Kratko Vlaško Kolo
(Serbia)

[Full notes] [Summary notes] [Other dances & the source code]

Alternative Names 'Kratko Vlaško Kolo' is the original spelling.
'Kratko Vlashko Kolo' is a phonetic English transcription.
'Kratko Vlasko Kolo' is it reduced to ASCII by missing off the accents.
Formation Open circle or short lines, belt hold.
Dance Structure (A x 2 + (B x 4 + C1 + C2) + (B x 4 + D x 2)) x 3
Music Structure 4 counts/bar, 4 bar phrases.
Music Speed 150 counts/min.
Source Madelon Milić at the 2000 Balkan Festival in Zetten.

Disclaimer: Mistakes are quite likely in the notes and no guarantees are made as to accuracy. There may be other versions of the same dance or other dances with the same name. Music may differ, particularly in speed, introduction and duration, between performers. The division into parts, bars & counts might not be standard. These notes of the dance are freely distributable (under GPL or CC-by-sa) in so much as the note's author's contribution but the choreography and/or collection were by other people and so their copyright might apply to the dance itself. Better than using notes, go to a dance class where it is taught by Madelon Milić.

A light crisp dance with a distinctive dramatic chorus (Part B) consisting of scissor-kicks & splats.

Style: Upright, light & balletic.

Introduction

Summary: None musically. Skip a Part A.

Omit one Part A & use its music (4 bars) as the introduction just standing still.

Part A

Summary: (R side, L close) x 3.5, L lift. L forwards, R back. Raise & drop heels facing L & R.

Start Facing centre.
1
1-2 Flat sliding sidestep with R to side with feet pointing forward then L sliding (on 2nd count) to close with both heels turning a bit to the R.
3-4 Repeat counts 1-2.
2 Repeat bar 1 but end with L lifted beside R knee and facing centre.
3
1 L forwards lifting R to beside L knee with toes pointing down.
2 Pause.
3 R backwards lifting L to beside R knee with toes pointing down.
4 Pause.
4
1 L close to stand on both feet with heels raised turning to face 45 deg R of centre. Done sharply to emphasise the pause with heels raised.
&2 Pause
& Drop heels to floor.
3-4& Repeat counts 1-2& but facing 45 deg R of centre.

Part B

Summary: Scissor kick, Splat L, lift L, pause. Triple Steps in place facing L & R.

Start Facing centre.
1
1
Feet Scissor kick ending with L leg raised infront horizontally with knee straight & toes pointed (the scissor kick is a leap in place from L leg raising R leg a bit infront with knee straight then lower R foot to land on it whilst L is raised). This needs to start slightly before the beat to get L raise to top on the beat.
Shout "Hop-".
2
Feet Slap L foot down in front flat footed, straight kneed (it needs R knee bent a little) & noisily. (This step is sometimes called a 'Splat' by English Balkan folkdancers and 'Beetle Crusher' by Cotswold Morris dancers.)
Shout "-Hah!".
3 Stand up straight on R foot raising L foot to beside R knee with toes pointing down.
4 Pause.
2
1&2 Quick small triple step (L R L) in place facing 45 deg L of centre. No hop or lift just a brief pause (Hint: this will give the time for the scissor kick's early start).
3&4 Repeat counts 1-4 on opposite feet (R L R) facing 45 deg R of centre.

A less energetic, but far less spectacular & distinctive, alternative to the scissor kick is to just raise the L leg infront in count.

Part C1

Summary: Diagonally in R with (step-hop) x 2 starting R foot. Diagonally out R with (step x 3, hop).

Start Facing 45 deg to R of centre.
1 Step-hop forwards (i.e. diagonally R with respect to the centre) with R step, hop, L step, hop. When hopping, the raised foot is lifted to beside the other knee with the toes pointing down.
2 Turn 90 deg acw (to face 45 deg L of centre) and triple-step backwards with R step, L step, R step, hop. Raise foot on hop as in bar 1.

Part C2

Summary: C1 but on reversed path.

The same as Part C1 but following the same path in reverse (i.e. forward 45 deg L in bar 1 & backward 45 deg R in bar 2) to original place.

Part D

Summary: Around circle acw forwards in 2 x step-hop & 2 x Triple Step starting R foot. Ditto on opposite feet. Repeat facing backwards.

Start Facing acw around the circle.
1 Step-hop forwards (the same footwork as Part C bar 1. This can travel a long way fast.
2
1&2 Triple Step forwards R, L & R ending with the L foot raised beside the other knee with toes pointing down. (like in Part C bar 2 but twice as fast and with the hop reduced away).
3&4 Repeat counts 1&2 on opposite feet (Triple Step L, R, L).
3-4 Turn to face cw around the circle and repeat the footwork of bars 1-2 but travelling backwards (so the motion is still acw around the circle).

Ending

There was no special ending but it can obviously be adapted so the dancers exit during the last Part D.

Alternative Part D

It has also been done with the footwork of Part C used for Part D as well (i.e. regular step, hop, step, hop, step, step, step & hop instead of step, hop, step, hop & 2 quick triple steps with hops).

Notes by Andrew Hardwick.
Written 2001/11/25. Summary added 2007/8/18 & 2007/8/19.
Contact (email:info@duramecho.com).
Available on-line at http://duramecho.com.