Croatian sword dances
Korcula
The island of Korcula, north of Dubrovnik, is home to a sword dance first recorded in 1620. This dance is called the Kumpanija and is traditionally performed by sides from several villages in the town of Blato on St. Vincent's day, 28th April. The dance includes flag waving, a linked sword dance and scenes of mock combat and reconciliation. The original dance had 21 figures, and the whole process lasted two to three hours, but modern performances are somewhat abridged! It is still performed today. The origin is unknown, but another non-sword dance on the island, the Moreska, is believed to have been imported from Italy when the Dalmatian coast was part of the Venetian Republic.
Lastovo
Croatia's other native sword dance is from the island of Lastovo, near Korcula on the Dalmatian coast. This dance was part of an elaborate ceremony, called the Pokladari, was traditionally performed on Epiphany, 6th January. A group of male singers and players of the lirica (a crude local string instrument) in accompany a uniformed straw dummy (the Poklad) brought on the back of a male donkey to the top of the cliffs above the town, which then undergoes a mock execution ritual where it slides down a rope to the town with intermittent explosions from small bombs suspended below it as it descends.
When the Poklad lands in the town, it is surrounded by the sword dancers and struck with the swords. This is followed by a sword dance with two rows of dancers starting with clashes of the swords between the rows, followed by dancers being linked in pairs with the swords, then forming a long hilt-and-point chain which snakes around under an arch of swords in a way similar to that of the Italian Fenestrelle and Bagnasco sword dances. The dance is performed with wooden swords due to a law banning real swords in the dance, apparently introduced after a real swordfight broke out during the performance in 1866!
The ceremony then continues into the evening as a carnival, with a further performance of the sword dance, and the Poklad is ritually burnt towards the end of the evening.
