The Church of St. John the Baptist in Denver was too small to accommodate everyone who came for the Easter liturgy. The Serbian community in Colorado, growing in numbers, marked the holiday with a folklore ensemble that performed for the first time—on Easter.
Protoiereus Radovan Petrović blessed the Easter eggs brought by members of the parish of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Denver during the festive liturgy. As Father Radovan stated, the church was too small to hold all those who came to the Easter liturgy.
“I believe the Serbian community in Denver is larger now than it has ever been, even though there was a significant community in Pueblo and here in Denver at the end of the 19th century. Still, this is currently the highest number of our people, since we’re spread across Denver, Colorado Springs, Aspen, Vail, Fort Collins, and all over Colorado,” said Protoiereus Petrović.
The church also has a community hall where, for the first time this Easter, the newly formed local folklore ensemble performed. They also danced during halftime at a Denver Nuggets game in Ball Arena in downtown Denver.
The program opened with the song Tamo daleko, and they spoke about the regions of Serbia whose dances they presented.
“Yes, everyone gathered after church for Easter today. It was really great. Little kids performed, along with our group of older dancers, and this was the first time we put together a full program—three dances, from Šumadija, Laskovac, and the Eastern mountains,” said Ana Janković, a member of the folklore ensemble.
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“We managed to gather a few costumes here ourselves, some things we got online, and the other costumes we brought from Serbia,” revealed choreographer Zoran Žarković.
“It felt really great to dance in front of so many people. So many showed up—we were standing outside for about ten minutes as people were exiting and greeting each other,” said Miloš Janković, another member of the ensemble.
“As you can see, we’re building the church little by little, building the parish, building cultural life, building a sports life,” emphasized Branislav Strižak, a parish member.
Serbian Orthodox churches have been gathering Serbs in North America since the late 19th century, and in recent years, that has been the case here in Denver, Colorado as well.
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Source: RTS, Foto: Printscreen RTS