Within our parish is the Folklore Group “Serbian Crown”.
Formed by a group of young people from the former Yugoslavia, “Srpska Kruna” Folk Dance Ensemble came to life in 1999 as part of St. Petka Serbian Orthodox Church in Lake Mary, Florida. These dancers came together with the desire to learn and display their culture and tradition of the “ole country” through ethnic dances of the former Yugoslavia under the direction of choreographers, Robert & Irena Lasic, of New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Robert Lasic has been dancing on and off since the age of nine, starting out in Toronto, Canada, and then moving on out to San Gabriel, California, where he met his wife Irena when she first joined the dance group.
“Srpska Kruna” translated into English is the “Serbian Crown”, a symbol of the pride, tradition, and culture of the Serbian people. Srpska Kruna’s repertoire includes an array of approximately 25 dances originating from two different regions of the Serbian Republic of the former Yugoslavia. Through a few fundraising events, the group was successful in raising over $7,000 to purchase two sets of twelve costumes to go along with and resemble the traditional apparel of those regions.
The first three years of the group’s existence were quite exciting as the group had several traveling performances including St. Petersburg, Florida, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and a fabulous weekend performance at the Florida Folk Life Festival at the Stephen Foster National Park in Gainesville, Florida. As with many groups, Srpska Kruna went through some strife but has since re-kindled as of September 2005 with more dancers than before. The group is also looking into scheduling performances at the Disney Parks. With the support of the community, the church, and the continued will and desires of the dancers, Srpska Kruna hopes to expand its collection of dances and costumes to other regions of the former Yugoslavia including those of Bosnia & Hercegovina, Croatia, and Montenegro.