Elevate February 2018 | Air Serbia

T here can be no genuine celebra- tion in Serbia without the Serbian kolo dance. It is danced by young and old alike, in all parts of the country. The regular names its variations carry include užičko, moravac, Žikino, kuku- nješ, retko, moravsko kolo etc. When the music starts, the legs leap on their own. We are recognised worldwide for this lavish dance, and today kolo has become a new element of the cultural heritage of hu- manity. Our traditional folk dance has been included on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Human- ity. Now it can be found shoulder to shoul- der with the tango and flamenco, which are also on this prestigious list. - The word ’kolo’ has multiple mean- ings, as a Pan-Slavic word that most often refers to a circular formation of linked per- formers. Depending on the stylistic features of the dance tradition of certain regions, we can distinguish five ethnochoreologi- cal entities: central Serbia, western Serbia, north-eastern Serbia, south-eastern Serbia and Vojvodina. Each of these areas had its own dance tradition that formed the frame- work within which the dance dialect of our country was shaped. Unfortunately, due to the unification of cultural heritage, they no longer exist in everyday practise, rather on- ly as part of the scenic presentation of folk dances within folklore and cultural-artistic societies – explains Selena Rakočević, eth- nomusicologist and associate professor at the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Music. The basic dance repertoire of central Serbia was represented by walking type dances and so-called “kolos in threes” - moravac, kukunješ, žikino kolo, retko kolo, moravsko kolo etc. - In central Serbia the dominant move- ment was based on the softness of the knees and ankles and little jumps, then variations of these expressions during dancing, while in western Serbia they danced more strong- ly, on the whole foot and without major changes in the basic forms of steps – ex- plains Professor Rakočević. The dance dialect of south-eastern Ser- bia was shaped by the virtuosity of perfor- mance, movement through space and the use of free leg movements that do not car- ry the weight of the body. - The characteristic dances of south- east Serbia are the čačak, rumenka, os�- mača, polomka and many others, and the dances representative of northeast Serbia are the vlaško kolo, keser, pop marinko- vo kolo, đurđevka, osmica etc. The dance style is based on making soft steps with the whole foot on the ground, without any exaggerated variations in the basic steps.

Tradicionalna crnogorska igra kolo na kolo , u kojoj muškarci stoje jedni drugima na ramenima Traditional Montenegrin

dance “kolo on kolo”, in which

men climb on each other’s shoulders

KOLEKTIVNI NARODNI PLES Odluku o upisu kola na Uneskovu reprezentativnu listu nematerijalne kulturne baštine čovečanstva doneo je 7. decembra 2017. međuvladin komitet za očuvanje nema- terijalnog kulturnog nasleđa na 12. redovnom zasedanju koje je održano na ostrvu Čedžu, u Južnoj Koreji. U od- luci se, između ostalog, objašnjava: „Kolo je tradiciona- lan, kolektivni narodni ples koji izvode plesači međusob- no povezani tako da formiraju lanac, a obično se krecu ukrug držeci se za ruke. Izvodi se uz muzičku pratnju na privatnim i javnim okupljanjima i uključuje sve članove lokalne zajednice. Kolo ima važnu integrativnu društvenu funkciju i simbol je nacionalnog identiteta...“ COLLECTIVE FOLK DANCE The decision to include the kolo on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity was made on 7 th December 2017 by the Intergovernmental Commit- tee for the Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage, at its 12 th regular session, held on the Korean island of Je- ju. Among other factors, the decision to include it was ex- plained as: “the kolo is a traditional, collective folk dance performed by dancers who are interlinked to form a chain, usually moving in a circular line holding hands with their arms down. It is performed to the accompaniment of music at private and public gatherings and involves all members of the local community. Kolo has an important integrative social function, it is a symbol of national identity...”

Igra iz jugoistočne Srbije

Dance from southeast Serbia

Teško oro , muška narodna igra iz jugoistočne Srbije Hard Dance, male folk dance from southeast Serbia

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