ŠESTORKA IZ BELA PALANKA Serbian
PRONUNCIATION:	SHEH-stor-kah ees BEH-lah PAH-lahn-kah
TRANSLATION:	Dance in six from Bela Palanka
SOURCE:	Dick Oakes learned this dance from Dick Crum who taught it at the San Antonio College Folk Dance Camp.
BACKGROUND:	There are a number of "Šestorke" found in the Nišava River valley in east Serbia. This one, collected from natives of the towns of Špaj and Bela Palanka by Yugoslav dance researchers Ljubica and Danica Janković in 1934, is no longer danced today. Špaj is a village in the municipality of Bela Palanka, Serbia. Bela Palanka is a small town in the south-east of the country and is surrounded by beautiful countryside and mountains. The town is accessible from the nearby city of Niš by the "Niš Express," buses that run from Niš to Pirot, Babušnica, Dimitrovgrad, and Sofia. The name "Bela Palanka" means "white town."
MUSIC:	Kola (45rpm) K-406
FORMATION:	Lines of mixed M and W holding neighbors' belts in "X" pos with R arm under.
METER/RHYTHM:	2/4
STEPS/STYLE:	The steps are small throughout and are danced close to the floor.
MEAS	MOVEMENT DESCRIPTION
	INTRODUCTION - None.
	THE DANCE
1	Facing and moving R, step R (ct 1); hop R, bringing L fwd in preparation for the step in meas 2 (ct 2).
2	Continuing to R, repeat action of meas 1 with opp ftwk.
3	Facing ctr, step R slightly to R (ct 1); close L to R, taking wt, with L arch near R toe (ct 2).
4	Repeat action of meas 3.
5	Small hop L in place (ct 1); step R in front of L (ct &); step L in place (ct 2).
6	Step R next to L (ct 1); step L in place (ct 2).
7	Repeat action of meas 5.
8	Step R next to L (ct 1); hop R (ct 2).
9-12	Repeat action of meas 5-8 with opp ftwk.
	Repeat entire dance from beg.
Copyright © 2012 by Dick Oakes