Valle e dardhes (Albania) (2024)

Table of Contents
Introduction Part A Part B

[Full notes] [Summary notes]

FormationOpen circle with leader at the right hand end. Little fingers W-hold.
PropsScarf or handkerchief in R hand.
Dance Structure((A x 2) + (B x 2)) repeated throughout the music.
Music Structure4 counts/bar, 4 bar phrases.
Music Speed120 bars/min.
SourceSally Fletcher in Ipswich, who learnt it from Cathy Meunier who learnt it from Yves Moreau, in 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.

A gentle dance to beautiful music that is quite simple yet moderately showy due to the scarf use. Done to same music as Valle Dardhare (a more complex dance with fruit picking gestures) which I've learnt from Martin Ihns.

It is syncopated in that the figures & main steps start on the "&" before the strong beats.

Style: Delicate, quiet & reverential. Motions are done throughout the beats they are associated with rather than starting or ending on the peak or start of the beat. Definite (but smooth & soft) up & down motion on the slow steps. In Part A optionally with hands bobbing likewise. The scarf is held by a corner which is wrapped around the middle finger with the long part palm-side. When doing the figure-of-eight gesture, the arm is delicate & relaxed looking with the upper arm only slightly infront of vertically down, the centre of the 8 being where the hand is when the forearm is horizontally straight out infront from there, the loops each extending about 30 cm horizontally & 20 cm vertically and the motion mainly done with little movement of the elbow position.

Introduction

Summary: 1 bar.

There is 1 bar (4 counts) of music as an introduction. As there is a fermata for the '&' at the end of that bar which makes starting the step in the right place slightly disconcerting, it might be easier to wait until the next start of the sequence of music.

Part A

Summary: Travel R forwards in R & L Triple Steps. Travel R backwards in R, L. R side, L close raising & lowering heels.

StartFacing 45 deg cw of the direction to the centre of the circle. W-hold. Weight on L foot.
1
&-1R forwards travelling acw around the circle. This step has a distinct raising & lowering of the centre of mass.
&L close.
2R forwards.
&3-4Repeat counts &1-2 on the opposite feet (L forwards slow with raising & lowering of the centre of mass, R close quick, L forwards quick) travelling in the same direction.
2
&-1Turning to face acw around the circle, R backwards. This step has a distinct raising & lowering of the centre of mass.
&-2Repeat counts &1-1 on the opposite feet (L backwards slow with raising & lowering of the centre of mass).
&Turning to face the centre of the circle, R to the side.
3L close whilst raising both heels off the ground and ending with weight evenly on the balls of both feet.
&Pause.
4Lower both heels to the ground.

Part B

Summary: Scarf hand does horizontal figure-of-eight. Repeat. R side, L across infront, pause. L close raising & lowering heels.

StartFacing the centre of the circle. No hold. L hand behind small of own back. R hand mid torso height infront. Weight on both feet. Knees slightly flexed.
1
&
R HandAt top of R hand loop. Will be moving down L through the centre of the figure-of-eight.
LegsKnees straightened.
1
R HandAt bottom of L hand loop. Will be moving L, up & R around the L side of the figure-of-eight.
LegsKnees flexed.
&
R HandAt top of L hand loop. Will be moving down R through the centre of the figure-of-eight.
LegsKnees straightened.
2
R HandAt bottom of R hand loop. Will be moving R, up & L around the R side of the figure-of-eight.
LegsKnees flexed.
3-4Repeat counts &1-2 (horizontal figure-of-eight with the scarf).
2
&-1R to the side. This step has a distinct raising & lowering of the centre of mass.
&-2L across infront without weight transfer.
&Pause (unlike in Part A bar 2, it does not have a R step because the weight has not been transferred to the L foot).
3-4As Part A bar 2 counts 3-4 (L close to both feet whilst raising both heels, pause, lower heels).

Notes by Andrew Hardwick.
Written 2010/3/24. Updated 2010/4/18 & 2010/6/4.
Contact (email:info@duramecho.com).
Available on-line at http://duramecho.com.

Valle e dardhes (Albania) (2024)
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