The Odzemek ( Slovak: ''Odzemok'') is a Slovak solo traditional

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

for men, which always has an improvised character. The dance starts out slow and gets faster as the dance goes on, and is traditionally danced in Slovakia and

Moravian Wallachia Moravian Wallachia (, or simply ''Valašsko''; ) is a mountainous ethnoregion located in the easternmost part of Moravia in the Czech Republic, near the Slovakia, Slovak border, roughly centered on the cities Vsetín, Valašské Meziříčí and ...

. The name Odzemok comes from the words 'od zeme,' which means 'from the ground.' Composers such as

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

composed pieces based on these dances. The first dance from the ''

Slavonic Dances The ''Slavonic Dances'' () are a series of 16 orchestral pieces composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1878 and 1886 and published in two sets as Op. 46 and Op. 72 respectively. Originally written for piano four hands, the ''Slavonic Dances' ...

'' Op. 72 is an odzemek.

References

European folk dances Dance forms in classical music {{Europe-dance-stub