Mogućnost prikazivanja narodnih običaja na sceni
The Possibilities of Presenting Customs on the Stage

Summary/Abstract: The author examines the correctness of performing customs on the stage outside its own environment and at the time which is not customary for its performance. It is considered that folk song or a dance can be performed on the stage but a custom cannot. The explanation which is given is that a song is sung in original environment by menfolk and womenfolk, the old ones and the young ones, at a festivity or during the work, in costumes or without them etc. and therefore the stage performance of the song is just another possibility or a new environment for its performance. During the dance performance the conditions do not correspond to those of the original environment. In a village a dance is performed mostly by young people for whom it is an occasion to get to know each other and to start a relationship, while on the stage a dance is performed mostly by the older dancers for whom it has lost some of its original meaning. Customs are another category which cannot be performed on the stage or some fragments can be performed accompanied by a note that it is only a performance and not a presentation of ethnographic characteristics of the original environment. The customs are usually accompanied by various rules, prohibitions and beliefs and their function cannot be presented on the stage. The idea of performing natal or funeral customs is absurd and even the performance of marriage customs is unsuitable. Thoroughly analyzing the possibility of performing annual customs we come to the conclusion that they also should not be performed on the stage and therefore the practice started at some folk events during which customs are presented along with songs and dances should cease.

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