Mit - Index

Mit - UVK_Sinfo_2008_08_št.12 - Index

s o C i e t y
recognised around the world. Is there anything unknown about
the Avseniks? It is difficult to discover anything new; however,
it is worth repeating the fact that these extraordinary Slovenian
musicians have imitators all around the world. The Avsenik brothers
have so far had the most successful Slovenian musical group, and
won worldwide recognition. The leader of the ensemble, Slavko
Avsenik, with his brother Vilko Avsenik, is the founder of popular
folk music in Slovenia and of the special music group named after
them. During the time ensemble was working, they sold more
than 32 million records, had more than ten thousand concerts,
and, jokingly, Slavko takes pride in the fact that they performed
on the same day in the same city as the famous Rolling Stones,
and that his band’s concert was much better attended.The
ensemble recorded their first single abroad in 1955 and later
received many gold, diamond and even platinum albums, and
numerous awards for their originality; they went professional
in 1960. They created hundreds of their own compositions,
notably polkas and waltzes, in which they praised the beauties
of Slovenia. It is interesting that today a unique audio symbol of
the Avsenik ensemble and almost the whole of Slovenia (besides
the national anthem) is their composition Na Golici (known as
Trompeten-Echo in German-speaking areas), which was Slavko
Avsenik's idea in 1955. This tune is one of the most frequently
played compositions in popular music worldwide.
tANJA rIBI» AwArDED At A FILM
FEStIvAL
Tanja RibiË, one of the most popular Slovene theatre and movie
actresses, who occasionally also participates in pop culture (a few
years ago she represented Slovenia at a Eurovision song contest)
has been awarded best actress of the 54th Taormina film festival
in Messina, Sicily. Her roll in the movie ‘Traktor, ljubezen in
rokenroll’ (Tractor, Love and Rock ‘n’ roll) by Branko DjuriÊ, which
premiered internationally at the festival, proved her ability to
express irony and emotion in very diverse situations throughout
the movie.
As well as the hit movie ’Petelinji zajtrk’ (Rooster’s Breakfast) this
movie too was based on a novel by Feri LainšËek, whose texts are
becoming a reliable recipe for success for Slovene filmmakers.
©tEFAN KArDOš − tHIS yEAr’S KrESNIK
AwArD wINNEr
sinfo 12 30
One of the most popular literary awards for the best novel of the
year presented by Delo newspaper and named after the longest
day of the year, when the award is presented, went this year
to ©tefan Kardoš, from the Prekmurje region. The novel of the
year is his debut ‘Rizling polka’, a relaxingly funny novel, with an
amazing touch for characterisation and relationships.
The presentation of the award is an interesting ritual in itself,
which attracts public attention. It is not just a formal presentation,
but a celebration of the longest day of the year, a gathering with
music, recitals and conversations with the authors nominated
for the award. At the beginning of the evening the jury retires
to deliberate, and after two hours, when the evening is in full
swing, the decision is announced. The award, 5,000 euros, is
often more than the amount the author received from the
publisher, and the popularity of the award, broadly reported by
the media, contributes to sales of the novel.
tHE ANA DESEtNICA AND trNFESt
FEStIvALS IN LJUBLJANA
At the same time, two renowned and specialized cultural festivals
of new scene genres took place in Ljubljana: Ana Desetnica,
which presents street theatre performances - for the eleventh
time this year, and who also exported some of its programme
to the Lent festival in Maribor - and a bit later in the summer,
Trnfest, a festival of concerts, dance and theatre performances
and workshops of different kinds, which ran for 34 afternoons
and evenings in July and mostly August.
Three events, part of the street theatre festival, must be
mentioned. The festival opened on the last day in June, with
the performance Time Out, by the Antagon theatre, in front
of Cankarjev dom, with dancers on stilts, live music, video and
pyrotechnics. David Dimitri performed in the mono-circus, a real
circus arena, with an amazing acrobatic performance. He also
performed later on one of the Ljubljana city squares. There was
the world premier of the performance ‘Kontejner Alhambra’,
by the ‘Cie osmosis’ group in co-production between Slovenia,
Belgium and Spain, in which dancers interact with containers and
fork-lifts in an interesting way.
The 17th Trnfest festival, which came alive a month later, at the end
of July, will have served its visitors for 34 days this year. Concerts
are mostly on Fridays and Saturdays; Sundays are reserved for
theatre performances; exhibitions are opened on Tuesdays, and
Thursdays are dedicated to children. Of special interest is the
theatre production by the local KUD France Prešeren Trnovo club
- Impro liga, Gverila theatre, ©ila and Rozin theatre, which will
take place over several evenings. Foreign groups also participate:
KUD Idioti and Radikal Dub kolektiv from Croatia, Kultur Shock
from the United States, Bruta Polka from Israel and Deti Picasso
from Russia. A renowned Slovene music group, Melodrom will
conclude the festival.