Kolo

What it is

Kolo is danced in a group, and the group can be small or large: three people at the least, several dozen at most. The dancers join hands, or hold each other around the waist, and arrange themselves in a ring, in one long chain, or in several lines running side by side. Almost all the movement happens below the waist. The few basic steps can be picked up quickly, which is why newcomers are able to join in. Skilled dancers show what they can do by adding flourishes of their own. The repertoire is local: a district or village will have its own kolo, and no dancer knows every one.

Music and dress

The music that carries a kolo is usually quick. The version most often met, the narodno kolo or drmeš, follows a standard step and is played on the accordion. Antonín Dvořák drew on the dance for his Slavonic Dances, where the Serbian kolo is the seventh piece of opus 72. Dress changes from one area to the next. Costumes in neighbouring areas tend to look alike, so two villages near each other may be hard to tell apart by clothing alone. Dancers taking part in a social ceremony often wear the dress that belongs to their own district.

Where it is danced

Kolo belongs to gatherings. It is performed at weddings and at social, cultural and religious ceremonies, which is why it turns up at both family celebrations and wider community events. Not every dance is for everyone. Some are danced by men and women together, while others are kept for men alone or for women alone. Because the basic step is shared, a large group can move as one, and the ring lets many people take part at the same time.

Neighbours and relatives

Ring dances of this kind are not confined to one country. In Bulgaria a similar dance is called horo, and in North Macedonia and Montenegro it is called oro. Hungarian communities came under the influence of the tradition as well: at Laslovo a comparable dance goes by the name Kalala. North of the Croatian border, in the Mohács area of Hungary, where many ethnic Croats once lived, the dance is still kept, and it now forms part of life for the wider population there too.

Heritage listing

In 2017 Serbia brought kolo onto UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, under the title Kolo, traditional folk dance. The entry names Serbia as the state party behind it. What is listed is a living practice, carried on by people, rather than a monument or a made object. The dance itself stays local: a district's version belongs to that district, and the steps, tunes and costumes travel with the dancers who keep them.

How Kolo is kept

Any number of people can take part, from three upward to several dozen. They hold hands, or hold each other by the waist, and make a circle, a single chain or parallel lines. There is little movement above the waist; the work is done by the feet. A handful of basic steps are easy to learn, so a beginner can step in beside experienced dancers, who may add ornamental flourishes. The music is quick. At weddings and ceremonies the dress worn is often the one particular to that district.

When and where

Kolo is tied to occasions rather than to the calendar, so it has no single date. It is danced when people come together: at weddings, at social and cultural ceremonies, and at religious ceremonies. That means it can be seen at any point in the year, whenever a family or a community has something to mark.

The name kolo is used in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. Croatian communities north of the border, around Mohács in Hungary, also keep the dance, where it has spread beyond the Croatian population. Nearby countries have related ring dances under other names: horo in Bulgaria, oro in North Macedonia and Montenegro, and Kalala at Laslovo.

Questions people ask about Kolo

See also

HoraA circle dance from Southeast Europe, danced at weddings and festivalsBread and saltBread and salt offered to a guest: a welcome kept from Russia to AlbaniaHoronLine dances of Turkey's eastern Black Sea coast, danced with shaking shouldersAgbadzaAn Ewe music and dance, born of war songs and kept for funerals, weddings and festivals

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle
• Kolo, traditional folk danceUNESCO, Heritage listing
• Kolo, traditional folk danceUNESCO, Article

• Kolo (dance) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.