Kornel Ujejski, often referred to as the “last great poet of Romanticism,” set one of his tragic ballads somewhere along the Danube on the Balkan Peninsula. Some mysterious Serbs listen to the narrator’s tales of love, jealousy, revenge for betrayal... However, in The Black Shawl we also find motifs of music - “Oh the lyre-player, strum the strings with your lively fingers” - and a wedding feast with song and wine... For music, dance and song are as inseparably interwoven with Serbia as the shimmering waves of the Danube and Sava, gazed upon by the proud, hill-mounted walls of Kalemegdan.
The DOM KULTURE IZVOR ensemble are not coming to the Festival from the capital. Valjevo, the ensemble’s home city in the Kolubara region lies about a hundred kilometres from Belgrade. Not that far. However, this is not important, as the ensemble, which has been active for 21 years, primarily presents Serbian dances from all over the country, in addition to Montenegrin or Gypsy dances.
The two decades of activity have allowed IZVOR to accumulate some thirty awards won at folk competitions. They cherish the most the one they brought from London. Besides, they have presented their dance tradition at international festivals in Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy, Austria and Bulgaria.
At this year’s FESTIVAL, DOM KULTURE IZVOR, led by Vladimir Babanović, will present the Serbian national dance, with a special focus on the western part. We will see three choreographic routines: “Soko sedi," “Zapadna Srbija” and “Druganje;” and the songs that will provide accompaniment for the Valjevo ensemble’s performance come from all over Serbia.
The two decades of activity have allowed IZVOR to accumulate some thirty awards won at folk competitions. They cherish the most the one they brought from London. Besides, they have presented their dance tradition at international festivals in Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy, Austria and Bulgaria.
At this year’s FESTIVAL, DOM KULTURE IZVOR, led by Vladimir Babanović, will present the Serbian national dance, with a special focus on the western part. We will see three choreographic routines: “Soko sedi," “Zapadna Srbija” and “Druganje;” and the songs that will provide accompaniment for the Valjevo ensemble’s performance come from all over Serbia.