Шопска Област
Shoppe Region
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The Shoppe region, or Bulgarian Shopska oblast, is located at the western end of Bulgaria (number 6 in the image). It is the most populated region and contains the capital Sofia. It shares a border with Serbia which slightly influences folklore. To the north, it goes to the Great Balkan (mountain range) and to the south to Rila. This region is distinguished by its great joie de vivre, its dynamism and its character.
Danse
Dance
In this region, the dance requires very good coordination, because the movements are sudden and rapid. It is a complex and dynamic dance that requires incredible agility and lightness to give the spectator the impression that the dancer hardly touches the ground. During the dance, the dancers hold one another by the belt. In addition, they must jump with great energy and keep their legs high.
Posture is very important in this style of dance. The dancer must be close at all times and keep his head high. Typical movements are hlopki (bring your two heels together), spusaci (light kicks forward) kosichki (lift your right leg and bend your knees over your left leg) and shopsko natrisane (jump with both feet at the same time to the right or to the left and alternate). In addition, it is common to make circles with your feet on the ground or in the air.
The famous dances of this region are:
graovsko horo
petrunino horo
shopska rachenica
Traditional Clothes
Women
In this region, there are two types of traditional clothes for both sexes, because at the time, on this territory lived two nations: the graovci and the shopi (shoppes).
The nosiya (costume) shoppe is the left one in the pictures. It consists of a long white shirt richly decorated with red embroidery on the collar, sleeves and bottom, a blue or black sukman embroidered with white patterns and a small embroidered belt (gaitan).
The graovci costume is called shopski litak (right). It is the most popular costume these days in traditional Bulgarian dance ensembles. It is composed of a white shirt, a small tricolor belt and a black litak very richly embroidered with golden sequins on the bottom and around the collar. The embroidered patterns are in rounded shapes like waves.
Men
In men, there are also two main costumes. The two have in common the white shirt with embroidery on the sleeves and the white pants decorated with black patterns on the knees. On the other hand, that of the graovci (on the right) has a sleeveless beige jacket closed by a wide black belt with white stripes.
That of the shoppes (on the left), has a red belt and a short blue jacket with short sleeves. It is open in front and richly decorated with white patterns on the edges.
photos:
http://www.balkanfolk.eu/jenska-sofiiska-shopska-nosiya.php
http://www.balkanfolk.eu/litak-shopska-nosia.php
http://www.balkanfolk.eu/graovska_nosia_bulgarian_costume.php
http://www.balkanfolk.eu/shopski-kostyum-majka-nosiya.php
http://horo.bg/index.php?menunode=13&show=material&materialid=108
https://madamebulgaria.com/photographers-bulgarian-landscape/
Info:
https://cqlo.info/bulgarian-folk-dances/
https://narodninosii.bg/blog/nosii/
https://narodninosii.bg/blog/vizitki-nosii/