Music – Ukraine

The tradition of performing the ritual male dance “Serben” in the village of Chortovets is closely connected with the customs of Easter and Thomas Sunday, although it originally celebrated the arrival of spring. The dance technique is similar to the well-known “crooked dance”.

Men of all ages take part in the dance, with women primarily singing ritual songs that set the rhythm. The dance involves a ritual circumambulation of the village's temples, which the locals refer to as “going around the Serben”. Before the dance begins, ritual fires are lit on the village's tallest hills.

Serben begins with the oldest church brother, who is then joined by a priest and other men and boys. Participants invite family members and guests to join them in a dance that lasts several hours.

As this tradition has evolved to represent unity, this ritual dance symbolises a circle that will protect the village of Chortovets until the following Easter.

Serben is mainly performed in the village of Chortovets, in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. However, the tradition has also spread to communities near Prague (Czech Republic), Paris (France), as well as Portugal and Poland, where many people with roots in Chortovets live.

Bonus Trivia!

In 2024, this tradition was included in the National List of Elements of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Ukraine.

Courtesy of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine

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