Staging the Orient: Transposition and Orientalisation of Traditional Dances from Vranje

Abstract

Traditional dances from Vranje have long been present on the stage within the genre of the choreography of traditional dance. Ensemble “Kolo”, the leading professional ensemble of traditional dances in Serbia, has in its repertoire as many as three versions of the choreography of the dances from this region: Dances from Vranje – choreography by Olga Skovran (1948), Vranje Suite – by Branko Marković (1952/1953) and Vranjan Suite – by Ivon Ešvajler Despotović (1990). Although the first Serbian ethnochoreologists, Ljubica and Danica Janković, in their first (1934) and fourth (1951) books presented the traditional dances from Vranje based on their field research, the picture of the dance repertoire of this region was mainly connected with Marković’s work. That many artists were inspired by the image of Vranje, which was presented through choreography, is not surprising since the choreographers created spectacular choreographies suitable for engaging performances of folklore ensembles in Serbia and abroad through the process of orientalizing the original material. This paper aims to present a double picture of traditional dances from Vranje and will talk about, on the one hand, the knowledge available so far, collected based on scientific research in Vranje and, on the other hand, the traditional dances of Vranje that went through ‘orientalization frameworks’ in the artistic expressions of artists from genre the choreography of traditional dance. This material will serve as an example of how the processes of orientalization are approached in the sphere of art when it is necessary to construct something that will be, in a stereotypical sense, perceived as ‘sensual’ and ‘exotic’ and, at the same time, spectacular and enticing to the audience.