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Folklore group Dragatus |
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Women's white costume in which they dance the traditional round dance 'Zeleni Jure' (lit. Green George) contains of a big white kerchief known as 'pec' which is bound into one wedge (in Metlika and Semic they wear two wedges), a blouse or 'rokavci' laced with 'pipke', pleated skirt, a waistcoat or 'lajbelc', apron or 'fertuh', white stockings or 'stumfi', and black shoes at a height of an ankle also known as 'cezme'. Around their necks girls wear multi-coloured strings of beads (necklaces), on their breasts they have a small bunch of flowers and a white handkerchief with which they greet the audience. Men's costume consists of a white shirt, trousers (brgese); everything is made of home made linen, thick leather belt, black hat with wide edges on which they wear a small bunch of flowers, and black high boots or 'cezme'. When the ritual of 'Jurjevanje' is finished then participants prepare a feast which is usually followed in the evening by an open folk party with brass band and dancing. Linen was made of flax at home Because people of 'Bela krajina' were poor they grew their own flax and produced their own linen. In the Slovene history linen presented the basic means of payment (i.e. linen = platno, to pay = platiti, placati). Peasants even paid tithe in linen. The basic raw material for linen production was flax. Very little is known of flax. One can see it rarely on the fields in Slovenia today, however, in the past the landscapes were covered with a 'see' of blue fields of flax. The ancestors of today's inhabitants of Bela krajina took upon many things in order to survive. They began to seed flax, in April and May, approximately on the 100th day after the New Year. The appropriate sowing time was determined by a method, where the housewife hung a wet cloth on a pole outside the house - if it did not freeze then it was the right time for sowing. The quality of flax increased with the length of its stems. They speculated about its length already in the winter according to the length of icicles. The longer the icicles on the New Year's Eve, the longer the flax in the upcoming year. 'Tepezniki' or children who similarly to carol singers visited houses around Christmas with their rods (they express good wishes for Christmas by giving them the birch!) also expressed wishes for a long flax at each house, which is supposed to be of the same length as their rods. Because of small blue flowers of flax the field turned blue in July. A gaze on a 'waving sea of flax' was incredible.
Those
coming
from 'Bela krajina' are well known for their respect for music tradition
passed on from the ancestors. A well-known event in 'Bela krajina' is
'Jurjevanje' where all the folklore groups participate with their dancing.
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