In the Slovene Ethnographic Museum, which participates in the European project Dance as Intangible Cultural Heritage, we continue with the recording of video materials for the exhibition we are preparing as part of the project of the same name.
This time, we filmed a documentary film on Kovač's homestead in Nedelica (Turnišče municipality) about two dances - sotiš and šamarjanka - their safeguarding as an important heritage of Prekmurje region, about changes, transmission of knowledge and the importance of folkdance ensembles for their safeguarding.
Sotiš and šamarjanka are dances that are also listedin the Register of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Sotiš is the name for a pair dance of the šotis type, which is defined by a dance structure consisting of two three-steps forward (or right-left) and a turn in four steps (or three-steps). In some places, part of the performance also includes clapping. Šamarjanka is a dance in a couple with a two-part structure: the first part is characterized by the repeated performance of two side steps and a half-step, while the second part is characterized by repeated half-steps to the left and right. It is danced to a melody in a three-beat time signature.
