Members of the Croatian folklore ensemble from Antofagasta, Chile, visited the CHF ahead of their performance at the International Folklore Festival.
On July 16, members of the Hrvatska Jeka folklore ensemble from Antofagasta in Chile visited the Croatian Heritage Foundation in Zagreb. The ensemble has been active since 2008, within one of the oldest Croatian communities in Chile, the association Sociedad Croata de Socorros Mutuos Antofagasta.
“The name Hrvatska Jeka was chosen because it seemed appropriate to what we were doing, echoing our heritage from the old continent to this distant land,” explained in an interview Andrea Sepúlveda Rosso, longtime leader of the folklore ensemble and president of Sociedad Croata de Socorros Mutuos Antofagasta.
The guests from Chile were greeted and welcomed by CHF Deputy Director, Ivan Tepeš, Ph.D. and the Head of Matica’s Department for Culture, Lucija Starčević. The Deputy Director highlighted that he was pleased to have the opportunity to meet them in Our Beautiful Homeland and that they were always welcome in CHF’s premises. During the festive reception, appropriate gifts were exchanged – the hosts presented the guests a Turopolje podgutnica (neckcloth) in a box made of oak, and on behalf of the members of the folklore ensemble, President Ivo Cornej Vladilo presented Ivan Tepeš with a richly illustrated book about Chile.
Hrvatska Jeka has thus far performed at numerous folklore festivals in Croatia and abroad, and in Chile, they are regularly part of programs that mark important dates for the Croatian community. In Zagreb, they will present themselves at the 59th International Folklore Festival, as part of which they will perform at different locations. For some of the members, this is also the first time visiting Zagreb.
During their visit to Matica, they explained that they gather in Antofagasta once a week, enjoy dancing, preserving their heritage and tradition, and maintaining ties with the homeland of their ancestors, most of whom originate from Dalmatia.
They used the time spent at the Croatian Heritage Foundation to rehearse the choreography of the Salonsko kolo dance, with which they will present themselves at the festival. Namely, it was the members of Hrvatska Jeka who passed on this once forgotten dance in Croatia from one generation to the next, which “survived” in Chile for more than 100 years thanks to the members of folklore ensembles.
Text: Željka Sablić Odrljin / Photo: Snježana Radoš
