We have been following the folklore group KUD Jelsa for over a year now, attending as much performances as we can as it is something my little daughter enjoys very much. We usually come bit earlier to catch a seat in the front row, so we don´t miss a thing, when the performance starts.
The folklore group is relatively young, formed just few years ago, but it is growing fast and have several sections – adult performers, a women klapa, mandolin section (newly started), older girls, younger girls and little children section.
The last night program was a selection of folklore from the island, and other Dalmatian regions with live mandolin performance, klapa singing and various dances and children´s traditional games.
As the leader of the KUD Jelsa Perica Mileta mentioned in her introduction speech, the folklore group is trying to preserve those almost forgotten traditions and hope to transfer their love to the younger generation, which seems to be working with the number of kids dancing the traditional dances and playing traditional games.
Watching the little ones perform those games made me think about how strange our society has changed in those last few years. It is not so long ago, when kids were out in the streets to play together the whole day and only came home to eat and sleep. Today, our kids need to attend special folklore school classes to learn those games. And they learn them not to be able to play in the street, but to be included in a cultural event as a performance. I wonder, if this is going to preserve the tradition or are we forcing it to stay artificially, which won´t help bringing it back to the real life.
Anyway, kids still play in the streets, on Pjaca and elsewhere, just a bit different then we did and our grandparents did and we and the tourists are enjoying these folklore performances by KUD Jelsa and hope, there will be many more.
The only thing I wish for next time is a bit colder wheather, as dancing in those long sleeves and long skirts (which for sure had a petticoat) must have been pretty hard on 30+ at 10 pm.
Thank you KUD Jelsa for performing for us. (Sorry for the low quality of the photos, lights were dimmed to create the right atmosphere for the dancing, not so much for taking pictures.)
For more information about the upcoming events and more performances by KUD Jelsa, visit our Events page.
