The village folklore group Novani is a civic association dedicated to the artistic processing and interpretation of the traditional folk culture of the Považie region in Slovakia. It was founded in 2020 in the village of Nová Ves nad Váhom with the mission to collect, preserve, interpret, and promote the spiritual heritage of this region, focusing particularly on folk customs, dances, songs, and amateur theatre, as well as organizing cultural and social events.
The folklore group consists of two main sections: a dance group accompanied by a traditional folk band, and an amateur theatre group. These sections cooperate closely to create and present both joint and independent performances.
Currently, the civic association has 27 active members across various age groups. The group welcomes anyone who is willing to contribute to achieving its goals. The chairman of the association is Ing. Marián Pavlík.
Our activities are rooted in the traditions that were once practiced, above all, in the village of Nová Ves nad Váhom. In our theatre performances, we incorporate elements of the local Novani dialect as well as vocabulary historically typical of the village. For our dances, we perform steps that, based on available research, were traditionally used in this region. The association’s ambition is to revive regional traditions and present the customs of our ancestors in the local dialect.
Our first public performance, which laid the foundation for the establishment of the Novani Village Folklore Group, took place in 2019 on the occasion of celebrating the 600th anniversary of the first written mention of the village. At this celebration, we performed a short theatrical skit accompanied by dance and song.
In 2020, we presented a dance and theatre program dedicated to the Carnival season (Fašiangy), including the traditional “burial of the double bass” (pochovávanie basy). We also rehearsed a harvest festival theme (dožinky) and the traditional bridal capping ceremony (odčepčenie). Furthermore, we participated in religious processions wearing restored Novani folk costumes.
In 2021, we performed a dance and theatre production titled “This Is How We Live Here” (Tak si tu žijeme). In this piece, we showed that the problems and worries we experience today could be found in the past as well—in slightly different forms, but with the exact same essence.
In our original work, we keep past phenomena and events in mind. We nurture, rediscover, develop, and creatively enrich them so that we can pass on these cultural traditions—in which we honor and preserve the legacy of our ancestors—to future generations as a living culture.
