They have brought the fellow-countrymen a piece of the fatherland with them

The ŠARIŠ Folklore Ensemble is travelling to America

They have brought the fellow-countrymen

a piece of the fatherland with them

(The following text is a part of an article with the same title, which, in its full Rusyn version, can be found in the same column of our website.)

The folklore group ŠARIŠ, which has been active for eleven years at the Primary Music School of Mikuláš Moyzes in Prešov, does not have to be specially introduced to fans of folklore, as since its establishment, it has gone on a journey of sharply increasing popularity.... Gradually, it has become famous not only on the east of Slovakia, but also reached past the borders of Slovakia, and even the borders of Europe. Last year, the group managed to realise a long planned tour to Japan and this year, the group performed in the United States of America, from where it returned just several weeks ago. This is why we met the group´s leader Jozef PIROH, and talented dancer and singer Lukáš GARBERA, a student of a secondary comprehensive school in Prešov, who, among his fellow-nationals, successfully presented the Rusyn and Slovak folk lore “across the water “.

Just like in other places, Šariš, the folklore group from Prešov with its soloist Lukáš Garbera have successfully performed in the L. Lawrence Convetion Centre. Jozef Piroh (from the left), the leader of the group with his protege L. Garbera, who, at the 50^th year of the Folklore Festival of National Minorities in Pittsburgh got the award (they are holding in their hands) for their nice presentation of Rusyn folklore from Slovakia.

Lukáš remembers: „We were invited to America on the basis of a long-term contact with the group “SLAVJANE“, which is active at the Carpatho-Rusyn Association in Pittsburgh and which has already visited Slovakia several times. They were last here a year ago, when, with their leader Dean Polok, over 80 members of the group with their relatives came to Slovakia, as they regularly do to look for the places their ancestors come from... Our visit was motivated by two significant jubilees. One of them was the 50^th year of the Folklore Festival of National Minorities in Pittsburgh, to which we had been invited to represent the Rusyn minority. The other, a similarly significant jubilee, was the 30^th anniversary of the folklore group “Slavjane“, which we had started our friendship with. In the USA, we had 15 performances, 7 of which took place directly at the Pittsburgh festival…, in the town of about a hundred thousand inhabitants, whose ancestors have Rusyn roots... Our further performances took place in the towns of Mercer, Erie, Johnstown, Jangstown and Cleveland“.

J. Piroh, the group’s leader, has emphasized: „We were more than happy with our stay in the USA, that is why we would like, also in this way, to thank everybody, especially Dean Polok and his father Jacek Polok, the main organisers of our tour to the USA, whose roots are in Slovakia, in Rokytov, (located in the Humenne region) and whose mother´s roots are in the village of Šumiac (which was also Rusyn in the past), as well as the families we stayed with and where we felt really great. Our contact has progressed to familiarity, we have got to know each other as people. When we were leaving, at the airport, the eyes of many a man welled up and we promised that it was not the last time we saw each other...“

Kvetoslava KOPOROVÁ,

The photos of the author and from Lukáš Garbera´s archive

July 17^th, 2006

The ŠARIŠ Folklore Ensemble is travelling to America

Successful folklore ensemble SARIS Milk Agro of the Elementary School of Art of M. Moyzes in Prešov.

Photo from the author’s archive

The ŠARIŠ Milk Agro Children Folklore Ensemble residing at Primary Art School of M. Moyzes in Prešov celebrated the 10th anniversary of its establishment. The Ensemble has already performed in more than 600 performances at home as well as abroad. The Ensemble regularly takes part in events organized by the city of Prešov, Primary Art School of M. Moyzes, Rusyn Renaissance in Slovakia and other cultural organizations. The Ensemble participates in district, regional, and Slovak-wide competitions and exhibitions. Out of the events held at homeland country, the Festival in Východná, Krivany, Humenné, Medzilaborce, Raslavice etc. are of great importance. Up to present it has represented the Šariš folklore in Ukraine, Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Austria, and last year the Ensemble implemented successful tour in Japan.

Children and juveniles coming from Prešov and its surrounding in total number of approximately 35 members of the vocalizing, dancing, and musical groups attend the Ensemble. The Ensemble popularises and propagates folk songs and dances from the Šariš region and of the Rusyn minority of the northeast part of Slovakia. From May 16 up to June 6, 2006 the SLAVJANE Ensemble shall celebrate the 30th anniversary of its establishment and at the same time the 50th Pittsburgh Folklore Festival shall be held, and the ŠARIŠ Ensemble shall take part at both events for the invitation received from the Carpath-Rusyn Society Karpatskorusínska spoločnosť) in the USA with its centre in Pittsburgh. Apart from the abovementioned events, the Ensemble shall perform 8 times in the towns in the surrounding of Pittsburgh.                   

Jozef Piroh, The Ensemble leader

The members of the ensembles SLAVJANE from USA and SARIS from Slovakia appeared in the  common performance in the final scene of the cultural program at the end of the first day of the 8^th World Congress of Rusyns on 24^th June 2005 in Polish Krynica

Photo: A. Z.