Ivan Ivančan – Family, Tradition, Folklore
Ivan Ivančan – Family, Tradition, Folklore

Author(s): Suzana Ajhner-Starčević, Krešimir Starcevic
Subject(s): Anthropology, Theatre, Dance, Performing Arts
Published by: Етнографски институт САНУ
Keywords: Ivan Ivančan; LADO Ensemble; folkdance; traditional culture; heritage
Summary/Abstract: It is not easy to be called Ivan Ivančan and not to work in folklore. Already in records from the last century, we find information about grandmother Eva Ivančan, her son Andrija and grandson Ivan Ivančan. The latter (Ivan Ivančan, PhD) is one of the most famous Croatian ethnochoreographers and ethnochoreologists. In the Ivančan family, folklore was the basic fabric of life, so it was almost impossible to grow up in such an environment and not to work with folklore. Ivan Ivančan, who is described in this paper, is the son of Ivan Ivančan (PhD) and he was born in 1953. in Zagreb. As early as 1975, he started his career in the Ensemble of folk dances and songs LADO. He spent 41 years in the Ensemble, including 24 years as artistic director. During the years he spent as artistic director, he put more than forty new choreographies and four hundred musical pieces of secular and sacred characters into the repertoire. He designed and staged about a hundred special programs for various occasions. During his tenure, the Ensemble received as many as 24 Porin discography awards, of which Ivan Ivančan personally received as many as 9. He prepared a representative musical monograph: Hrvatska tradicijska glazba i sastavi [Croatian traditional instruments and ensembles]. At the School of Classical Ballet, he taught folk singing and the basics of choreography. Since 1983, he has been teaching folklore singing and dancing at the School of Folklore of the Croatian Cultural Association [Hrvatski sabor kulture]. All the above, which is only a part of Ivan Ivančan’s rich and diverse folklore activity, without a doubt ranks him among the greats of the folklore scene.

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