One Serbia in Canada one Oplenac

Serbian cultural organization Oplenac was founded in Canada, far away from its homeland, exactly 30 years ago. And so, somewhere at the edge of the earth, out of a primordial need to preserve its own identity, the strong love towards Serbian traditions and centuries-old heritage found its shelter. As soon as you walk through the doors of Oplenac, it looks as if you magically stepped into a Serbian home. In Oplenac, everything is buzzing with life, and upon your arrival, you are greeted with humming, song, dance, and a warm welcome from the convivial hosts. You have not even settled down, when out of nowhere, a coffee and a donut are already awaiting you on a tray. Representatives from Oplenac—Mrs. Dragana Varaklić, the current director of marketing and longest-serving president, and Mr. Saša Bogunović, who recently came from Serbia to take over the position of artistic director and choreographer of Oplenac—warmly received a team from our magazine. Thus we had the opportunity to find out first-hand more about the life and work of the organization itself, about future plans, as well as about the big upcoming event—Oplenac’s 30^th anniversary concert, which will take place on May 27^th this year.

From Dragana Varaklić, we found out the following:

Serbian Cultural Organization Oplenac was founded in 1987, and already for 30 years exists as a non-profit cultural institution whose goal is the preservation and presentation of Serbian traditions and culture in North America through traditional dances, songs, music, and language. Today, Oplenac is most known for the outstanding quality of its folklore ensembles, as well as its cultural and entertaining programs. Oplenac offers quality programs for all ages, brings in qualified artistic leaders, and ensures good working conditions and authentic presentations of the rich heritage of Serbian folklore. Besides the folklore section, Oplenac has a wide array of activities for children and adults, including an orchestra, a choir, a theatre group, a drama school, and a Serbian language school. In addition to these regular activities, Oplenac organizes diverse cultural and artistic programing, celebrations, humanitarian concerts, plays, and other events related to the Serbian diaspora in Canada. Oplenac is officially registered as a non-profit Canadian organization, where all proceeds go towards holding cultural activities, and therefore whose members can receive no financial compensation. From its foundation until now, Oplenac has been maintained by generations of Canadian Serbs who have had great love for their heritage, culture, and tradition, and the desire to voluntarily join the organization and contribute to its functioning and maintenance with their work and contributions. In order to secure the future of Oplenac as a non-profit Serbian cultural institution in Canada, it is always open to new members. Even though it is geographically far from Serbia, Oplenac is in some way a living museum of Serbian traditions, culture, dance, song, rhythms, charm, and mentality.

We also find out…

Folklore ensemble Oplenac has almost 400 members, divided into 10 groups that are subdivided by age, experience, and dance ability. Saša Bogunović is in charge of its artistic supervision. He organizes folklore rehearsals along with 11 assistants. The other sections of Oplenac are also led by experienced and quality instructors. Mr. Vojin Vasović leads children through the world of acting; Mrs. Ljiljana Ćilim teaches Serbian school; Mrs. Sonja Crnomarković is the choir conductor; and the orchestra leader is Mr. Ivan Radovanović-Vanilla. In order for Oplenac to survive as a non-profit organization, the work of over 60 volunteers is vitally important; these are permanent members of the organization who manage to take precious time out of their daily jobs and tasks to participate in Oplenac. Also, sponsorships and humanitarian concerts are vital to the existential survival of Oplenac. Yearly memberships for all the different sections of Oplenac are very affordable and allow children to spend quality time in a creative atmosphere, where they can find out more about their heritage in a fun way. Besides that, they practice a specific physical activity through traditional movements and rhythms, which stimulate a variety of muscle groups—very important for growing children. Participating in a variety of activities offered at Oplenac is an ideal way for our children to socialize and learn Serbian: they discover an important part of themselves, belongingness to a certain mentality whose genetic code we all carry and which, unfortunately, tends to wither far away from its cradle unless it is nurtured and used. The goal of Oplenac is indeed to keep alive and nurture through the generations the Serbian spirit and the feeling of belongingness to one’s people and heritage, through the active nurturing of traditional dance, song, language, culture, and customs.

Oplenac will celebrate its special 30^th anniversary with a concert in Burlington on May 27^th, 2017 at 6:00pm – The Burlington Performing Arts Centre, 440 Locust St. Burlington, ON.

For information and to purchase tickets, call 647-704-9942.

In line with tradition, this annual concert expects to feature around 400 performing members of its folklore section—one of the leading ensembles in North America—the popular SKUD Oplenac and its representative folklore ensemble, accompanied by SKUD Oplenac’s orchestra and choir. Besides a rich program and on-stage performances, there will also be a special presentation of Oplenac’s 30-year work that will feature not only current members, but also recreational dancers who were once active. According to Mr. Bogunović, “Regardless of the fact that we are far from our homeland, we will show that we have not forgotten what it means to be from Slavonia or Krajna; what it means to be from Kosovo or from the heart of Šumadija, and in a very credible way, we will try to bring dance to the stage, and if you recognize the sounds or dances of your native region, if your heart leaps and a tear of nostalgia comes out, we will have achieved our goal.”

The story of Oplenac and folklore from the point of view of Saša Bogunović, artistic director

What sets Oplenac apart from many other Serbian cultural-artistic associations in the diaspora in Europe, America, and Australia, is the high level of professionalism. For the last 15 years or so, Oplenac has had the tendency to bring over highly-skilled staff from Serbia with many years of experience in artistic direction. This is how Oplenac invited Saša Bogunović—a highly educated specialist in traditional dances and a gifted pedagogue with years of experience working with groups in the diaspora—to take over the position of artistic director and choreographer. He started his career first as a dancer, and then strengthened his experience with theoretical knowledge and education in traditional dance at a university that opened in 2006 in Kikinda. The university proudly bears the name of “Zora Krdžalić Zaga” who, as we found out, was one of the most eminent pedagogues and contributed greatly to the development of Serbian pedagogy.

Nowadays, traditional dance has been taken out of its context. It is now examined as a science, where through its characteristics we are able to preserve the spirit of a nation; that is, the spirit of the region of origin of the dance. Through traditional dance, we are able to discover the traditions and cultural characteristics of a specific social context. The folklore and music of our region is incredibly rich, as it is made up of many influences, many peoples and nationalities, the transfusion of different cultures, and therein lies the beauty and uniqueness of our folklore, music, rhythms, and melos. Our traditions and culture are rich and multi-layer, and besides that richness and difference in mentality, it is important to correctly pass on our dance to our descendants here. Today’s children—particulalry in the diaspora—are estranged from their ancient roots and it is very important to bring them back to the place where that dance originated, so that they themselves understand its origins in order to understand and discover the very essence of the dance and movements, and discover some special national code and record of a time long past. Serbian traditions are rich and plentiful, and we must learn about them from the proper sources in order to be able to pass them on. It is a fact that modernization and chasing the values of modern society greatly diminishes the interest in preserving traditional values and, unfortunately, national dance has lost its dormer concept in villages, so authentic traditional national dances—which by its definition can be considered traditional heritage—can scarecly be found today except for at the occasional village celebration, where often modern dances take precedance. The path of a choreography—from its original source to its placement on stage—is a very demanding and long process. But the most important part in the whole story of folklore and that which gives it special meaning is that at the end, every step, every tone, every movement carries with it the character of the people and the spirit of the region from which it came. That unique energy, that mentality must be carried over into the ensemble, and someone in the audience should be able to truly recognize his or her homeland in that atmosphere.

There are multiple benefits of joining Oplenac. Besides nurturing one’s roots and the physical activity, socialization is also a significant element. Besides regular activity, once a month we organize dedicated parties, where participants get to meet and establish a good collective over time, which will later show up on stage. When they get on stage, when then start to dance and sing together, it is very important to feel that spirit of unity. The very nice part of cultural-artistic associations is that friendship through dance—dance that brings us together, where at the beginning you did not know anyone, and then with time, by dancing in this house for years, you make friends, and some even the loves of their life. Travels. Ensemble tours take place regularly: every year to the United States and Canada, and every other year to Serbia. This year, the first ensemble will visit Milwaukee, and in the summer, Serbia and the surrounding area (Novi Sad, Budapest, Ljubljana, Banja Luka.)

A dancer is a complete person. On his way to the first ensemble, a dancer forms along the way; he learns how to be a good singer and actor, in order to convincingly portray a villager and direct a special glance at a young girl. Everything is practiced. He must also be a good model, since he has to convincingly display the national costume, as well as be very strong and in good physical shape. A dancer must have all of these qualities.

With its work, Oplenac has made a great contribution to our community in Canada, and one might say, is even iconic in North America for its preservation of Serbian tradition and culture. The goal and long-term wish of Oplenac has been to be a leader in North America in the preservation and nurturing of Serbian traditions and culture, and pass on its knowledge to future generations through national song and dance. All members of Oplenac—prompted by the unbreakable bond towards their roots and belongingness to their people—are constantly striving to uphold the highest quality in their work.

Inspired by our visit to Oplenac, we conclude that one can travel to the ends of the earth, but always takes him/herself along. And thus, a nest was built in a faraway land, a port at the end of the earth: one Serbia and one Canada, and one Oplenac.

Come to Oplenac’s 30^th anniversary concert on May 27^th. This will be a unique song-and-dance journey through time, from Oplenac’s foundation to the present day.