TRADITIONAL STAGE DANCE

Abstract

The basic conclusions which were drawn during the research, show that the interviewees prefer to watch/dance the national dances of South-East Serbia. During the performance of which choreographies does the audience react most, the question is posed to the dancers, and the answer is: national dances from South-East Serbia. If we ask the dancers, which choreographies they would like to introduce in their culture and art society, the answer is always: the national dances from South-East Serbia. Interviewees cite that some of the main reasons why they enjoy in watching or dancing these national dances are: the fact that these dances are very vivacious/temperamental, attractive and fast. The music, the rhythm, the choreography, the dance patterns, the style of dance and the traditional garments of these dances are way behind the first reason why people prefer dances from this region. In addition, the results of the research also suggest that audience and dancers know most about the national dances from South-East Serbia. If one compares the answers and selects them according to terrains, even according to gender structure, one gets the same answers, hence the answers don't depend on political or contextual situation, and the affinity for certain ethnochoreological unit is completely based on the features of the stage appearance. After analyzing repertoire on these terrains, I can conclude that on contemporary scene the choreographies of South-East Serbia are exclusively dominant, that the number of dances from North-East Serbia is decreasing, and that dances from West Serbia have almost disappeared from these repertoires. Only the dances from Central Serbia and Vojvodina still ''survive'' on the folklore scene, but unless we introduce certain measures in order to change the consciousness of dancers, audience and artistic leaders, these will soon be forgotten as well. The problem of folklore stage performance exists from the very beginning, when the first choreographers introduced national dance to the stage (the end of the 1940's), and the affinity towards the acceleration of the choreographies is not only the feature of the 21st century, but this tendency has been constantly developing through time. When there is not enough original content which would keep attention of both dancers and spectators, and we want the applause at any price, there is a tendency to accelerate the choreographies. Furthermore, the acceleration of the lifestyle in the post-war years, the introduction of the new instruments in orchestra represent some additional elements which have influence on the acceleration of the choreographies. Nowadays the audience doesn't have patience to enjoy in the style of performance, but in the rapidly achieved result, and consequently slower performance is perceived as boring and unattractive. Aside from the acceleration of choreographies, the phenomenon of a spectacle on the stage is unavoidable today, as well. The choreographies from South-East Serbia are always performed last at the concert, probably because during these performances they can achieve a spectacle, and it comes as no surprise that the audience remembers them best. At present, creating of choreographies is commonly monotonous and the same, and as a result the audience hasn't developed sufficient level of criticism. When it comes to "the taste" during this period of research, it appears that the dances from South-East Serbia are at the top of the list. It can be said that the public taste is one of the main factors concerning the orientation of folklore scene. This taste lasts over 60 years, thus it can be used in certain moments to mark the peculiarity of one social system in Serbia.