“SEDYANKA”

This is a folk show performed on the stage of Narodno chitalishte for more than 200 people audience. The most important about it is that the scriptwriter, the director, the actors and musicians come entirely from our adult volunteers and participants in our singing and dancing groups.

The ”sedyanka” /sitting/ is an old Bulgarian custom, a ritual practiced in the past mostly in the villages. The name comes from the verb “sit”, as this is one of the main activities during the “sitting“. Mostly young people, who are ready for marriage, gather at the sittings. The most active time for a “sitting” is in the autumn and winter, when the young people are not busy in field work.

Girls usually do some kind of hand work sitting by the fire, they tell legends, riddles, tales, they sing and dance making fun, gossiping and flirting with the bachelor party.
According to the patriarchal norms of the old Bulgarian society, it is considered improper for a girl to choose her beloved. When the boys arrive at the sitting they usually sit in pairs, each boy next to the girl of his heart. When a boy takes the bouquet of flowers of the girl this is an essential and very important moment of expressing love. When the boy steals the bouquet he wears it in a prominent place to show that he has a favorite. The girl, if she comes back home without a flower, is known to be “taken.”

If the parents of the young people oppose their marriage, the boy steals his beloved, or she elopes with him, which in most cases happens during the sitting. The fun usually continues until dawn.