December 15, 2019 - KUD Jedinstvo, one of the oldest, most successful and most celebrated Croatian Cultural Arts Societies, celebrated its 100th birthday with a two-hour music and dance spectacle at the Spaladium Arena in Split on Saturday night.
Slobodna Dalmacija writes that the jubilee celebration took place 100 years after KUD Jedinstvo’s first concert on the stage of the Split National Theater back in 1919, almost exactly to the day.
KUD Jedinstvo and the Split audience of all ages, young and old, who helped celebrate this incredible milestone of traditional culture and Croatian historical heritage, applauded the folklore ensemble, mandolin and tamburitza orchestra, and legendary instrumental and vocal sections.
The audience found themselves in a kind of time machine with over 250 performers from all generations on stage. The repertoire included works by the greats of Croatian music such as Josip Hatze and Ivo Tijardović, to name a few.
Years flew by on the screen above the stage at the beginning of the concert, from 1919 to 2019, while the songs and dances were magnified by photographs and newspaper clippings as witnesses to the rich history of KUD Jedinstvo.
KUD Jedinstvo took the audience on a journey across Croatia, as its folklore repertoire includes dances, songs and music from all parts of the country and the Croatian nation beyond. In addition to a program composed of 16 music and dance acts by prominent experts in Croatian folklore, including choreographic classics such as Branko Šegović's "Vrličko kolo" or Zvonimir Ljevakovic's "Prigorski plesovi", the Split audience also saw the premiere of several completely new choreographies and performances for the occasion.
The performances were accompanied by notes to the audience of the years the acts were first introduced in the repertoire. For example, “from 1951, 1969, 2018” and so on.
The audience’s enthusiasm was aroused by classics such as the "Ličkog kola" and "Hercegovačkog linđa”, while the biggest round of applause was given to the opera "Ero s onoga svijeta".
You can see a video of the spectacular evening below.
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