Jutros prodjoh kroz čaršiju (This morning I passed through the čaršija; čaršija – Ottoman-style handicrafts and trade district, also can refer to a downtown area) is another sevdalinka beloved by Ensemble Sevdah and performed by Himzo Polovina.
It is a beautiful story about a young man whose soul “got bound to the silky anteria dress” and the “little hand protruding from it.” When he saw the lips of the girl, “as red as red corals” and her “black eyes,” he completely lost his mind. He was dying from the pleasure of just seeing her.
Using this lively and elegant sevdalinka, our choreographer, Denis Bašić, prepared another choreography based on the Bosniak women’s kolanja. Men join girls in this dance, however, as actors rather than dancers.
Of course, it is not by chance that Sevdah selected this sevdalinka for its repertoire. Sevdah’s beautiful girls and their amazing anteria dresses can perfectly mirror the lyrics of this song, which speak about the beauty of a girl and her anteria dress. Thus, this song and dance are a perfect match for Sevdah’s repertoire. Since the girl described in the song is showing off in her beautiful anteria in the čaršija, we decided to call this dance “čaršijsko kolanje” (downtown dance).
Come see how our young couples walk and dance down the Seattle čaršija.