| Alternative Names |
'Kalajdžisko' is a Latin transcription by Ibrahim. 'Kalajdzisko' is it reduced to ASCII by missing off the accents. 'Kalajdjijsko' is an alternative Latin transcription by Ibrahim. 'Kalaydzheesko' is an English transcription. 'Kalajdžisko oro' is an alternative name in Latin transcription by Ibrahim. 'Kalajdjijsko oro' is an alternative Latin transcription by Ibrahim. |
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| Formation | Open circle. V-hold (traditionally shoulder hold). |
| Dance Structure | Short sequence repeated throughout the music. |
| Music Structure | 5 counts/bar, 11 beats/bar, 4 bar phrases. |
| Music Speed | Traditional music accelerates from 20 to 120 counts/min. Modern music accelerates from 130 to 165 counts/min. |
| Translation | Tinker (person who repairs tin things, pans & misc.). |
| Source | Mainly from Ibrahim Rizevski at his Macedonian course in Bognor, UK 2004. First learnt from him in Eastbourne International Folkdance Festival 2003. Updates from him in the SIFD Summer School in Swansea, UK 2010. |
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 Ibrahim Rizevski.
A Macedonian dance with a short sequence but which some people find difficult because of the timing, because of asymmetry between bars 1 & 2 or because there are easily confused variations (which can be remedied by missing out the variations, of course).
The music counts "ONE two Three-a four five", i.e. 5 counts with the 3rd one longer. This is conventionally written in Western music notation as 11 beats grouped as 2+2+3+2+2. It is this rhythm that makes even the trivial steps of bars 1 & 2 look & feel interesting. The rhythm is clear in the modern music but often obscured in the traditional gaida music.
The variations were done as blocks of repeats of each variation, done in order and cycled through the variations 2 or 3 times during the dance.
The main difference between the version I wrote down in 2004 from that videoed in 2010 is that in 2010 it stuck to the basic version without variations (which made it easier) and that there were only 3 touches in bar 4 not 4. However Ibrahim's written notes handout in 2010 had 4 touches timed as per my 2004 notes so guess he had recently changed his prefered version. I include both below with the 4 touch one as the main version as it is simpler timing. Also I wrote it down in 2004 as having the pauses on count 2 not count 5 of bar 4, but that was probably my mistake so I have not included that below.
Style: Macedonian. Light, toe leads onto full feet, upright. Staccato, especially in the travelling & lifting of bars 1-2, yet light looking as the quick leg movements are used to allow more time for terminal positions in lifts etc.. Lifts are high (upper leg horizontal, lower leg vertically down, heel slightly turned in, foot slightly pointed down) for both sexes. Travelling section can have light hops & cover a lot of ground with long light steps.
None. Start at the beginning of the music or after a whole number of sequences have passed.
Summary: Travel acw in R lift, R, L lift twice, L, R, L, R lift twice, R. Touch L across & side twice, pause. With feet together, swivel heels R & L twice, pause.
| Start | Facing the centre of the circle. Weight on R foot. | ||||||||||
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| 1 |
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| 2 |
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| 3 |
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| 4 |
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Because of the weak accent on the last count of each bar and because the last step of most bars is a preparatory step for the start of the next bar, those steps feel to me somewhat as if they are in the subsequent bar. This made writing down the steps initially confusing. (E.g. the sequence of 3 steps from bar 1 count 5 to bar 2 count 2 felt like a Triple step squeezed into the beginning of bar 2. That description worked for dancing to but not for writing down.)
The action & pause on counts 4-5 of bars 3-4 was described as a slow action done over those two counts in Ibrahim's 2010 written notes but in practice it looks more like an action followed by a pause so that is how I've notated it above.
Summary: As 4 touch version but in bar 3 touch L across, pause, side & across, pause.
| Start | Facing the centre of the circle. Weight on R foot. | ||||||||||
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| 1-2 | As 4 touch version bars 1-2. | ||||||||||
| 3 |
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| 4 | As 4 touch version bar 4. |
Summary: As Basic but travel with R lift, R, L, R lift, R, L lift, L, R lift twice, R.
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| 2 |
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| 3-4 | As Basic Sequence bars 3-4 (touch L across & side twice, swivel heels R & L twice). |
Summary: As Basic but face acw for L touching & replace swivels with stepping F & B.
| Start | Facing acw around the circle. Weight on R foot. | ||||||||||
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| 1-2 | As Basic Sequence bars 1-2 (travel acw in R lift, R, L lift twice, L, R, L, R lift twice, R) but don't turn to face the centre at the end. | ||||||||||
| 3 | As Basic Sequence bar 3 but done facing acw around the circle (touch L infront across & side twice). | ||||||||||
| 4 |
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