List of author's articles, page 47
Record set for ‘kalamajka’ dancing
THE OLD folk dance called ‘kalamajka’ attracted 1,820 people to Freedom Square in the town of Prievidza on May 7 and they established a new Slovak record for the number of people dancing at one time. The event was held on May 7, Europe Day, and dancers expressed their approval of the country’s membership in the European Union by wearing clothing in yellow or blue, the colours of the EU.
Reduta's new organ makes its
WHEN the Reduta, home of the Slovak Philharmonic (SF), reopened in January 2012 after a major reconstruction, the SF revealed that its new pipe organ was not yet ready. Now the organ is set to fill the hall with music after making its debut on May 20.
Church in Chanava gets a new, old-bell
The church bell that originally hung in the now-collapsed bell tower in Zacharovce has found a new home in the church in the village of Chanava. What was originally a Calvinist church has stood in this village in the Rimavská Sobota district since 1830 and last year repairs to the church were finished. Andrea Nagyová, the vicar of the Reformed Church, told the TASR newswire that the interior of the church’s tower was rebuilt so that it can hold three bells.
Young Slovak Roma perform in Brussels
INTERNATIONAL Roma Day inspired a performance in Brussels on April 8 by 15 young, talented residents of the village of Moldava nad Bodvou in Slovakia who are amateur musicians with Slumdog Theatre (Divadlo z chatrče), along with singer Ida Kelarová and her band. Their performance was staged as part of an international conference called From Segregation to Integration: the Role of Culture in Roma Inclusion, the TASR newswire wrote.
…and Slovak-bred big cats
IT HAS been estimated that 12 lions and 30 tigers are living in the vicinity of Trnava, the Sme daily wrote. In the village of Hrnčiarovce near Trnava a young man, Peter Ardan, enters an enclosure like a dog pen and calls out “Suri” and soon a young lioness greets him. The young man scratches the animal’s belly and later goes to a larger enclosure with seven other lions. This is not Africa but western Slovakia, about 50 kilometres from Bratislava, where Ardan breeds lions on rented land.Ardan told Sme that he got his first lion, a male named Leo, from the Humberto circus when the circus had eight cubs at one time.
100% Slovak- made pipe organs
SINCE 2005, two brothers from Poprad, Ján and Gabriel Bies, have been manufacturing church pipe organs. But through the years, the Bies brothers lacked the skills to craft the pewter-based pipes so essential to creating the proper resonance to pipe organs. Since the brothers were dissatisfied with the quality of the organ pipes bought from other countries, they looked for another way to solve this problem. Now, after years of study and research, the brothers are at last able to turn out pipe organs completely manufactured in their own workshop.
American turtles love Slovakia
TURTLES of the red-eared slider species (Trachemys scripta elegans) have been found living around Lake Baňa near Michalovce, east of Košice, even though this species is originally from the Americas. It seems that living in the area is quite conducive for the turtles and they are even able to spend winter in the wild there.
Show features glass artistry from Lednické Rovne
AN EXHIBITION called Na zdravie! Na dizajn! (Cheers! To design!) at the Slovak National Gallery (SNG) in Bratislava presents 120 years of glassworks made in the Slovak town of Lednické Rovne in Trenčín Region. Glass from Lednické Rovne is renowned throughout the world for its combination of artistry and quality production, the TASR newswire wrote.
Štefánik tower replicas now at Partizánske observatory
THE OBSERVATORY in Partizánske now houses replicas of two concrete observatory towers that were built by Milan Rastislav Štefánik, the Slovak statesman, astronomer and world traveller, in 1911 to observe a total eclipse of the sun on April 28 of that year on the Pacific island of Vava’u.
Live video action from Bojnice Zoo
IN FEBRUARY Bojnice Zoo launched a trial period during which five webcams are broadcasting live action from the zoo on its website.
Hodejov museum to present replicas of ancient treasures
THE MUSEUM of the Gortva Region in Hodejov plans to make replicas of bronze treasures that were made in 1500 BC in order to display them. Vladimír Gondáš, the museum’s head, told the TASR newswire that he is negotiating with a sponsor who is willing to make replicas of the Hodejov treasure – three-dimensional bronzes with Mycenaean patterns – that were unexpectedly found in 1961 and are now scattered across four museums.
'Slovak' Tube stops named
IN TRIBUTE to the upcoming Summer Olympic Games, the stations of the London Underground will be renamed after famous athletes. Two stations on the Piccadilly line will be named after twin brothers Peter and Pavol Hochschorner, Slovakia’s very successful white-water slalom champions.
Scale-model Tatras buildings go on display
THE SOLISKO Hotel in Štrbské Pleso, a holiday resort in the High Tatras, offers visitors an opportunity to admire miniature paper models of seven buildings replicating the original architecture of significant structures in the Tatras in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The miniatures were carefully constructed by Oto Jalčovik from Trebišov over a six-year period. They can be seen at the hotel until the end of June.
Four brothers weave a record ‘korbáč’
SHORTLY before Easter, four brothers from Horovce broke the record for the longest korbáč, the whip woven from willow branches that is used by Slovak boys and men to ceremonially whip girls and women in their family and neighbourhood in an Easter Monday tradition.
Candidate uses novel way to focus attention on tax evasion
As part of his campaign to enter parliament from the Christian Democratic Movement, candidate Miroslav Vetrík organised a symbolic protest on the Main Square in Bratislava on March 3. The parliamentary candidate burned symbolic tax documents from the period of the Kingdom of Hungary during the reign of Maria Teresa to make the point that there was widespread tax evasion in the 18th century as well as today and that ordinary citizens are the ones who are usually forced to pay taxes.
Church attic freed of bat excrement
THE ATTIC of the church in the village of Ratková in south-eastern Slovakia accumulated almost one and a half tons of bat excrement, zoologist Jerguš Tesák told the TASR newswire, adding that employees of the Muránska Planina National Park chose the first half of March as the most opportune time to clean and seal the attic – before the bats could return to the church from their winter hibernation in caves.
Amateur plots out ancient fortification
AMATEUR archaeologist Milan Pupala might have uncovered a long-lost hillside fortification in the village of Utekáč in east-central Slovakia and measured and plotted out the walls of the fortification that are partially visible from a nearby hill.
Bratislava and Trnava to get people on bikes
BRATISLAVA wants to begin an automated system of bicycle rentals for residents and visitors and the city government has launched a competition to arrange for it, with the goal to have the first phase ready this summer. Competitors can submit proposals until the end of April describing how they will cover operational costs, guarantee maintenance of the bicycles and offer a minimum of 11 stations, each with 10 bicycles.
Fundraising to save old trains
A NEW initiative wants to save two historical railway engines and three carriages in the High Tatras; the engines are known by locals as Kométa (Comet) and Škoduľa. Both are inoperable and are currently parked in the Poprad rail depot. Tatranský okrášľovací spolok (TOS), the Tatra Beautification Association, and Veterán klub železníc (VKŽ), the Railway Veteran Club, embarked on a public fundraising effort in March to repair the engines and carriages.
Bratislava Puppet Theatre celebrates 55 years of entertaining
BRATISLAVA’S puppet theatre, Bratislavské Bábkové Divadlo (BBD), celebrated its 55th birthday on March 1, 2012. Renamed from the State Puppet Theatre in 2002 it premiered its first performance on April 17, 1957: Josef Čapek’s famous fairy tale O psíčkovi a mačičke (About a Dog and a Cat), directed by Zdeněk Říha, the TASR newswire wrote.
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