Orlec, the island of Cres

The structure of tanac dance of Orlec is equivalent to the various tanac dances of Croatian islands. The basic characteristic of all island tanac dances is the brisk interchange of small steps. Intensive foot stepping is the typical action of the mih player. Ive Muzic, the mih player from Orlec is accompanying tanac po starinsku (the "old tanac") in that manner. The orders and combinations of the dance pairs in tanac are not sporadic; it is known ahead of time who will be the first dancer - prvi - with all the others beside him of behind him. In other words, the lead dancer has particular prestige and importance in the dance performance. (Zebec 2005:331)

The video clip is of one of the performances for the tourists who frequently visited the island of Cres. While in the past the dancers often made tourist performances in the hotel ambiance, the present idea is to bring the tourists in the small communities where they have an opportunity to "experience" the part of a local life through traditional culture - the costume, music and dance, trades and food - offering.

Orlec

(file wmv, 1'00", 1.18 Mb)