80 years of preserving Croatian folk heritage

"Because true art comes from three hearts" is the title of the festive concert of the Zagreb-Markovac Folklore Ensemble, which marked 80 years of uninterrupted work and preservation of Croatian traditional heritage yesterday at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall.

More than 350 performers left the audience in Lisinski breathless with their synergy of dance, song, music and acting.

They called the concert "Because true art comes from three hearts", and the hearts were woven from the "hearts" of smaller and older children, a representative ensemble that consists of a young striking force, and veterans who have lived folklore their whole lives and who fully enjoy being on stage.

They prepared a rich program for the celebration - from excellent premieres of songs and dances from the Našice region, through Baranja, Slavonia, Zagorje, Međimurje, Draganići, Turopolje, Posavina, Podravina... to songs and dances of Croats living outside the Republic of Croatia: from Devinsko Novo Selo in Slovakia and from Herzegovina. Of course, for the end and grand finale there was the performance of Podravske svata, by the doyen of our ethnochoreology, Ivan Ivančan PhD.

Almost all of the choreographies performed are among the very top of Croatian folklore creation, and those that are not currently, we believe will become so. And we should especially praise the children's ensemble, which was more than excellent!

It was a continuous, flowing program where the past, present and future intertwined. "We live in the present, we live for the future, we do not forget the past..."

The ensemble's leadership should be congratulated on a successfully performed concert of an extremely complex and demanding program, and on bringing together so many young performers, whose courage and energy were, indeed, a pleasure to watch.

Finally, we congratulate all the performers and wish them many more dance performances, and that they persist in their personal development as artists and preserve top-notch folklore amateurism, because we want to see them on stage for many more years.

Source: HRT