Festival MORESKA – a traditional sword dance
The town of Korcula is well known for MORESKA – a traditional sword dance and drama that was common through the Mediterranean in 12th and 13th century, reaching Korcula in 16th century from Italy and Dubrovnik.
The dance originated in Spain is associated to the conflict between Moors and Christians. In Dalmatia its popularity was almost certainly linked with the struggles against Ottoman Empire, above all with the victory over a Battle of Lepanto, the first major Ottoman defeat by the Christian powers, which ended the myth of Ottoman naval invincibility. Through the centuries Moreska vanished from the Mediterranean and nowadays is only to be find in Korcula, where it is performed for over 400 yrs.
Briefly, the dance follows the story of the conflict between the Red King (locally called “White”) versus Black King and their soldiers, as Bula – the Red King’s fiancée is captured by Black army. Following the dialogues between Kings, the romantic and ritualized sword battle starts, and is performed in seven circles representing seven different dances with swords. Finally Black King is conquered and Bula happily returns into arms of her bellowed Red King.
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