BRÂUL LUI IOŞCA Romanian
PRONUNCIATION:	BREWL looee YOHSH-kah The -ul ending, pronounced "-oo" (colloquial) or "-ool" (more formal usage) is a form of the Romanian definite article, the equivalent of English "the;" hence brîu = "belt," brîul = "the belt."
TRANSLATION:	The belt dance of Joseph (Joseph's dance)
SOURCE:	Dick Oakes learned this dance from Mihai David who learned it while he was with the Romanian Folk Ballet. A brâu is a belt, but the word is used to describe a class of dances.
BACKGROUND:	The brâu was originally named for the way the dancers were linked together by holding each other's belts ("brâu," literally "belt" in Romanian). Today, however, dances in this class also are seen with low handholds or shldr holds. They are typically characterized by their powerful dynamism.
MUSIC:	The Lark Romanian Dances (45rpm) MD-3701
FORMATION:	Lines of mixed M and W with hands on shldrs of neighbors, free hand may be held out to side as if on another shldr.
METER/RHYTHM:	2/4
STEPS/STYLE:	There is a light feeling to all parts of the dance. Fig I and Fig II are danced with the wt mostly on the ball of the ft.
MEAS	MOVEMENT DESCRIPTION
	INTRODUCTION
	None.
I.	WALKING R AND L
1	Facing slightly R and moving R in LOD, step R (ct 1); step L across in front of R (ct 2);
2	Step R (ct 1); close L to R without wt, turning to face slightly L (ct 2);
3-4	Repeat action of meas 1-2 to L in RLOD with opp ftwk.
5-8	Repeat action of meas 1-4.
II.	RUNNING TWO-STEPS AND CROSS-OVER
1	Facing ctr and bending slightly at waist, step R fwd (ct 1); step L next to R (ct &); step R fwd (ct 2); pause (ct &);
2	Repeat action of meas 1 fwd with opp ftwk.
3	Still facing ctr, step R far across in front of L, bending L knee (ct 1); step L bwd (ct 2).
4	Step R bwd (ct 1); step L next to R (ct &); step R bwd (ct 2); pause (ct &).
5-8	Repeat action of meas 1-4 fwd with opp ftwk
9-16	Repeat action of meas 1-8.
III.	LEAPS AND THREES-WITH-STAMPS
1	Facing to L, leap R across in front of L (ct 1); leap L back to place, turning to face R (ct 2);
2	Facing R and moving in LOD, step R (ct 1); step L (ct &); step R (ct 2); stamp L lightly next to R without wt (ct &);
3	Continuing in LOD, step L (ct 1); step R (ct &); step L (ct 2); stamp R lightly next to L without wt (ct &);
4	Continuing in LOD, step R (ct 1); step L (ct &); step R (ct 2); pause (ct &).
5-8	Repeat action of meas 1-4 to L in RLOD with opp ftwk.
9-16	Repeat action of meas 1-8.
	Repeat entire dance from beg.
Copyright © 2012 by Dick Oakes