In 1992, the nation known as Czechoslovakia split. But a group of dancers in St. Paul representing the now-dissolved nation weren’t ready to hang up their clogs.
Having just performed at the Faribault International Festival on Saturday, the St. Paul Czech and Slovak Folk Dancers withstood the dissolution of Czechoslovakia and are still performing to this day. They have two cultures to represent now, according to their director, Louise Wessinger.
“We’re proud to promote the music of the Czech and Slovak Republic,” she said. “Both countries had a Velvet Divorce, and they are doing well. So we try to represent both countries really well.”
The dissolution of Czechoslovakia is known as the Velvet Divorce, a reference to a lack of bloodshed in the revolution and formation of the two modern countries. The relations between the countries remain strong and harmonious, which many historians say is rare for a nation-state when being divided into two.
Saturday’s performance was the group’s Faribault debut, and contained over an hour of dance. Before each dance, Wessinger said where the dance was from and what it was meant to represent.
Some dances were serious, representing major historical events or cultural clashes stemming from gender inequality. Some dances were silly, including one custom-made dance all about the country’s beer.
Though many of their dances performed Saturday were from the various regions of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, but some of their dances were made specifically for the group.
“We have a long history of Czech and Slovak dancers that come over and teach us dances,” Wessinger said.
That long history is over twice the history of either Republic. The group started in 1962, and was known as the St. Paul Czechoslovakia Folk Dancers.
They performed their dances at the time with vinyl records that spun at 78 revolutions per minute, said Wessinger. Then, they moved to tapes. Then, CDs.
Now, pretty much everything is digital, which she said makes it easier. She also explained that it opens up a whole new world of dances to learn.
20 members of the dance group are traveling to the Czech Republic in a few weeks to perform at the Moravian Castles CZ, a weeks-long festival that’s considered among the largest celebrations in the nation.
“Most of the people that are in the club are of Czech or Slovak descent,” Wessinger said. “And most of us are like me, I’m fifth-generation American. We’ve got quite a history in America, but we still retain our love of the Czech country and Slovak country.”
She said they especially want to preserve her ancestral homeland’s history and culture through the club.
“I think it’s important (to preserve those dances) because we are kind of reaching across the ocean and the culture,” she said. “And some of us have gone back to the country and feel like a more global view of the world, you know? It also helps you to understand the history of the region. So we’re so proud to be Czech.”
That gets even more complicated as one look further into the region. The Czech Republic has smaller states within it, each with various identities and cultures. To use an American analogy, it would be comparable to the West Coast being different than the Deep South.
“The folk dress we wear, everybody has their own,” Wessinger continued. “So we have them from all different regions or parts of the country. So that’s because we do dances from all different parts of the country. So we have the folk dress on so people can see the diversity of the folk dress.”
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