Bistritsa Babi (Bistritsa Grandmothers)

The Bistritsa Babi are the most popular women from Bistritsa (a village near Sofia), known for their authentic folklore performance throughout the world. The group was established over 65 years ago and includes now 9 women. In 2005 the Bistritsa Babi were proclaimed a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Bulgaria applied with the project Bistritsa Babi - Archaic Polyphony, Dances and Ritual Practices from the Shoplouk Region, managed by professor Mila Santova from the Folklore Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Science. The Bistritsa Babi were the first nominated from Southeastern Europe and competed with group from all parts of the world. Some of the other proclaimed World Masterpieces were the cultural heritage from Japan, China, India, Peru, Bangladesh, Columbia, etc. The requirement was to demonstrate authentic folklore – dated back to the pre-Christian ages. The performance of the Bistritsa Babi encompasses diaphony, or what is known as shoppe polyphony, ancient forms of the horo chain dance and the ritual practice of lazarovane, an initiation ceremony for young women. Diaphony is a specific type of polyphonic singing in which one or two voices build the melody consisting of izvikva meaning to shout out and buchi krivo meaning “crooked rumbled roars”, while the other singers hold a monotonic drone that is doubled or trebled to produce a more sonorous sound that accompanies the lead singers. The women, dressed in traditional costumes, usually hold each other by the waist or belt and dance in a circle, stepping lightly and moving counter-clockwise. A number of variations are performed within this structure, depending on the song and the ritual purpose. One specific feature of the performance is that the rhythm of the music and dance performance is asynchronous.