Croatian Rose, a folk group from Astoria, New York that has been active for thirty years as part of the Croatian Catholic Mission of Blessed Ivan Merz, celebrated its great jubilee in the company of more than five hundred guests.
The celebration was held under the patronage of the President of the Croatian Government, Andrej Plenković, and the President of the Croatian Parliament, Gordan Jandroković. His Excellency the Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in Washington, Pjer Šimunović, and the Consul General of the Republic of Croatia in New York, Mr. Nikica Kopačević, sent their congratulations to the Croatian Rose.
"To know where you are going, you have to know where you came from", quoted an old folk proverb in his speech, Rev. Saša Ilijić, head of the Mission.
"Just as family is a strong support, regardless of where you go in the world, so heritage is a part of all of us wherever we go", further says the pastor of the Most Precious Blood church in Astoria, where, in addition to Croats, many other peoples also gather. "Our Croatian Catholic Mission, bl. Ivana Merza, recognized thirty years ago the importance of gathering young generations through organized learning of dances and melodies, costumes, choreography, friendship and love", also said Rev. Saša in the foreword of the booklet issued on the occasion of the jubilee of the Croatian Rose.
Over the course of thirty years, more than a hundred members danced dances from all over Croatia in the Croatian Rose. Many of them gathered at this celebration and celebrated their long-standing friendship with a joint performance. The Croatian Rose in this small but lively community in Astoria currently has 13 members who teach dance and song to former members of the Croatian Rose Nicole Creglia i Katarina Miocic. For this occasion, the host, Hrvatska ruza, performed the Istrian balun, the most widespread dance of the Istrian peninsula, and the Konavo potkolo, the oldest dance in Konavle that is danced exclusively in that area.
In HKM bl. Ivana Merza is currently growing and developing Croatian rose, young dancers aged 5 to 11. With their performance of a traditional song from the island of Suska, Sansego gradić, they stole the hearts and sympathies of everyone present. We asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up, and the answer was that they wanted to grow up to be a Croatian rose.
During its existence, the Croatian Rose has performed in many cities around America, and it is especially a pleasure for them to perform in the neighboring parish of St. Cyril and Methodius and St. Raphael in Manhattan, where the folklore group has been active since 1971. Cardinal Stepinac. Guests from New York presented the dance and culture of Bunjevo Croatians for this occasion. In addition to exceptional dance steps, the guests had the opportunity to enjoy beautiful costumes, women's costumes made of imported French silk or solid white slings and men's costumes that stand out with small bells on the ankle boots. The leaders of this group are Violetta Deur i Daniela Markovinović, and she is a choreographer Renata Pestic.
Members are always dear guests of the Croatian Rose Round of the Marian club from Steelton, Pennsylvania, where Croats have been preserving Croatian culture and tradition for more than a century, and this folklore group is also celebrating its 70th anniversary. The group has many members, and its leader stands out for his activities Rick Vukmanic who has been leading it for more than 40 years, and is assisted by Marija Krpan programs i Stephen Grassa. For this occasion, they performed Kresnice, a Midsummer custom of the Jaska mountains and fields, in which young Kresnica girls gather in the center of the village around a lit bonfire, and then go around the estates where, on the occasion of St. John's holiday, they sing songs and wish the family to have a year full of health and luck.
The largest group that came from Canada, Oakville, they are called, delighted with their performance Croatian prelo and have over 240 members. They presented themselves with the songs and dances of Podravina Croats from Hungary. They were particularly enthralled by the performance of the impressive saran or čismaleroš dance, for which the audience rewarded them with huge applause. Their teachers are Kristina Badanjak i Branko from Cetinje.
And sugar at the end, former members of the Croatian Rose who practiced diligently for weeks despite family and numerous other obligations for this occasion, showed that folklore is still close to their hearts. They performed songs and dances from Slavonia, starting the performance with the bećar, the song Šuškaj diko oko mogu kučar and the nostalgic dances Zita, Dere and Kalendari, and ended their performance with the traditional shock salute and the dremesh dance. They prepared the choreography Petar and Katarina Montenegro, former teachers of the Croatian Rose.
Those present also had the opportunity to enjoy the phenomenal performance of the American and Croatian anthems by the leader of the choir of the Croatian Catholic Mission, bl. Ivan Merz, Marcela Grancarić. The evening of folklore, tradition and culture was rounded off by the always great performance Astoria flaps. After the official program and rich dinner, many guests had fun with Damira and Valentina who were joined on stage by Rev Saša Ilijić who even had to sing the popular song Brajda, by singer Alen Vitasović, as an encore several times.
We will end with the person who is most deserving of this celebration, who is herself, not only an alumna, but also a part of Ruza from the very beginning, Valentino Žužić, a presenter and a person who has had a huge love for folklore and togetherness for decades. She congratulated all generations on the beautiful memories, gatherings and togetherness and wished them many more years of existence and activity. We talked to Valentina after the celebration and asked her about her impressions. She expressed her immense gratitude to everyone who participated and helped make this celebration memorable, and wished everyone to meet and socialize again soon. She especially expressed her gratitude to the support of the Mission and the Croatian community in Astoria and to all the guests who responded in such large numbers.
Photo: Ed Wilson, private collection, Croatians Online
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