The Serbian cultural center Stevan Mokranjac Vienna marked with a festive annual concert the end of a very successful year for this club in which, in addition to the successes achieved, it also celebrated the 25th anniversary.
The audience enjoyed the dancing skills of the ensemble members who performed choreographies from all over Serbia, while colorfulness of the original costumes dominated the stage. The audience was presented all Mokranjac groups and Kolo Maria Enzersdorf cultural and artistic society as a guest.
Before the last number by Mokranjac first ensemble, the dancers, choreographers and artistic directors were presented golden plaques for their contribution to the work and achievements of the club. In the first part of the concert, plaques were awarded to former and current presidents, deserving members, representatives of Austrian institutions, sponsors, and among the awarded were the club’s first president, Dragoljub Neksojević, and Jovica Stanojević, who had founded the society, together with Lazar Bilanović. At the end of the concert, currently best choreographer in Europe, Milorad Runjo, addressed the audience thanking them for the award and expressing the hope that in the next 25 years, these dancers would be sitting in the audience, and their children would be on stage.
‘This was an excellent year for us, in which we celebrated the 25th anniversary and which will go down in club history as the year in which the pioneers, middle and first ensemble won the European championship titles, in addition to the Austrian championship titles. In addition to these successes, Mokranjac organized a significant number of concerts as well as the largest seminar for artistic directors in Europe with a total of 270 participants. I wish to commend in particular the work of the artistic directors who spend the most time in the hall and teach children to dance and at the same time also to be good and honest people. I congratulate everyone and wish you a happy New Year and Christmas holidays’, says Saša Božinović, vice president of Stevan Mokranjac SCC Vienna.
About Stevan Mokranjac SCC
The SCC Stevan Mokranjac Vienna was founded in 1998, with the aim of nurturing the cultural heritage of its people and thereby contributing to the preservation of national identity and gathering its people in the diaspora. The center has 350 dancers, divided into six groups.
Working systematically, with the exceptional expert work of one of the best choreographers of today, Milorad Runjo, the ensemble has grown into a harmonious group whose performances fill the halls in Austria, Serbia, throughout Europe and even in the distant America.
This past decade of Serbian diaspora folklore was undoubtedly marked by the Mokranjac performance ensemble. In those 10 years, six gold plaques, two silver and two bronze plaques were won at European festivals. Mokranjac is the only cultural and artistic society in Europe that managed to win the title of absolute champion of Europe 4 times in 5 years, namely in 2013 in Niš, 2014 in Banja Luka, 2015 in Belgrade, and to be European champion in Portorož in 2017.
Source: Radio Television of Serbia
Photo: Stevan Mokranjac SCC
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