"Three great forces rule the world: stupidity, fear and greed.” ~ Albert Einstein
And we also lived by Marta Chamillová’s fierce folkloric dictum: “Fitting in is death. Remember that. You want to stand apart from your peers. Always."
“Like a lot of children who feel they’re going to die soon, he was afraid he would be forgotten... I promised I’d tell his story.”
1935-2023
Vrb*v felt like a black hole when I was a teenager, and at some point, it became a blank canvas. The Royal town will survive without me just fine. But it feels nice knowing I and my sister AGA made a difference.
Detský súbor Tatranka založila Marta Chamillová v roku 1963, do Vrbova prišla ako učiteľka slovenčiny so skúsenosťami s vedením folklórneho súboru v jej predchádzajúcom pôsobisku, v Sabinove.
Tatranka, Vrbov _ Bedeme še grač
Slovakgirl by Karol Plicka; she almost looks like she could be a 1970s hippie teen dressed in peasant-style clothes 🤭 Tatranka Subor - Mantra of Marta Chamillova
Repertoár Tatranky pozostával z pôvodných goralských detských hier a tancov na základe zberateľskej práce. Námety získavala s magnetofónom po okolitých dedinách a nahrávacie zariadenie zverovala aj mladým súboristom, chodili po domoch a sami nahrávali piesne, porekadlá i spomienky, ktoré potom vedúca pretavila do javiskovej podoby.
Deti navštevovali a zaznamenávali tradície starších členov svojich rodín, susedov či známych, ale aj iných potenciálnych informátorov.
Royal Reims HENNEQUIN
„Vedľa nás v Kežmarku bývali chlapi z Poľska, ktorí robili na OSP (Okresný stavebný podnik, pozn. red.). Vedúca mi dala kazeťák a fľašu vodky, aby som za nimi zašla. Mala som asi dvanásť rokov, zo začiatku im bolo smiešne, čo to ja taká malá chcem.
Ale keď som vytiahla tú vodku, veruže mi zaspievali: Hej, džifce z Javořiny, hej, chlopiec na doline,“ hovorí Janka Tomalová (rod. Bajusová), ktorá bola súčasťou súboru v rokoch 1975 až 1978.
Bývalí členovia, ktorých sme oslovili, si na Martu Chamillovú spomínajú ako na „sekeru“. Bola veľmi prísna, na skúškach vyžadovala viac než stopercentnú disciplínu, vedela „drviť slovom“ a v časoch zhruba pred päťdesiatimi rokmi nebolo výnimkou ani „zaucho“.
Zároveň sa zhodujú, že ak by taká nebola, ani Tatranka by nedosahovala niekdajšej kvality. Vzostup prišiel veľmi rýchlo.
V roku 1963 sa súbor sformoval, o rok žal úspechy na festivale v Strážnici, rok na to vystupoval na novoročných slávnostiach na Pražskom hrade a v júni 1965 sa už začala séria víťazstiev na prehliadke detských súborov v Trenčíne.
Pre folkloristov z Vrbova sa stalo automatickým, že na prehliadkach vyhrávali prvé miesta a cestovali po Európe.
Pod dohľadom učiteľky a s jej pomocou šili súboristi, deti z Vrbova, Žakoviec, Vlkovej, Abrahámoviec či Ľubice a ich rodičia goralské kroje a vyrábali i pomôcky do hier a tancov.
Okrem toho, že každý zodpovedal za vlastný kroj a jeho špičkový stav, na všetko v súbore existoval systém. Pred každým vystúpením dostali speváci a tanečníci vypiť detskú výživu, čo bola starosť niekorého z členov, podobne ako aj nachystať pomôcky na javisko – a pri detskej zábudlivosti si táto „pozícia“ neraz vyžadovala aj operatívu v podobe akútneho riešenia.
Ďalšia z bývalých členiek, Mária Koľová (rod. Schmögnerová), si spomína na systém zbierania sa na skúšku.
Vedúca určila člena, ktorý vyrazil po druhého, spolu šli po ďalšieho, a tak priberali deti naprieč dedinou, aby sa na nikoho nezabudlo. Krojové súčiastky, látky, plné krabice detských výživ, všetko išlo podľa niekdajšej zástupkyne ZDŠ Vrbov Eleny Schmögnerovej z platu Marty Chamillovej.
Po štrnástich rokoch tvorivej práce odišla v júni 1977 vedúca do dôchodku. Jej miesto zaujali odchovankyne Marta Bednárová a Anna Gurgoľová, ktoré celkom „neosireli“, Marta Chamillová s činnosťou ešte pomáhala.
V roku 2000 dala po kríze Tatranke šancu ešte aj Lujza Šoltésová, súbor však dnes už nefunguje.
(zdroj: Jana Tomalová, 2022, Časopis Tatry, číslo: 5)
Aga dancer in Tatranka (1966)
*The Story of Tatranka - Chamillová - Translated to English
The Tatranka children's ensemble was founded by Marta Chamillová in 1963. She came to Vrbov as a Slovak teacher with experience in leading a folklore ensemble in her previous place of work, in Sabinov. Tatranka's repertoire consisted of original highland children's games and dances based on her collecting work. She obtained ideas with a tape recorder in the surrounding villages and entrusted the recording equipment to the young ensemble members, who went from house to house and recorded songs, proverbs and memories themselves, which the leader then transformed into a stage form. The children visited and recorded the traditions of older members of their families, neighbors or acquaintances, but also other potential informants.
"There were guys from Poland living next door to us in Kežmarok who worked at the OSP (District Construction Company, ed. note). The manager gave me a cassette tape and a bottle of vodka to go see them. I was about twelve years old, at first they thought it was funny that I, so young, wanted this. But when I took out the vodka, they sang to me: Hey, little girls from Javořina, hey, boy in the valley," says Janka Tomalová (née Bajusová), who was part of the ensemble from 1975 to 1978. Former members we spoke to remember Marta Chamillovová as an "axe". She was very strict, she demanded more than one hundred percent discipline during exams, she knew how to "crush with words" and in the days about fifty years ago, even "early childhood" was no exception. At the same time, they agree that if it were not like that, even Tatranka would not have reached its former quality. The rise came very quickly.
In 1963, the ensemble was formed, a year later it enjoyed success at the festival in Strážnice, a year later it performed at the New Year's festivities at Prague Castle, and in June 1965 a series of victories at the children's ensembles' show in Trenčín began. For the folklorists from Vrbov, it became automatic that they would win first places at shows and travel around Europe.
Under the teacher's supervision and with her help, the ensemble members, children from Vrbov, Žakovie, Vlková, Abrahámoviec or Ľubice, and their parents sewed highlander costumes and also made props for games and dances. In addition to the fact that everyone was responsible for their own costume and its top condition, there was a system for everything in the ensemble. Before each performance, the singers and dancers were given baby food to drink, which was the responsibility of one of the members, as well as preparing props for the stage - and when children were forgetful, this "position" often required an operative response in the form of an acute solution. Another former member, Mária Koľová (née Schmögnerová), remembers the system of gathering for rehearsals. The leader designated a member who would go after the second, and together they would go after the next one, and so the children would be recruited across the village so that no one would be forgotten. Costume parts, fabrics, boxes full of baby food, everything went according to the former representative of the ZDŠ Vrbov Elena Schmögnerová from Marta Chamilloová's salary. After fourteen years of creative work, the head retired in June 1977. Her place was taken by the trainees Marta Bednárová and Anna Gurgoľová, who were not completely "orphaned", Marta Chamilloová still helped with the activity. In 2000, after the crisis, Lujza Šoltésová also gave Tatranka a chance, but the ensemble is no longer functioning today.
(source: Jana Tomalová, 2022, Časopis Tatry, issue: 5