Carpathian Dances

The Dances and Their Origins

These dances were gathered by an Austrian soldier of Hutzul descent: Johann Prutynjak — Йоганн Прутинякin in the Cyrillic alphabet — who served with the Austro-Hungarian Empire during 1893-1903. With a good memory and talent for different styles, he picked up many local dances that have not seen the light of day since the end of World War I. 

Though many villages as well as cultural elements of this region died during that war, Johann remembered and shared these dances. He passed them all to his son, who passed them on to his son, Mike Protenic, who shared them with me. I am honored and overjoyed to now be sharing them with the folk dance community.

For notes and instructional videos for these dances, email me directly. There is a small fee to offset my costs. Meanwhile, enjoy these free YouTube videos of Mladost Folk Ensemble demonstrating select dances.

Where the Dances Come From