The Zagreb Folk Dance Ensemble Dr. Ivan Ivančan
From its very beginning in May 1945, the ZFDE (The Youth Cultural and Artistic Society “Joža Vlahović” at that time) was dedicated to performing artistically formed folklore of certain villages or areas. The foundations to such approach were laid by the first art director and choreographer, prof. Zvonimir Ljevaković, who called exclusively the dance
rs and musicians of the ZFDE to the new Ensemble of the national songs and dances of Croatia “Lado” which he founded in 1949 (it was called the Choir of national dances and songs). One of the founders of the ensemble and the successor of prof Zvonimir Ljevaković as the art director and choreographer, Dr. Ivan Ivančan, Ph.D. He developed the principles of the scenic use of folklore and scientifically formed them. One cannot become a good choreographer without previous experience in original dance, music and areas. A choreographer chooses themes from the traditional folklore origins by being present at village festivities, and by writing down parts of the national inheritance. The ensemble constantly includes a choice of different national costumes that are always authentic into its program, and special care is paid to adequate national costume, the decorations and the headgear. The musical instruments are used in the program the same way. Besides tambura (a string instrument) other instruments are used: string instruments like ljerica, samica, dangubica, wind instruments like sopile, dvojnice, šurle, diple, windpipes like gajde, dude, mišnice, vidalice, and the drums. Performing the Croatian folklore requires good dancing technique and expressive singing. When auditioning for new dancers and singers, special attention is paid to his or her singing abilities. The Zagreb folk dance ensemble “Dr Ivan Ivančan” is the largest and the most successful promoter of the Croatian folklore. A continuing high quality of the ensemble has resulted in many travels and performances on almost all important festivals and competitions in the world. It should be mentioned that the ZFDE has won one or more prizes on all competition festivals in which it took part:
- Prague (Czech Republic) 1947 – silver medal
- Agrigento (Sicily) – 1957 – 1st place
- Moscow (Russia) – 1957 – bronze medal
- Helsinki (Finland) – 1962 – gold medal
- Sofia (Bulgaria) – 1968 – two silver medals
- Bucharest (Romania) - 1969 – 1st premium, gold medal and the laureate title
- Szged (Hungary) – 1975 – bronze medal
- Valjevo (Serbia and Montenegro) - 1986 – gold medal
- Middlesbrough ( United Kingdom ) – 1990 – three first prizes, two second prizes and one third prize
- Middlesbrough (United Kingdom) – 1992 – one 1st prize, two 2nd prizes and three 3rd prizes
- Dijon (Burgogne, France) – 1992 – bronze medal
- Llangolen (Wales, UK) – 1997 – 1st place and the “Gwynn Williams Trophy”
- Dijon (Burgogne, France) - 1997 – bronze medal
- Zakopane (Poland) – 2003 – three 1st prizes and one second prize
The sum total of all these meals makes the ZFDE the most awarded Croatian folklore ensemble and one should bear in mind that all the prizes were won for the dances, songs and music of the Croatian folklore. The ZFDE also performed on many world festivals that were not competitive: Luneville, Monterejeau, Quimper Isoire, Haguenau, Concarneau, Bourg – Madame (France), Kairo, Ismailia, Luxor (Egypt), Carthage (Tunis), Istanbul (Turkey), Lisabon (Portugal), Barcelona – Rubi, Madrid, Vitoria, Puigcerda, Durango, Ciudad Real, Badajos (Spain), Enschede, Soest, Beverwijk, Leiden, Amserdam (the Netherlands), Kiel, Bittburg (Germany), Koper, Portorož (Slovenija), Valjevo (Serbia and Montenegro), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Schoten, Antwerpen, Liege, Mons (Belgium), Diekirich (Luxemburg), Messina, Como, Udine, St. Vincent, Marostica, Valdagno, Bologna, Vicenza, Agrigento (Italy), Sidmouth, Scunthorpe, Birminmgham (England), Martigny (Switzerland), Drummondville, Ottawa, Hull, Toronto – Brampton, Cornwal (Canada), Detroit (USA), Tokyo (Japan), Pećuh (Hungary), Rosario (Argentina), Lima (Peru)....
Program wise, the greatest strength of the ensemble are two-hour concerts where the concept, beauty and the value of the choreography, songs, music playing and technical performance, the stature and the youth of the ensemble comes to its full bloom. All those things make their performance impressive, and artistically valuable. Their ability to perform such shows many times in a row is a quality of top performers. The ZFDE has confirmed that on numerous concert performances all over the world, presenting Croatian traditional culture in the famous concert halls: “Queen Elizabeth Hall” in Londonu and “Town Hall” in Birminghamu (England), “Sapru House” and “Music Concert Hall” in New Delhi, and “Homi Babha Auditorium” in Bombay (India), “Liaknuat Memorial Hall” in Lahore , Islambad (Pakistan), “Radio Concert Hall” in Bagdad (Irak), “Amphiteatre Romain” in Tunis (Tunis), “Pitman Theater” in Millwaukee (Wisconsin, USA), “Hart Plaza” in Detroit (Michigan, USA), “Duquesne University” in Duquesne, Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania, USA), “Hilton” in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania, USA), “Georgetown University” in Washington (Washington D. C., USA), “Kemal Ataturk Concert Hall” in Istanbul (Turky), “Deutsches Teater” and “Prinzregenten Teater” in Munich, “Stadtteater” in Ingolstadtu, “Palmengarten” in Frankfurt (Germany), “Arnele Romane” in Bucharest (Romania), “Nationaltheatre” in Luxor (Egypt), “ De Doelen” in Rotterdam and “Vondel Park” in Amstedamu (the Netherlands), “Expotheater” in Montreal (Canada), “Teatro Municipal” in Madrid, Gihon i Valladolid (Spain), “L odet Palace” in Quimper and “Lino Ventura” in Nice, "Opera house" in Antibes (France), "Teatro Peruano Japones" in Lima (Peru), "Auditorio Belgrano" in Buenos Aires (Argentina), „Teatro El Globo“ in Buenos Aires (Argentina), „Colegio Mallinckrodt“ in Buenos Aires (Argentina), „El Circulo“ in Rosario (Argentina), Auditorio SODRE „Nelly Goitiňo“ in Montevideo (Uruguay), „Teatro La Cúpula“ in Santiago (Chile), „El Teatro Municipal“ in Antofagasta (Chile), "Hemicolo Teatro Municipal de Iquique" in Iquique (Chile), Teatro «Santa Ursula» in San Isidro - Lima (Peru), Hungarian National Opera House in Budapest (Hungary) and in many others. The ensemble regularly performs at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb. The ZFDE has also made special programs for television around the world, such as BBC, RAI, ZDF and in Canada, Portugal, Spain, Egypt, Switzerland and elsewhere. The constant performance, and the success of the ensemble since its foundation (in May 1945) are not accidental, but a result of the attitude towards the artistic profile of the ensemble, on part of the greatest Croatian folklore expert, researcher and etnochoreologist, dr. Ivan Ivančan, Ph.D. During his time as the art director, he was first assisted by Hanibal Dundović (he later became the art director of the Ensamble of the national dances and songs of Croatia “Lado”). His second assistant was dr. Stjepan Sremac Ph.D. (he was also the art director of the ZDFE and the general manager of “Lado”) Dr. Stjepan Sremec was succeeced by Josip Živković, who led the ensemble for ten years, and he was succeeded by the present art director and the choreographer Andrija Ivančan in 1989.
