The Queanbeyan Macedonian Dance Group has arrived back from its successful and memorable tour of Macedonia. The long and anticipated trip, which marked the 15^th year of the group’s existence, finally came to an end and the dancers have brought back with them many photos, videos, souvenirs, and fond memories of the unforgettable experience.

K.U.D Razigrana Makedonka would like to sincerely thank the dancers, parents, sponsors, organisers and everyone else that helped with the achievement of this milestone.

The Tour:

The group first assembled in the evening of July 1^st in the city of Ohrid before the cultural theatre “Grigor Prlichev”, where the finer details of the tour were ironed out. An interesting note was that the federal elections were just around the corner and the fierce political campaigns had just about reached their height. That evening Ohrid rapidly filled with campaigners and enthusiasts of the political party in power: SDSM, who held a very energetic and loud demonstration. Interestingly it seemed rather pointless in the end because they eventually lost the elections…convincingly.

The group had only a few days to practice and get rid of the rust, and many thanks go to Ohrid’s very own K.U.D Gerdan and their chief Mende who allowed us to use their space to practice (meanwhile their group was in Paris, France...how lucky).

The first performance took place on July 6^th, the opening night of the 2006 annual “Balkanski Festival”, Ohrid. The opening ceremony involved a parade-like march down the “charshija” (city walk) of Ohrid, as well as a demo-dance in both the “chinar” and “ploshtad” (city squares). Folk groups from Bosnia, Croatia and Bulgaria were also involved.

Over 2 thousand curious onlookers watched K.U.D Razigrana Makedonka as they proudly danced and waved the Aussie flags. The crowd and the dance groups eventually made their way up to the famous stage “Dolni Saraj” situated on Ohrid’s hill, from where the view of the lake is breathtaking. There the proper night time performances took place after a speech by the city’s mayor, Aleksandar Petreski. The group had a 10 minute performance which delighted audiences. 

The group’s second performance was on the 8^th of July 2006, planned also to be at “Dolni Saraj” had it not rained so much, so the festival shifted indoors at the cultural theatre “Grigor Prlichev”. K.U.D Razigrana Makedonka along with the group from Bosnia managed to hold a very successful joint concert which offered a real intriguing array of Balkan dances. The Bosnians also shocked everyone at how well and happy they sung “Makedonsko Devojche”. The 2 groups continued singing and dancing afterwards to live music at hotel “Royal” and topped off a great night.

On July 11^th the group was off to Skopje where they were being hosted by members and dancers of the famous dance group K.U.D Kocho Racin. After checking in to hotel “Ambassador”, the group had a chance to familiarise themselves with Macedonia’s capital city, visiting shopping centres, famous landmarks, churches and the very beautiful “Matka” dam. The dancers of both K.U.D Razigrana Makedonka and K.U.D Kocho Racin held a joint practice and continued socialising, getting a taste of Skopje’s July night life (which was alright considering 90% of Skopje migrates to Ohrid for the Summer).

The 2 groups held a very lively and colourful concert next to the famous Stone Bridge on the quay of the river Vardar on Thursday July 13^th 2006. Given the time, place and the fact that “everything went right”, most named this concert the “culmination” for K.U.D Razigrana Makedonka. The large audience was delighted and some dancers received quite a surprise when they were approached by an A1 television camera crew asking for an interview. This concert received coverage on television and 2 full pages of the magazine “Makedonsko Sonce” which also had a Biography of K.U.D Razigrana Makedonka.

The very next day the group was off to Kumanovo, Macedonia’s “city of culture” for 2006. Kumanovo proved to be a city where they not only speak in an interesting dialect, but are really capable of organising and receiving a dance group. K.U.D Razigrana Makedonka held an outdoor concert in the centre of the city which drew an extremely large crowd who did not hold back on any of their applauses. Afterwards, all of the dancers, parents, representatives of the city and even members of K.U.D Kocho Racin were involved in a huge feast with Macedonian cuisines, live music and plenty of dancing (not to mention drinking). This was another very memorable night.

On the 16^th of July, the group had a rare privilege of visiting the annual “Galichnik Wedding”, where there were thousands of tourists experiencing first-hand the treasured “Miyak” wedding rituals, and at a village situated no less than 1200 metres above sea level. The group also had a final chance to mingle with K.U.D Kocho Racin, who were there to dance “Teshkoto” and “Nevestinsko”, 2 very famous dances that are native to that region. The dancer’s of both groups eventually said their goodbyes, exchanged gifts and will continue to remain in touch via the internet.

The very next day the group assembled for a concert in the village Belchishta, located in the district of Ohrid. The concert took place in the village’s centre hall which was apparently unused for about 20 years, although well looked after. The concert featured not only K.U.D Razigrana Makedonka, but popular singer Gjoko Taneski and a local maestro of the Macedonian bagpipe Cele Blazeski. The locals turned out in large numbers, packing the hall out and creating a very lively and uplifting atmosphere which will be fondly remembered by the group.

After a much deserved rest, K.U.D Razigrana Makedonka was back on the road on the 19^th of July, this time to Bitola. The dancers were wowed by the natural beauties of Mount Pelister and had an opportunity to spend some “shopping” time in the city. A little disappointing was the organisation and overall attendance, however the group still pulled off a solid performance in the city’s cultural theatre.

The following day, Sunday 20^th July 2006, the group assembled in the historic village of Trebenishta, located in the district of Ohrid and this was to be the final performance on the group’s program. It was fascinating to point out that the 500 Denar note (Macedonian currency) contains a picture of an ancient artefact, a golden mask, which was found in the same village. A very tired K.U.D Razigrana Makedonka participated and enriched the annual gathering at the St. Nedela Monastery in Trebenishta and the group was the subject of great applauses and ovations from the appreciative crowd.

This was the conclusion of K.U.D Razigrana Makedonka’s Macedonian tour 2006.

A selection of relevant pictures from the tour have been posted in the photos section, have a look!!!