Did You Know That I Use To Be A Memeber Of A Croatian Folk Group From Grade School Through High School?

Believe it or not, I use to be a member of a folk group. My mother made me join in grade school and  I had to stay in until finishing high school. In this group we learned folk songs we sang; dances we danced; and I played a stringed instrument called a "prim." We had sheet music we learned to read and memorize for performances (when we performed it was without the sheet music in front of us.) Words to songs we had to do the same for in a language other than English. We learned regional Yugoslavian dances and a few international ones too such as Greek, Jewish, Macedonian, and I also think Hungarian too. We not only learned/performed but we did this while wearing regional costumes. Some of them were made with a lot of material and when on a stage performing they could be very warm to wear let alone perform in. When we would have dress rehearsals we would have to go through with costume changes too. Everything was timed and we had to keep within the parameters of the scheduled performance.
I enjoyed the singing and the dancing, I did not particularly like playing the stringed instrument. It almost resembled a small mandolin. We had to practice our instruments with the sheet music at home and we had weekly practices at a hall. We also had practice for the dances we had to learn. I really liked the dancing portion. Of all the dances we learned I think the ones I remember as liking the most were the Jewish and the Greek dances and the costumes we wore with them too. Isn't that funny, I am Croatian and my favorite dances were not of that decent, figure that one out. We had to wear make up for performances and our hair for the girls had to all look the same so if the look was a long braid then we had to wear a fake braid that was attached too. I am going to be honest with you. There were times when I just did not like having to play the instrument and memorizing the music especially if it was a tough song to learn/play. I would fake it on occasion and hope they didn't put a microphone close to me. I actually had a friend that sat next to me for practices and then stood next to me when we performed and we would fake it together occasionally. If  I remember correctly, she died when she was 13 years old a school bus hit her. I really did miss her because we would laugh a lot together. When a child dies so young it is hard on a lot of people.
As a group we performed  at concerts as guests at other like groups in cities in the USA/Canada. My senior year in high school we actually performed in the former Yugoslavia. That was my first visit there. This was a national organization in which we belonged to and each year around the 4th of July there would always be a convention held in a major city. All the groups from the USA/Canada would gather for the weekend and there would be performances by all the groups and the travel was fun. My senior year the convention was in the former Yugoslavia. This is a very interesting piece of info to throw in, when we stayed at the Hotel Intercontinental in Zagreb the Rolling Stones rock band actually was staying at the same hotel as us. I spoke briefly in the lobby/lounge area with Billy Preston, didn't have a clue who he really was at the time but never the less I briefly spoke with him. What are the odds of that? On this same trip we travelled to other regions also and performed in small and larger towns. When we arrived in Dubrovnik, (which is on the coast of the Adriatic Sea) some of my fellow friends thought it was funny to push a few of us girls into the Adriatic Sea. You see, it was right there outside on the patio area of the hotel that we stayed at. I was not a happy camper for they pushed us in with our regular clothes on not our bathing suits. I'm writing this so you see I survived right. You may be wondering why I am writing about this tonight. It is because my son was watching  Rick Steves' Eastern Europe DVD and a portion of it was on Croatia/Slovenia. On that particular trip we also went on a boat ride in Plitvice Lakes, that was beautiful, it may be a natural wonder.
My mother worked very hard to raise points for us to travel with the group. It was like this, they would make  nut rolls and strudels and take orders and sell them to raise money for the group and somehow points were earned and then applied towards the trips for us. Points were also earned by working festivals in which they  would sell food and they even had a lemon shake stand too. You were also able to earn points by working on making the costumes. I do not know how it worked I just know my mother would work hard at this so we could go, perform and have fun too. Parents always travelled with us and it was the parents that would help with costume changes, make up, hair, and they even made some of the costumes we would wear.
What did I learn being a part of this heritage folk group? How to read music; to be teachable; correction when needed; order/structure; able to see a dance and then learn it; and have fun mixed in too. I believe my mother felt it was important that if you kept your children busy they would not have time to get in trouble. She also wanted us to learn our heritage. She was in a similar group when she was younger. She actually was offered a scholarship to a college in which kids try out with the best of the best to earn a scholarship at Duquense University. Those selected for scholarships at Duquense University not only have to complete their college work they also perform on a more professional level throughout their college years. Her parents believed back then that good girls did not go off /away to college and so she had to turn it down. If I get the story right, even one of her instructors went to speak with her parents too. From what I understand she was talented with singing and with dance too. I am thankful that my mother had foresight to let me go to college and I am unhappy that she did not get to go to college when the opportunity was presented to her. There is something to learn in this though, back then kids listened to their parents even if they didn't like or agree with it. It was called respect and they honored them. I esteem my mother for that. The bible states that if you honor your parents you will have long life. If I can find a picture of me performing I just may add it to this writing one day.