MONTENEGRO WEDDING CEREMONY

Pays
Montenegro
Année
2022
Mentor
Danka Vuletic
(Elementary School "Mileva Lajovic-Lalatovic" from Niksic)
Participants
Lana
David
Petra
Ljubo
Mija
Mirko
Maksim
Mihailo
Antonije
Maksim
Darija
Share:
Vue d'ensemble

Every nation has an obligation to preserve its customs and tradition, to nurture love for its homeland and its past, as it would also love other nations and respect their history.A Montenegrin wedding is an important part of the Montenegrin family tradition, and therefore Montenegrin society. Wedding customs have their roots in the distant past, as such they were inherited, passed down from generation to generation. In Montenegro, a wedding was an opportunity to gather relatives, friends, neighbours, godfathers, to sing, dance, exchange toasts and rituals, all in honor of the newlyweds, the creation of a new family that represented hope for the continuation of life, the extension of the name and tribe , and of the nation itself and the human race. Many wonderful customs associated with this important event are being lost and forgotten under the pressure of modern times. That was the motivation for my fourthgrade students of the Elementary School "MilevaLajovic-Lalatovic" from Niksic and me, their teacher, to stage a Montenegrin wedding and preserve from oblivion this cultural heritage that was bequeathed to us by our ancestors. The openness of the Montenegrin wedding gave us the opportunity to include all the students of our class, students from the Roma community, as well as students with special educational needs, in this drama, and thus promote inclusive education and show how important they are to our community. In addition to the Montenegrin folk costume, Muslim and Roma costumes could also be seen at the wedding. We wanted the beauty of our ethnic diversity to be promoted and visible. The dramatic presentation of the Montenegrin wedding takes place in two acts - in the bride's house (first act) and in the groom's house (second act). Each act is accompanied by special customs (preparation of the bride, reception of the wedding guests, decoration of the flag, decoration of the wedding guests, reception of the wedding guests in the groom's house, ritual with the “nakonjce”–a young male child that the bride need to lift three times above her head,in order to fill their life together with healthy offspring-,passing the sieve over the house...), a dance and a song that is traditionally sung without musical accompaniment. The scenography was specially made in cooperation with RajkoSusic, the art teacher from our school. We traditionally renew this project from generation to generation. It is currently being prepared with students of the 3rd grade, and its performance is scheduled for the Independence Day of Montenegro, on May21st. These students will appear on the stage with their roles: THE NAMES OF THE STUDENTS THE STUDENT’S ROLES Lazar “Starisvat”- The person who leads the wedding guests, who is the main one among the wedding guests Lana The bride David The groom Petra The bride’s mother Ljubo The bride’s brother Mija Godmother Mirko Godfather MaksimDacic The flag bearer Mihailo The brother-in-low Antonije The duke MaksimMickovic SavoPerov ( Pero’sSavo) Darija “Andjibula”-A girl from the groom's family who is not married. Mirela, Martina and Hana They decorate the wedding guests Every rehearsal is filled with joy, laughter, but also with a serious approach to the dramatic role. Parents of students are important partners for us, as well as local cultural and artistic societies. The most important thing of all is that we are aware of the fact that by getting to know and nurturing cultural heritage, like a puzzle, we integrate ourselves into the cultural map of Europe and The World. DIRECTOR AND MENTOR: Danka Vuletic, MA, professor of classroom teaching