Shopski dances

The movements and accents in the shop dances are often directed down to the ground. It's as if the shop is fighting, crushing and trampling some imaginary enemy who has fallen to the ground. At other times, the movements and accents are directed upwards - with a pronounced desire to detach from the ground. To onlookers, it seems as if the shop first fights with its opponent, and then rejoices and is proud of its victory.
In the construction of the Shopska dances there are two types of movements - basic and active (commands). The main ones are "Shopska", "Graovka", "Rachenichna". They appear as a solder between the various active movements. The whole body participates in the active movements, they are wider, larger, with more movement in space, while the main ones are smaller and smaller and are performed almost on the spot. This contrast between the two types of movements is an essential feature of the Shoppe dances.
The most popular and performed in almost all regions of the Shopska region is the "led" dance "For the belt", also called "Rural", "Shopsko for the belt", "Tarchano", "The mill", "One-sided", "In place" etc. Typical for the construction of this dance is that it consists of 10 bars in size 2/4 or 7/16 with a third long section.