Description
The căluş is a male group dance, although there are records of traditions from Oltenia region that included 1-2 young girls, now obsolete.
Dancers wear white trousers and white tunics, with brightly coloured ribbons streaming from their hats. Bells are attached to their ankles, and dances include the use of sticks held upright whilst dancing, or pointing at the ground as a prop.
Like many morris dances, in many traditions căluşari dancers include a fool, known as the “nebun”, or “mute”.
The dance includes the following elements.
- The starting figure of walking (plimbări), or a basic step, in a circle moving counter clockwise.
- More complex figures (mişcare) performed in place between walking steps.
- Figures are formed from combinations of elements, often have a beginning-middle-end structure
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