SÂRBA PE BĂTAIE Romanian
PRONUNCIATION:	SEUR-bah pay buh-TAI-yeh
TRANSLATION:	Stamping sârba (literally, Serbian on stamps)
SOURCE:	Dick Oakes learned this dance from Gordon Engler who collected the source material for this dance from the Romanian Folk Ensemble during the group's 1966 United States tour.
BACKGROUND:	The "stamping sârba" is the basic sârba step, found in many parts of Romania. This one is from Braşov, the capital of Braşov Judetz (county) in Transylvania. The city is notable for being the birthplace of the national anthem of Romania. Like many other cities in Transylvania, Braşov is also home for a significant ethnic Hungarian minority.
MUSIC:	Woodlands (45rpm) W-6804 Mendocino (45rpm) 104
FORMATION:	Closed cir of mixed M and W with hands grasping neighbors' near shldrs in "T" pos.
METER/RHYTHM:	2/4
STEPS/STYLE:	When the leg is raised in front of the supporting leg, it starts fwd with extended knee and toe to about a 45-degree angle, and then the knee is bent without raising the ft any farther. The swd steps are danced with a straight-legged action, although the ankles are very flexible.
MEAS	MOVEMENT DESCRIPTION
	INTRODUCTION
	None.
I.	SÂRBA
1	Step R swd (ct 1); raise extended L leg in front of R (ct &); step L swd (ct 2); raise extended R leg in front of L (ct &);
2	Step R swd (ct 1); step L across in back of R (ct &).
	Step R swd (ct 2); raise extended L leg in front of R (ct &);
3	Step L swd (ct 2); raise extended R leg in front of L (ct &);
	Step R swd (ct 1); step L across in back of R (ct &).
4-15	Repeat action of meas 1-3 four more times
16	Repeat action of meas 1.
II.	BĂTAIE
1	Step R swd (ct 1); step L across in back of R (ct &);
	step R swd (ct 2); stamp L next to R without wt (ct &);
2	Repeat action of meas 1 to L with opp ftwk;
3	Repeat action of meas 1;
4	Step L swd (ct 1); stamp R next to L without wt (ct &); stamp R next to L without wt (ct 2); pause (ct &).
5-8	Repeat action of meas 1-4 one more time.
	Repeat entire dance from beg.
Copyright © 2012 by Dick Oakes