| Formation | Open circle. V-hold. |
|---|---|
| Dance Structure | Single sequence repeated throughout music. |
| Music Structure | 5 beats/bar, 2 counts/bar, 8 bar phrases. |
| Music Speed | 180 counts/min (for this recording). |
| Alternative Names |
'Pajduško' was how it was spelled when I learnt this particular version. 'Pajdusko' is it in ASCII by removing the accents. However I have also been taught versions with names including 'Pajdushko', 'Pajduška', 'Pajduško Horo', 'Pajduško oro', 'Païduško', 'Paidushko', 'Paidusko', 'Paiduško', 'Pajdushko Horo', 'Pajduska', 'Pajdusko', 'Pajdusko Horo', 'Baidouska', 'Baïdouska' & 'Baidusku' because it is popular in several countries and because the Cyrillic & Greek alphabet ones have multiple ways of transliterating into Latin. A 'mouth harp' is also traditionally called a 'Jew's harp'. |
| Music | Pajduško played with lead soloist on a mouth harp. In particular, played by the long lasting London Balkan dance band, Dunav, with Naren Kotiyan as the soloist. |
| Source | Pajduško in general from many events. This particular version was from Brian Dowsett in a Balkanplus party in London in 2021. |
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 an event where it is danced.
Pajduško is ubiquitous across much of Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Greece & neighbouring areas with numerous variations in steps. This particular one I notated because it is a 16-bar one, fitting the music rather than crossing the music like many do. Also I liked the distinctive mouth harp music it was done to.
The main distinctive features of a Pajduško the 5 beat meter (in Western musical notaton) danced as 2 counts with the beats grouped 2-3 and the use of a lift or hop on the first count followed by step onto the foot which was raised - the opposite of a conventional skipping step. That lift-step is hence sometimes referred to as a "Pajduško step". The rest of the dance can vary between countries, regions, dancers etc. but the dance sequence nearly always starts with some Pajduško steps to the right facing in the direction of travel. Usually that is followed by travelling a bit to the left whilst facing the centre either by R across infront & L to the side or a Grapevine. Then typically something on the spot or moving forwards & backwards that includes some more Pajduško steps or step-hops. If the sequence gets beyond that then it has probably been choreographed at some stage & can be longer or more varied or involve variations between repeats. Some versions cross the music, some do not.
For simplicity I notate the counts below as "ONE Two-a" rather than conventional beats of "ONE-two Three-four-five".
(Instrument terminology: A "mouth harp" is most commonly, traditionally & historically called a "Jew's harp" in the UK, indeed records of the name date back to the 15th century. However, I used the "mouth harp" in the title of these notes lest some automated web filtering system or some ignorant reader mistakes it for derogatory language. The instrument name is not etymologically related to Judaism; possibly it derived from "jaw's harp".)
Style: Varies as it is so widespread & typically a casual party dance so can be anything from subdued to showing off.
Summary: None.
No specific introduction for this version of the tune. Start at beginning of any phrase.
Summary: Facing R, (R lift & step infront, mirror) x 2. Facing centre, (R across infront, L side behind) x 4. (R lift & step across infront, L in place, R close), mirror. (R lift infront & step back, mirror) x 2.
| Start | Facing acw around the circle. Weight on L foot. V-hold. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
||||
| 2 | Repeat bar 1 in mirror image (lift L in front, L forwards (i.e a L Pajdusko Step))). | ||||
| 3-4 | Repeat bars 1-2 (L & R Pajdusko Steps, making 4 steps in total). | ||||
| 5 |
|
||||
| 6-8 | Repeat bar 5 (R across infront, L side behind) 3 times more (making it 4 across-side step sequences in to total). | ||||
| 9 |
|
||||
| 10 |
|
||||
| 11-12 | Repeat bars 9-10 in mirror image (L lift & step across infront, R in place, L close). | ||||
| 13-14 | As bars 1-2 but stepping backwards (though still lifting forwards) (R lift infront, R back, L lift infront, L back). The degree of travelling backwards is very small as there is no explicit travelling forwards in the dance sequence to compensate for it & is just fudged in spread somewhere over the travelling in bars 1-8. | ||||
| 15-16 | Repeat bars 13-14 (R lift infront, R back, mirror all). |