[Cz-L] Hora

I am as proud, opinionated and chauvinist a Bukowiner, as anyone,
but the assertion "the Hora is certainly not Greek, it comes from
the area of Bukowina and western Ukraine ..." is just not correct.
The dance may have been picked up by the Jews of the Bukowina,
possibly at the Chassidic courts of Sadagora and Wiznitz and reached
Israel that way, but...

The word Hora, is derived from the Greek word "chorea" which is first
mentioned by Homer in the Iliad and refers to a circle dance. This dance
is again mentioned in the 13th or 14th century in relation to the illness
St. Vitus' Dance. The word "choreography" comes from the same root.
The Hora dance is also danced in Greece and Bulgaria where it is called
"khoro". It was introduced into Romania during the Ottoman empire.
Romanian does not have the "kh" or "ch" sound. Words which start with this
sound, like "cholera" in Romanian become "holera" and even words which in
Latin start with a "c" such as "carta" for map, become "harta"
in Romanian.

Mimi

          
Received on 2006-10-10 18:41:19