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Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc.
DANCING WITH TWO LEFT FEET |
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Webster dictionary defines the word "Gem" as:
- a: Jewel. b: A precious or sometimes semiprecious stone cut and polished for ornament.
- a: Something prized especially for great beauty or perfection. b: A highly prized or well-beloved person.
We all know that gems are well hidden and hard to find and usually require polishing to get their luster. Well, I found such a gem in the raw last year and today, after a year of polishing the gem, it emerged as a bright and shining star.
You are probably wondering why I am talking about gems, when this is a folk dance publication.
The gem I am talking about is a gem of folk dancing. It is the "Annual Summer Folk Fest" hosted by the Serbian Church in San Diego, that gathers young dancers from California and all the way from Toronto, Canada, to perform in a two-hour show of Serbian folklore and dancing.
The smallest gems are as young as four years. Dressed in their various native costumes they executed their dances to perfection. Your heart just goes out seeing the little tots all in sync doing a lesnoto as they waive their handkerchiefs in the air. It makes you realize that folk dance is not dying, but blossoming with little buds that will someday carry on the tradition.
The next is a bit larger gem, and older, if you consider sixteen to eighteen to be old, group of dancers from the "Academy of Serbian Folk Dancing" of Toronto, led by Bata Marčetić. Over the years I have seen professional groups, and I can tell you that this group is light years ahead of many of them. They're youthful enthusiasm, vitality, and the fun they have, is what make their performance unique. I can imagine them starting to dance years ago, as the small four-year-old dancers by doing the simple lesnoto dances and growing older over the years, their dances becoming the fast and lively u šests and čočeks they perform today.
After two hours, group after group out doing each other, I am sitting in my chair exhausted. The young dancers stream by, now changed from their colorful costumes into plain street clothes. They look like any teenage group, joyfully chattering with each other and totally unaware of the talent they showed on the stage.
The gem I saw on stage today goes into hiding once again, only to emerge in a brighter splendor next year.
Printed in Folk Dance Scene, "DANCING WITH TWO LEFT FEET (37), September 2008.