Joc Din Gânţaga (Romania)

Joc Din Gânţaga

Romania

These notes ©2017, Andrew Carnie. Originally taught by Sonia Dion and Cristian Florescu. I learned the dance from Nancy Bannister.  The dance is from Hunedoara in Transylvania.

Music: Sonia Dion and Cristian Florescu Romanian Realm 7 or 8
Meter: 2/4
Formation: Either of couples in a shoulder/shoulder blade hold or small circles in Shoulder hold.
Introduction: 8 bars no action

Part 1:

Bar 1: Facing slightly R of partner/center, step R to R (1), Cross L over R (2)
Bar 2: Step R in place (1), Step L next to R (&), Step R in place (2)
Bars 3-4: repeat bars 1-2 with opposite footwork and direction
Bars 5-8: repeat bars 1-4

Part 2:

Bar 1:Facing slightly R of partner/center, step R to R (1), Cross L over R (2)
Bar 2: repeat bar 1
Bar 3: repeat bar 1
Bar 4: Step R in place (1), Step L next to R (&), Step R in place (2)
Bars 5-8: repeat bars 1-4 with opposite footwork and direction.

Part 3:

Bar 1: Facing partner/center Step R in place (1), Step L next to R (&), Step R in place (2)
Bar 2: repeat bar 1 with opposite footwork
Bar 3: Step on R to R (1), Cross L over R (2), Step on R to R (&)
Bar 4: Cross L over R (1), Step on R to R (&), Cross L over R (2)
Bars 5-8: repeat bars 1-4
Bars 9-16: repeat bars 1-8

repeat dance from the beginning

Tucson Video

Below is the footwork for the dance, but note that the dance is supposed to be done in couples or small circles. 

Lyrics

Taken from Cristian and Sonia's Syllabus verbatum:

//Nevastă de când ne-am luat trai, la, lai, la, la 
Nici un lucru n-ai lucrat trai, la, lai, la, la // 
Că hainele-s nespălate lai, la, lai, la, la
Și cămașa-i ruptă-n spate lai, la, lai, la, la.

//Lasă-mă bărbate-n pace lai, la, lai, la, la 
Și mie necaz nu-mi face lai, la, lai, la, la// 
Că lumea ziua de-ntâi lai, la, lai, la, la
O ține pentru copii lai, la, lai, la, la.

//Iar marțea doamne ferește lai, la, lai, la, la 
Cine lucră bolnăvește lai, la, lai, la, la// 
Miercurile zile grele lai, la, lai, la, la
Și eu mă feresc de ele lai, la, lai, la, la.

//Joi cusu-i cu ață neagră lai, la, lai, la, la 
Și-am zăcut o vară-n treagă lai, la, lai, la, la// 
Vinerea nu coase nime lai, la, lai, la, la
Nici eu nu te cos pe tine lai, la, lai, la, la 
Sâmbăta-i ziua din urmă lai, la, lai, la, la
Nici de râs și nici de glumă lai, la, lai, la, la, la.

//My wife, since we’ve been married 
You haven’t done a single chore// 
No clothes are washed

And the back of my shirt is torn

//Leave me alone, husband
And don’t give me grief//
The first day (Monday)
Everyone reserves for making babies.

//And on Tuesday, oh my goodness! 
Whoever works falls ill//
And Wednesday is a difficult day 
And I avoid it.

//Thursday I sewed with black thread 
And was sick in bed all summer// 
On Friday, no one sews
And neither do I!
Saturday, the last day
No laughing, no funny business. 

Other sources

• Dion, Sonia and Cristian Florescu (2017) Laguna Folk Dance Camp syllabus

Also spelled: Gantaga, Ganţaga, Gântaga