Rogatička Zavrzlama

On January 30, 2005, Sevdah surprised its audience by putting on the stage an old, rare, and almost forgotten Bosniak dance from the Eastern Bosnian town of Rogatica. It was the Rogatička zavrzlama dance.

In Bosnian Zavrzlama means “complicated thing” or “complication.” And, indeed, the dance is not at all easy to dance. Thus, the dancer jumps to the right on the left foot while going backwards. On the other side, while moving to the left, s/he jumps on the right foot and again goes backwards.

Like any other Bosnian dance, Rogatička zavrzlama can be danced to different tunes. Our choreographer, Denis Bašić, decided to select for Sevdah’s Rogatička zavrzlama the musical theme which appears in the old Bosnian movie Ljubav i bijes (Love and Madness) directed by Bakir Tanović. Ljubav i bijes was shown for the first time in 1978 and, unfortunately, is unjustly forgotten. This movie is not only worth seeing due to its exceptional story and excellent acting, but is also a rich resource for anybody interested in the B-H 18th and 19th century folk costumes. The brilliant work of the costumographer Hasan Sućeska done on this movie has served as a lasting inspiration to Sevdah in the reconstruction of our own folk costumes.

However, let us go back to Sevdah’s Rogatička zavrzlama. The music, which you are listening to, is the music from the mentioned movie to which Sevdah dances its Zavrzlama. Denis introduced a lot of dynamics into our Zavrzlama. Thus, the musical transitions, which depart from the main musical theme, are translated into the elements from other Bosnian dances, like three-step transitions or usual turns. As explained earlier, following the old Bosniak custom, the young women and men are not holding each other's on hands while dancing, but rather they hold each other’s handkerchief.

By this opportunity, Sevdah would like to thank the diligent Bosnian folklorist, Mr. Hajrudin Hadžić Hadžija, for carefully recording the delicate foot-work and music of this rare Bosniak dance.