On January 14, 2006, the Islamic Community of Bosniaks of the State of Washington (ICBWA) organized the Kurban Bayram Celebration. As usual, an entertainment and cultural program was also planned. Besides by Sevdah, the guests were entertained by the Bosnian Folklore Ensemble Behar of Seattle, Džibo and Nedžad Halilović, as well as by the singer, Asim Kaljanac. Sevdah was represented by its children. Our youngest member, Kenan Ramović, had an unforgettable performance together with his new buddy, Hamza Golubović (on the picture). At the request of our audience Sevdah's youth group performed again their Himzo Polovina Sevdah Suite, which they performed at the last community gathering. However, this time we added one new dance, the Kolo Mladost (Youth Kolo) composed by our friend, Mr. Muho Pašalić. Here is the album with pictures from this performance.

On January 20, 2006 the Highline Community College (HCC) Bosnian Students Association Friends of Bosnia organized a book signing event in honor of Dr. Senad Agić and his new book Assimilation and Integration. By the same opportunity Dr. Agić also introduce the book 100 godina Bošnjaka u Čikagu (100 years of Bosniaks in Chicago) by Muharem Zulfić. Besides the very informative lecture by the imam Agić, the audience was able to enjoy the program of Bosnian folk songs and dances in which, of course, Sevdah also participated, among others. Sevdah performed its Ibrik and Čaršijsko kolanje, Karanfil kolo, and Anteria. The beauty of our girls and their costumes, as well as the picturesque dialogue of the Karanfil Dance attracted the attention of photographers, so that Sevdah's picture appeared on the front page of the HCC student magazine Thunderword of 01/26/2006. Click here to view this photo album.

On February 10, 2006 Sevdah had its first akšamluk that was open for the large audience. That was also a beneficiary dinner for our folklore ensemble. The response from the guests, from the local Bosnian community, our American friends, and others, was above all expectations. Besides Sevdah's dancers and musicians, Elvir Bečić and Amir Arslanagić, the audience was also entertained by our special guests - the dancers of the Bosnian Folklore Ensemble Behar from Seattle, then Mary Sherhart, Srdjan Gino Jevdjević, Peter Lippman, John Morovich, Dragi Spasovski, as well as by the DJ Adin Polovina. Budo and Ramiza Žižak fed us with excellent čevapčići made in the Banjaluka style. The guests were served by Nermina Habul, Lejla, Svetlana i Aziz Ramović, Emina Šeremet, Sabina Šutković, and Irfan Mirza. Our safety and security officers were Faim Habul, our vice-president, and Nermin Fočić. The program producer was our president, Denis Bašić. We would like to cordially thank our audience and program participants for their moral and financial support.
At this akšamluk we introduced our first T-shirt, which you can see in the picture to the left worn by Anela Kadrić. If you are interested in purchasing this glow-in-the-dark T-shirt ($15 each), send us an e-mail to info@sevdahlije.com. The pictures from this akšamluk can be found here.

On March 4, 2006, the Highline Community College (HCC) Bosnian Students Association Friends of Bosnia organized the Celebration of the International Women's Day. In an abundance of carnation flowers (which are the symbol of this holiday), the audience could have enjoyed the cultural program prepared by three Bosnian folklore ensembles - Behar and Sevdah from Seattle and Nur from Portland, OR - as well as by the bands - Balkan Cabaret with Mary Sherhart and Džibo & Nedžad Halilović. As a present on this holiday of carnations, Sevdah's young men gave to all women in the hall a carnation flower and we danced for them our Carnation dance. In addition to this dance, we also danced our Ibrik and Čaršijsko dances, as well as our well-known Anteria dance. This performance was special for our new member Melisa Djuderija, because it was her first one. Good job, Metza! Of course, everybody enjoyed spending time with guests and other performers. This program was filmed and shown on TV. We also took a lot of pictures and many of them you will find in this album.

Sevdah's choreographer, Denis Bašić, had an honor to be selected as one of only three choreographers to choreograph two compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach for Seattle's famous musical marathon Bach Around the Clock that takes place once a year at the Seattle's Town Hall. Denis selected Bach’s Prelude # 1 in C major and Prelude # 1 in C minor and prepared a program entitled Don Juan of Bosnia Argentina. In his choreography, Denis employs refined footwork of several folk dances of the Bosnian-Herzegovinan Muslim Slavs - Bosniaks. More precisely, the steps come from the central and eastern region of Bosnia known in the medieval period for its affluent silver mines. That is where the Medieval Latin name of the province Bosnia Argentina stems from, as well as the name of this dance program. Denis invited young and talented dancers of his Folklore Ensemble Sevdah to help embody his ideas for this Bach's marathon. Here is the photo-album with pictures from this outstanding performance by Sevdah.

Sevdah's performance at the Lynnwood Multi-Cultural Family Fair had a double importance. First, a significant number of Bosnians live in the Lynnwood area so that somebody had to appropriately present their culture at the Festival. Second, with our performance we wanted to greet the opening of the new Lynnwood Convention Center. The building is indeed beautiful and is worth visiting. Besides by Sevdah, Bosnia and Herzegovina was represented by our friend, Pauline Anderson, and a few B-H children and teens who set up a booth with artwork from and information about Bosnia and Herzegovina. Our hosts (City of Lynnwood, Edmonds Community College, Lynnwood Convention Center, Family Support Center of South Snohomish county, etc.) were very kind and hospitable to us. They admired Sevdah's performance and told us that they would invite us again. At this event, Sevdah performed for the first time its new men's dance - Karadjoz Kolo. Also, by this opportunity, our little boy Hamza Golubović performed for the first time in his new folk costume, which his grandma sent him from Bosnia. Here are a few pictures from this performance.

This was the second time for Sevdah to perform at the Folklife Festival. With over 6,000 performers, Folklife is the largest ethnic festival in the US and we are proud to be the citizens of this city, which has such a great festival. We were also honored to present the Bosniak city dances at this festival. This year we had new men's costumes. On their belts, the male dancers also had replica flintlock pistols, which today as much as in the old times were rather a matter of masculinity and ornament, than of any kind of warlike nature. We are very thankful to our friend Deborah Schriber-Barkeley who made her best to finish the men's pants and shirts before the Festival. We are proud of our new men's shirts made of a special fabric called Sham Alaja that we got straight from Damascus and Aleppo from where our ancestors used to get it, too. Since Deborah could not finish everything all by herself and since we could not find anybody to help her, our choreographer, Denis, undertook the task of learning the tailor's trade and sew men's vests. With the original ajami belts, which we got earlier from Istanbul (from where they used to come to Bosnia also in the old times,) we finally had a great set of Bosniak city men's folk costumes. Our friend Ramiza Žižak succeeded to finish the anteria dress for our dancer Dženita Ramović so that she as well appeared at this prestigious festival in her new outfit. Here are some pictures from our Folklife 2006 performance.

Sevdah had the honor to perform at the 10th Jubilant Meeting of the Congress of North American Bosniaks that took place in Chicago from May 26 - 29, 2006. That was also a celebration of the 100th anniversary since the establishment of the first Bosniak community in North America. Of course, it was in Chicago where that first Bosniak community was formed. At the gala dinner during the cultural program Sevdah performed alongside three other Bosnian folklore ensembles from the US - the ensemble Behar from Detroit, the ensemble Preporod from Grand Rapids, and the ensemble Bosna from Chicago. The program was enriched by the performances of the the Sevdah Institute members from Bosnia - Omer Pobrić, Hasiba Agić, Nusreta Kobić, and Esad Kovačević, as well as by the performance of our own Mary Sherhart and Balkan Cabaret from Seattle.

This was the first bigger performance by Sevdah outside the Seattle area. Our performance was exceptionally well-received by the audience. We have received a great many compliments for our folk costumes, water ewers, replica flintlock pistols, for the variety of our program and richness and originality of our choreographies. In this first album you will find OUR PICTURES FROM THE PERFORMANCE, as well as the pictures taken short before and after the performance.

If you would like to see more pictures of Sevdah and other performers, as well as of the hosts and guests at this gala dinner, visit this web page at the bošnjaci.net website.

We prepared for you another photo-album with other pictures from this beautiful trip to Chicago. From the album you will be able to see how we traveled, how we enjoyed ourselves, what we saw, and with whom we spent time together. Here are the PICTURES FROM OUR LEISURE TIME IN CHICAGO.

Short after our youth's return from Chicago, Sevdah's children had a performance at the Springbrook Elementary School in Kent, WA. It was a sweet children celebration at which we saw the dances from Philippines, Hawaii, India, and Bosnia and Herzegovina in addition to the traditional American tap-dances. Sevdah's children first performed two traditional dances - Jajačka truska and Anteria, and then we sang two Bosnian children songs - Imam janje maleno (I have a baby lamb) and Lije pljusak (The rain is poring). In the end, we showed two children's games from Bosnia and Herzegovina singing along the children songs Ja se uspeh na tarabu (I climbed the fence) and Ide maca oko tebe (the little cat is walking around you.) And of course, everybody considered us adorable and extremely cute. Here are some pictures from this performance of Sevdah's children group.

This year's traditional Bosniak June picnic will be remembered, first of all, by the bubbleman who made millions and millions of soap bubbles for the joy of children. He made the bubbles with all kinds of tools including the toilet seat. As usual, everybody had fun with soccer, volleyball, lamb and kebab, coffee and all other drinks, songs and accordion. In the official part of the entertainment, the guest were also able to enjoy the performance by Sevdah, as well as by our friends, Emina and Jasmin, the members of the Bosnian Folklore Ensemble Zambak from Vancouver, BC. Emina and Jasmin danced very nicely, lively, and passionately a Chochek dance from the Vranje dance suite. This dance has always been highly regarded in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sevdah's children and youth danced a few of their old dances. In the end, we danced a new dance in the free style for the sake of fun. That was the Daičovo dance from Bulgaria, the native country of our friend and member, Mustafa Ahmed. For the sake of widening our cultural horizons, Sevdah attempts to continue learning dances from around the world, besides from Bosnia and Herzegovina. So, come join us and let us dance together! Here are some pictures from this picnic.

This year again, Sevdah performed at the Turkfestu - the Festival of Seattle's Turkish community. The theme of this year's Festival was the song that is known in Bosnia as Anadolka (Anatolian girl), and in Turkey as Üsküdara gider iken (Going to Üsküdar). This tune appears in the other parts of the Balkans, as well, with different lyrics and titles witnessing about our common cultural heritage. The Bosnian version of the song was performed by Sevdah's great friend, Mary Sherhart, accompanied by Sevdah's accordion player, Elvir Bečić. After that, Sevdah's youth ensemble performed a few old and new dances. We danced the Himzo Polovina Suite that includes the Water Ewer Dance, Downtown Dance, amd Sevdah's Brzac (Fast Dance). Our young men also danced the Karadjoz Dance that fits perfectly with the Turkish Festival, for the comical character Karagöz also stems from the territory of modern-day Turkey. For more about our repertoire, please, check here. In the end, as a surprise for our hosts, we danced for the first time our Dove Dance based on the song by the Bosnian composer Saše Lošić and performed by the Turkish singer Candan Erçetin. The Turkish title of the song is Özledim (I have been longing for you) and the Bosnian one is Odlazim (I am leaving.) Saša's post-modern song shows how much of cultural heritage the peoples of the Balkans and Anatolia have in common even in the 21st century. Here are some pictures from this performance by Sevdah and friends.