Bouncing as a Distinguishable Structural Feature of Srpsko Kolo: Aspects of Identification and Notation

Selena Rakočević

Selena Rakočević University of Arts in Belgrade, Faculty of Music, Department of Ethnomusicology

Keywords: srpsko kolo, movement pattern, bouncing, identification, kinetography

Abstract

Kolo or kolo u tri, as it is termed by scholars, is the most widespread dance genre in Serbia since World War II, which has been considered as a vital symbol of Serbian national identity in recent decades and, consequently, got the adjective srpsko (Serbian). The movement pattern of kolo has been notated in Rudolf Laban’s kinetography many times by various researchers since the 1980s and its microstructural and formal shaping has been the subject of ethnochoreological analysis in Serbia. However, the performing and notational particularities of the stretching and bending leg movements, which affect the vertical motion of the center of gravity of the body – the so-called bouncing, that is its distinguishable characteristic, has not been discussed previously. This article, therefore, explores some aspects of the performance and notation of bouncing in srpsko kolo.

Author Biography

Selena Rakočević, University of Arts in Belgrade, Faculty of Music, Department of Ethnomusicology

Ethnochoreologist and ethnomusicologist focused on diversities of multicultural and multiethnic dance and musical traditions of Serbia, author of four books devoted to traditional dance and music. Curently she is an associated professor at the Department for Ethnomusicology, Faculty of Music, Belgrade and at the Music Department at the Academy of Arts, Novi Sad, where she teaches ethnochoreology. She was a guest lecturer at the Conservatorio Superior de Musica de Vigo (Spain) and Irish World Academy of Music and Dance (Ireland) under the ERASMUS+ . She was a team member of the successful nomination of “Kolo. Traditional Dance in Serbia” for the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO in 2017.