2011 Annual Dalmatian Ball

Another year and yet another ball, I was thinking about it and the Dalmatian Ball has been going for years and years and never missed a year since it started! Thats pretty impressive! And its all thanks to a group of dedicated Northlanders who simply want to keep our culture ALIVE!

The club itself started way back in 1954 and some of the original members are still playing a big part in the club today! The dance did not start until 1958 - so thats over 50 years of pure dedication!
There have been times when the club was short of either dancers or band members, but have always managed to pull through!

For those that are not familiar with the culture, at the Annual Dalmatian Ball there is a preformance of a dance called the Kolo. Kolo, meaning circle, is a croatian folk dance danced by both men and woman dressed in traditional costume. There are many variations of Kolo, however the particular one that is danced by the Kaitaia group is made up normally of 10 couples (sometimes 8 or even 6 if numbers are short).

As well as the Kolo being performed at the Annual Dalmatian Ball, the group has also perfomed at various special occassions and also been invited to perform around New Zealand in places such as Waitangi, Whangarei, Auckland and Hamilton, just to name a few.

The Kolo is perfectly accompanied by the music of the Tamburica band, who when they started had to make their own intruments! and make their own music.

The Kolo together with the Tamburica Band make a wonderful evening out at the Annual Dalmatian Ball.

Here is a photo of the dancers from the first ball...way back in 1958!
Photo was taken by Marwin (I think that is how you say it) Studios in Kaitaia. Thanks to the Kaitaia Museum for providing the negatives for the photos.

Sorry but I cannot seam to find the names at the moment!

Now to 2011!...

So after a meal - both dinner and dessert! and both include some traditional Croatian dishes, the dancers and band members get themselves ready in costume!

The dance consits of "3 halfs!" (can you make sence of that!)

The first half of the dance...

While the dancers have a short break to catch their breath the Tamburica band performs a solo...

The second half of the dance follows...

The third half! The dancers skip back out, from there they are all introduced by couples, starting with the leaders and each couple takes a bow.

After that the dances get to go out to the audience and select a new dance partner! 

Then the rest of the evenings entertainment is taken care of by our local band!

So I hoped you enjoyed reading about the Dalmatian Ball and a little bit of history!

Please check out my facebook page www.facebook.com/staceymilichphotography for the full album and also to purchase prints or a DVD slideshow of the dance!

Enjoy

xox