Moreška

Who is who

Bula

The captive maiden, betrothed to the White King.

Osman

The White King. He wears red.

Moro

The Black King, who has taken the Bula by force. He wears black.

Otmanović

The Black King's father.

White army

Osman's men, in red.

Black army

Moro's men, in black.

The evening

1. 1

   Klapa

   Dalmatian harmony singing, voices only.

2. 2

   Moreška with the wind orchestra

   The story is told first, then the Sfida, the challenge, then the seven kolapi, until the Black King surrenders.

The front rows are the place for the sparks and the sound of iron. With small children, sit a few rows back.

The story

Two kings. One captive maiden. Seven battles to decide her fate. The White King, Osman, arrives to reclaim his betrothed, the Bula, from the Black King, Moro, who has taken her by force. The Bula refuses to yield: "Far more pain for me is your unwanted love than the steel." What follows is the Sfida, the challenge, and then seven kolapi: a sequence of increasingly intense sword-clash figures that escalates from lyrical circling to furious final combat. The Black army is surrounded, their circle shrinking with each figure, until the Black King surrenders his sword at Osman's feet. The Bula is freed. Virtue wins. It has always won.

The seven kolapi

Every dancer holds two iron swords: the right hand strikes, the left parries. The figures follow a fixed order and each one is faster than the last.

1. 1
   RugierNamed after the Sicilian Ruggero dance.
2. 2
   MoreškaThe oldest figure: circling and synchronised clashes.
3. 3
   FintaFeints and deceptive strikes.
4. 4
   Moro in dentroThe Black soldiers move inward.
5. 5
   KrižThe swords form crosses.
6. 6
   Rugier de fuoriviaThe Rugier turned outward, in wider circles.
7. 7
   Final figureAt full speed, until the Black army is surrounded and the Black King gives up his sword.

A short history

Of all the sword dances that once spanned the Mediterranean, only the Moreška of Korčula has survived intact. The first record in the town dates from 1666. The dialogue is spoken in the 17th-century Korčulan dialect, and the wind orchestra plays the score Krsto Odak wrote in 1937, used at every performance since 1947.