---
title: "Sword Dances on Korčula – A Tradition Not to Miss"
url: https://stacklist.com/card/ba7d0505-0f5f-42e2-85e4-d73d5d1d799a
source_url: "https://total-croatia-news.com/news/made-in-croatia/sword-dances-on-korcula-a-tradition-not-to-miss/"
stack: https://stacklist.com/c/travel/stack/38301514-9b05-4d9f-91dd-fe5c92892cc9
summary: "Korčula island preserves a rich tradition of knight sword dances, including Moreška, Moštra, and Kumpanija, performed by folklore groups across its towns. The annual Sword Dance Festival showcases these centuries-old dances alongside international guest performers throughout the summer season."
tags: "sword-dance, korčula, kumpanija, moreška, croatian-folklore, cultural-heritage, traditional-dance"
key_entities: "Korčula (location), Vela Luka (location), Blato (location), Žrnovo (location), Kumpanija (concept), Moreška (concept), Moštra (concept), Sword Dance Festival (event), Moreška KUD Korčula (organization), HD Kumpanija Vela Luka (organization), KPD Bratska sloga Žrnovo (organization), Sallyport Sword Dancers (organization), Smokvica (location), Čara (location), Pupnat (location)"
classification: "reference"
content_hash: "sha256:78e8fbe3821cf9ca3536de7a8aa9b6f42779ec93b5ef3605d37460f2049b1aa9"
acp_version: "0.2"
token_counts_approximate: 1050
visibility: public
agent_accessible: true
status: "final"
---

# Sword Dances on Korčula – A Tradition Not to Miss

June 5, 2018 – The traditional sword-dancing season on Korčula has begun – a fascinating tradition.  Almost every town on Korčula has a folklore group or knights’ society that performs traditional knight sword dances. Korčula has the well-known Moreška , which we have already written about, Žrnovo has Moštra, while Vela Luka and some other towns on the island have Kumpanija . This dancing tradition in Vela Luka is mentioned in documents from 1846, while the dance kumpanija originates from the 17th century. After 1926 this sword dance wasn’t performed for years and then it was revitalized in 2001. The folk group of the same name, Kumpanija, is sharing the heritage of traditional Vela Luka dances like: Kumpanija or Ples od Boja and some other dances like Mafrina, Četiri pasa, Tanac, Pritilica, Šega-šega. Kumpanija is an old knight sword game which comes from organised local army who defended the island from different invaders. Kumpanija is a sword dance where actual swordplay is secondary, and the focus of the dance is on the connection of the dancers who each hold the tip of the sword from the dancer in front or behind. Dancers like this form a kind of chain in which they display different dance figures and moves. Some of the moves are characteristic for other similar dances in Europe while some are specific for this area. This dance is performed only on Korčula island for the day of the town or a holiday. The main dance in Vela Luka is happening every year on St. Joseph on March 19th who is patron saint of Vela Luka town. In Blato on Korčula this dance is preserved by local knights society Kumpanjija. The dance is performed during summer and the main performance is on the day of Blato on April 28. The dance is accompanied with the drum and bagpipes and dancers follow the leader performing different combinations. The dance ends with sword duels. The society also keeps the local heritages like costumes, music instruments, songs, dances and recipes. Other towns on Korčula island also have Kumpanija dance – Smokvica, Čara, Pupnat. The dance is also performed on annual Sword Dance Festival which is a summer-long festival. On the festival one can see dances with 400-year-long heritage like moreška, kumpanija and moštra. Participants of the festival are Moreška KUD Korčula and HGD Sv Cecilija, from Korčula with Moreška dance, KPD Bratska slogan from Žrnovo with Moštra dance, VU Kumpanija from Pupnat, VU Kumpanija from Čara, VU Kumpanija from Smokvica, VU Kumpanjija from Blato, HD Kumpanija from Vela Luka. This popular traditional dance festival featured throughout the years Sallyport Sword Dancers from England, Boka Mariners from Montenegro and Croatian Folklore Ensemble from New Zealand with Maori Kapa Haka group. The festival this year starts on June 15 so try to make it to Korčula to see it. To see whats happening in Korčula, check here . Source: TB Vela Luka , Vela Luka , Mačevni plesovi , Mačevni plesovi – Kumpanjija , Visit Korčula – Sword Dance Festival , Mačevni plesovi – Kumpanjija , TB Blato       Subscribe to our newsletter the fields marked with * are required Email: * First name: Last name: Gender: Male Female Country: Birthday: [DD] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 [MM] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 [YYYY] 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Please don't insert text in the box below! Related posts: Sweet Korcula: Sweeties of Korcula Grannies – an Introduction Sweet Korčula: Sweeties of Korčula Grannies – 3. Prikle Korcula: 25 Things to Know about the Island of Marko Polo Battle of 4 Neighbourhoods: Korčula Town Water Polo Championship