Bobbers Jumpers Fancy Sword Dances Are On The Prestige List

At the very end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, music composer Leoš Janáček came to Strání specifically for him Before that, the Zlín linguist and ethnographer František Bartoš wrote about him, who obtained more accurate information from the Strana teacher Alois Doufalík.

And Moravian ethnographer František Pospíšil devoted his whole life to it We are talking about a special men's circle dance, which is part of the carnival tours in Strání, Komni and Bystřice pod Lopeníek.

It is not entirely clear where exactly the sword dance originated, but the first mention of this region dates back to 1784 Now this historically documented and still alive folk custom has become the 31st item in the prestigious List of Intangible Assets of Traditional Folk Culture of the Czech Republic.

It is the fifth tradition for the Zlín region to have earned this honor Two are already on the UNESCO world list.

"We considered sword dances to be a unique manifestation of our region, which should be preserved They form our roots, the memory of where we are from and what was once beautiful here.

In addition, it connects the village even now," pointed out ethnographer, Strány native, former director of the JA Comenius Museum in Uherské Brod and president of the Carnival Traditions Festival in Strány, Pavel Popelka, who participated in the preparation of materials for the application for registration together with the Slovak Museum in Uherské Hradiště The museum is entrusted with the management of the Center for the Care of Traditional Folk Culture of the Zlín Region, and the preparation took more than two years.

Sword dances belong to the oldest manifestations of folk dance culture on the moravian-slovak border They are the prerogative of men.

The dance has been unchanged for centuries and in each village the costumes of the dancers, sabers, songs, steps and dance figures are specific What village a different form of dance In Strání, the sword dance is called Under the Saber and is always danced by five men with wooden sabers accompanied by the figure of the landlord, who leads the round, carries a wooden spit, on which he impales or ties donated kind.

Komňa is represented by a typically painted group of dancers, once conscripts They are the so-called jumpers with perfumes on the lapels of black coats with a scarf around the waist.

In Bystřice pod Lopeníek, dancers called bobkovník have a Turkish scarf around their waist and over their shoulders Here, the dance with wooden sabers is led by a basket maker with a spit and a typically decorated hat, who collects the reward and donations into the basket.

The oldest mention of the saber dance from Uherskobrod region describes the Straňan dance performed at the castle in Uherské Ostroh around 1784 "There are several hypotheses about the origin of the dance.

But they agree that it has something to do with combat With the defeat of the enemy or evil forces, because it is during the carnival season that the forces of the outgoing winter and the incoming spring compete with each other," explained ethnographer Marta Kondrová from the Slovak Museum, who worked on the nomination for the Ministry of Culture.

That is why, for example, there is a tradition in the villages that in Strány it is a dance of bandits, in Bystřice it is a dance of a certain Bobek, a militia commander from the 17th century, in Komni they see a connection with the raids of the Turks and the Bočkaj family in the 16th and 17th centuries Everywhere, however, sword dances are part of the carnival or carnival.

Today's grandparents remember them from their childhood, and their grandchildren also experience them firsthand At the same time, it is not something that men learn in an ensemble.

"Folk ensembles do not play a role in the transmission of dance This tradition is maintained naturally.

Even young children are taught that sword dances are a specialty of their village, and it is then natural for them to improve in them as adults," added the ethnographer "Also, no one has to force or persuade them to do anything.

Even if there is a weaker grade, which in our case means maybe two or three boys in the grade, at sword dances where two groups of four dance, someone older or younger will fill in," explained Martin Gavenda, mayor of Bystřice pod Lopeníek, which has around 800 resident The tradition is also maintained in Komni with 600 inhabitants, where they have one group of dancers.

There, too, it is sometimes necessary to supplement the young people who have just come of age with someone else The most numerous bearer of the tradition is Strání with more than 3,400 inhabitants, where there are also older dancers.

Sword dances are part of the carnival Almost every adult man from the mentioned villages has tried sword dance at least once in his life.

Some were even declared such as Cinderella's grandfather Pavel Vintr from Strání, who was perhaps the most famous dancer in the 40s and 50s "But everyone can learn it, it just takes practice, training and some fitness.

Because when the men go around the entire village, it is physically demanding In addition, it is good that the dancers are also good singers, that's part of it," explained Popelka.

The tradition of sword dances was documented in the past in the villages of Záhorovice and Nezdenice, but today men no longer dance there, they only carry sabres This custom survived both wars and totalitarianism in only three places, although even there they may have experienced years when events did not take place.

"The most problematic thing about researching a lot of traditions is that it was such a natural and self-evident part of the year for the local people that the chronicler didn't need to always keep a record of it And since sword dances are not tied to any Christian tradition, that's how they lived their lives even during totality," indicated Kondrová.

The visible change is related to the term While in the past there was always dancing on the last days before Ash Wednesday, which begins the forty-day fasting period before Easter, i.

e on Monday or Tuesday, now in Bystřice and Komni they are part of the weekend.

On weekdays, they continue the tradition only in Strání, where the Tuesday parade of groups of dancers is part of the festival, which is in its 36th year this year .