SERBIAN AMBASSADOR DOESN’T TAKE SALARY: Milan has made Chicago the capital of our culture in the diaspora! (VIDEO + PHOTO GALLERY)

We Serbs are a people who are hard on ourselves and find it difficult to acknowledge someone’s success, and it is even harder for us to tip our hat and extend a hand to one of our own.

Here in the diaspora, the situation is no better than in Serbia, and it should be, and it should be different, because there are far fewer of us here, so standing out from the crowd in anything is worth noting.

Especially when we talk about things and commitments that you don’t live off of, for which you don’t get a weekly paycheck, that don’t pay off your loans, cars, and houses, and don’t feed your children.

Such is the engagement of Milan Andrijanic, a choreographer – as he likes to call himself, but in fact the alpha and omega of the “Oko sokolovo” Folklore Ensemble and the driving force of the most active Serbian theater group in these areas – the Serbian Theater Chicago.

THE UNOBTRUSIVE LEADER: Andrijanić (right) with members of the “Oko sokolovo” Folklore Ensemble

The direct reason for this writing of mine is the annual concert of “Oko sokolovo” that took place on Sunday in the church hall on Redwood drive, where Milan’s protégés showed all the splendor of their talent and the fruits of many years of hard work, and conveyed to the dance floor his vision of how the preservation of Serbian national heritage should look far from the homeland.

And dance, music, and song are indeed the most valuable things that we can preserve in immigration and pass on to the next generation, to the kids and young people, many of whom have forever lost all ties with Serbia and the Balkans.

Except for that one.

And that is why the role of Milan Andrijanić among us here is so invaluable, greater and more significant than the chair of any ambassador or consul sent to us from Serbia.

As a tireless enthusiast at the head of two amateur collectives in the diaspora, which I don’t know how much the state even helps in their work, Milan, with his energy, acts on the environment like a queen bee around which bees swarm, in this case a fairly large group of mostly young people who follow the rhythm he dictates and go the way he leads.

And they not only follow the rhythm, but they are getting better and better from year to year, as this year’s concert showed, where, as always before, we saw and heard some new, and actually ancient, games and songs, which Andrijanić pulls out of who knows what mothballs and evacuates from oblivion.

And when, after the concert, with a mixture of surprise and admiration, I asked one of the doyen of his “Oko” how it is that they have a new program and choreography every time, the answer was:

“You know, Milan doesn’t like to repeat himself!”

The rich experience and knowledge he gained in the famous Abrašević, Andrijanić generously transfers to his troupe, but he also constantly moves forward.

Instead of simply reproducing what we brought from our homeland, which we are often condemned to do when we live far from Serbia and Serbian lands, he constantly creates, innovates, explores…

And he does this not only through folklore but also as a leader (and when necessary an actor) of a theater troupe, in which he has so far created several theater performances, thus deviating from the line of least resistance to offer the audience in the diaspora only Serbian classics, without author’s works.

“HEAVENLY POKER”: A scene from the play written and directed by Milan Andrijanić

Let’s be clear, the fact that in Chicago and America for years only classics were played and works of domestic playwrights were reproduced was a pretty big necessity, considering that all the actors and directors in these areas are amateurs who earn a living doing other jobs, often 6 days a week, so as to run tired to rehearsals, in halls often more than an hour’s drive away…

Which makes Milan Andrijanić’s undertaking and mission even greater and harder to understand for someone who hasn’t been involved in something amateur in America, where everything, even time, is money.

And Milan managed to find love in such a world. For what he does, for those he works with, but also for those to whom he serves and shows everything.

So you feel privileged, as I did on Sunday, watching the complex and perfectly rehearsed choreographies of Milan’s dancers. Or as I feel every time I watch a new premiere of the Serbian Theater Chicago under his baton.

What I particularly appreciate about Andrijanić is that political incorrectness, which in his case comes from unadulterated patriotism. That will and courage to question history and politics through artistic work, about which one usually keeps quiet in places where one should speak.

And so you get the opportunity to watch a folk performance or a theater play as a kind of political statement and a play about us, our fates, delusions, ups and downs.

Andrijanić does not hesitate, in the middle of America, the capital of political correctness and the soul-killing of nations, risking misunderstanding, and even condemnation, to question history and politics through the preservation of traditions.

And he does it not by poking others in the eye, but by putting ourselves, our rulers, and their atrocities and blunders before the court of history.

So, for example, on Sunday we could enjoy a whole set of games and songs from “forgotten Serbian lands”, from the territories of Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, for whose oblivion, and through the artistic form of folklore, Milan blames Serbian leaders and us as their subjects, who so easily crossed over that oblivion.

There are people who might be flattered by praise, leading them to think all sorts of things about themselves, but Milan Andrijanić is not one of them. He probably won’t even read this text.

He has more important things to do.

And all we can do is wish him good health for a long time. We don’t have to worry about his energy and enthusiasm.

And a big thank you for everything he has done and is doing for us

P.S. The fact that I practically don’t have a decent photo to illustrate this text speaks volumes about who Milan Andrijanić is, because, you guessed it, Milan doesn’t like to be photographed and pose.