‘Keeping our traditions’ – lest we forget

Cultural and artistic society (KUD Jelsa) on St. John’s Square (Trg Sv. Ivana) 

A performance by the Jelsa Cultural-Artistic Society (KUD Jelsa) of the instrumental suite ‘Jelšanski tanci‘ (‘Jelsan dances‘) by Jelsa’s best-known composer Antun Dobronić. It consists of five dance tunes for a string orchestra.

‘KUD Jelsa’ in its present form was founded in 2011 under the enthusiastic and energetic leadership of Perica Mileta. Its activities are based on the rich legacy of the original Jelsan Cultural-Artistic Society, which was active from 1945 up to the early 1960s, and was named after a local hero, Professor Čiro Gamulin, who had died in the Second World War. Since its revival, KUD ‘Jelsa’ has achieved much in preserving and furthering local traditions and cultural heritage. Succeeding generations have been taught traditional folk dances as well as the cultural history of their region. Singing is also part of the society’s activities. In Dalmatia, a cappella singing groups are called ‘klape’, and two have emerged alongside the dancing, a female group called ‘Klapa Frecija‘ (Facebook link)