I must admit that I had hoped/imagined that there would be gypsies dancing on tables, but its actually some modern variation of this going on in the clubs in Bulgaria...even in the charming little town of Plovdiv.
A musical genre that is ready to be exported??
hahah...
Chalga (Чалга) is a form of Bulgarian popular music drawing from Balkan folk traditions and incorporating Arabic, Turkish, Greek, and Roma (Gypsy) influences, as well as motifs from Balkan traditional music, flamenco and klezmer music.
Often indistinguishable from Bulgarian pop music, it remains popular as music played in dance clubs and pubs. It is denigrated as a second-rate musical genre and originating from foreign sources, and its lyrics are gnerally considered to be banal and pointless by most educated Bulgarians. Critics of the genre have frequently complained that chalga fans are uneducated or unrefined; some of them refer to the genre as truck driver or taxi driver music. Chalga is known for repetitious themes and hook-laden dance rhythms. Its commercial exploitation has resulted in a vibrant night scene, especially in Sofia (the capital of Bulgaria) and Varna, as well as many televised videos featuring extravagantly glamorized singers. Azis, a Roma cross-dresser, epitomizes the cheap and addictive quality of the genre...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalga
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2 comments:
this is great! we def should bring this to the states ;) oh what i miss about the region... x,
steph
it was strange to see my American roommate in Bulgaria to dance to this music... part of a tourist experience:)
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