Professional Folk Dancers: Analyses Based on the Example of the “LADO” Ensemble
Professional Folk Dancers: Analyses Based on the Example of the “LADO” Ensemble

Summary/Abstract: The text presents the work of the only Croatian professional ensemble of folk dances and songs – LADO, from its foundation to the present day. The focus is on the dancing body as the starting point of every dance performance. The contexts and conditions of the performances are observed and analysed; how they affect the visibility and invisibility of the dan-cing bodies and what happens to them when the spotlights are off. The coronavirus epidemic changed the working conditions and the attitude towards the body as the basic means of work; the artistic dance contribution was no longer nurtured, and the emphasis was put on distancing and protection. As a result, dancing bodies have stagnated and deteriorated and consequently the quality of the performance has declined. Dancers as individuals are an inspiration and a stimulus for new interpretations and stage achievements; every valorisation of the new interpretative steps forward starts from them. Their artistic skills and achievements are most often talked about and evaluated at the ceremonies on the occasion of their departing from the scene to a well-deserved retirement, or posthumously, in solemn obituaries that remind us for a moment of what the artist in question achieved during his/her rich career. While they are at the top of their professional career, they exist only under the spotlight; when the spotlight goes out, they are gone without a trace.

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