Word: kolo
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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...Kolo...
...your issue of Nov. 2, Army & Navy, p. 13, we find that "At a banquet of generals General MacArthur joined hands with the others, did the national dance, called kolo, which consists of running around the table in one direction then running around the table in the other...
Whether intentionally or not, you hereby give a definition of the kolo which places it in a somewhat ridiculous light. As a Jugoslav, may I say that I rather resent this? The kolo is far from what you seem to think it is in both form and spirit. In the first place, just because there happened to be a table when the particular dance about which you write was held does not mean that a table is necessary for the kolo. As a matter of fact it is a hindrance in most cases. My mother has danced the kolo...
...kolo is primarily a folk dance in which from two to hundreds may take part by joining hands, forming a circle as nearly as possible and then going through a series of rather complicated steps in as nearly a perfect unison as the ability of the dancers will permit. To say that the kolo simply consists of "running around in one direction and then running around in the other" reveals not only ignorance, which might be excused, but also bad taste and lack of appreciation which is particularly distasteful in TIME...
...skip and jump but we don't just "run around." There isn't just one kolo, but many of them and with a great many variations in steps. In some kolos the dancers go to one side then the other, in some they go back and forth and in others they go in only one direction. Sometimes, too, they go up and down. But only those who don't know better just run around. The beauty of the kolo is that most everyone present takes a part, loosens his spirit and forgets himself in a community...