Notation, Text, and Choreography - Games and Songs of Novo Brdo's Kriva Reka

The songs of the Gnjilane region can be performed separately or as accompaniments to dances. In the latter case, singing took place during breaks, alternating with dancing. The singing style is one of the specific features that can be highlighted - it is sung very intensively, making full use of vocal volume, which leads to interruptions due to taking breaths in the middle of words. It is assumed that this phenomenon occurred at the end of exhalation and over time became a singing mannerism. The dance in this region was very moderate, with an almost slow tempo. Over time, the tempo increased, as the Janković sisters learned from conversations with the locals in this area. They noted the account of one resident that attested to this phenomenon: "In the past, we could dance traditional dances all day long. Dum, dum! Your stomach contracts from dancing, and you sweat all over!"

The melodies of songs from Gnjilane and its surroundings can also be categorized into two categories. Village songs are mostly short, simple, and underdeveloped, but they still have their special charm expressed in ornaments and periodic "lifts" of the melody. Gnjilane city melodies are more developed with oriental elements.

The use of instruments in this region is an integral part of the dance. There is no dance from Gnjilane that is performed entirely without instrumental accompaniment. The instruments used by the people are mostly borrowed from other cultures, mostly of oriental origin: def, darabuka, gajde, duduk, zurla, and goch (tambourines), and in some places, you could find the çemane (violin) on which the Roma played.

The choreography consists of dances and songs like "Bostan Sade Mome Krivorečke," "Preševka," "Zejnel Pasha," "Švrljig," "Selsko Oro," "Bugarčica," and "Šilovački čačak." 

The material for this choreography was demonstrated by Dragan Stojanović from Kosovska Kamenica, a longtime leader of the Cultural Artistic Society "Radomir Popović," who generously did everything to help us create this choreography together. At his insistence, the song "Zejnel Pasha" was included in the choreography, a song that has been played for a long time. The main motif of this song is the Serbian revenge of Zejnel Pasha for the atrocities he committed against the Serbs.

 This choreography was created in 2000. The women's costume is authentic, composed of clothing items collected in the mentioned villages, while the men's costume is a reconstruction made in the workshop of the Cultural Artistic Society "Kopaonik." The music was arranged by Tomislav Damjanović and Ismet Jašarević.