Name:

The Rite of the Kalyady Tsars (Christmas Tsars)

The second item name ICH (adopted in a particular community, the local version):

Corresponding to (s) Community (s), group (s) or individual (s) described:

Habitat:

Short description:

The ‘Kalyady Tsars’ (Cristmas Kings) is a walking greeting rite with some elements of the traditional Kalyady (Christmas) carnival and ‘Tsar Maksimilijan’ folk drama, which is timed to Ščodry Viečar (New Year’s Eve by the ‘old style’ Julian calendar) celebrated on January 13. This pageant was formed as an original Christmas performance, with only young men performing the roles as the ‘Tsars’ (Kings). Normally, there are seven ‘Tsars’, each having a particular name, such as Tsar Maksimilijan, Tsar Mamaj, Tsar Ivan the Terrible, etc. Besides the ‘Tsars’, engaged in the Rite are Lekar (Doctor) and Mechanoša (Sack Carrier), a harmonist and a drummer, as well as Dzied and Baba (an old man and an old woman), which are traditional characters of Belarusian Kaliady. The ‘Tsars’ get together and dress themselves in one of the village homes. The greeting round starts at nightfall. The performers come out and file by size. They march like soldiers, following the command, ‘By the left! By the left! One, two, three!’ As the file marches, the performers sing the folk song ‘Posieju Lebedu Na Bieriegy’, which is accompanied by drum beating, with Dzied and Baba running at the sides. Dzied carries a whip and cracks it playfully every now and then. Baba brooms the road on the Tsars way. Lekar, who is ‘the commander-in-chief’, walks aside. The whole procession goes where Lekar orders

Category:

Traditional Ceremonies » Rituals

Origin:

In the 17th – 18th centuries Semežava was known as a town belonging to the magnate family of the Radziwills. There were trade fairs organized a few times a year with the performances of the Batlejka theater (Christmas puppet show), conjurers, performing bears and other entertainments. By the end of the 18th century, the Batlej¬ka theater was performed mainly by artisans and later also by peasants. The play ‘Tsar Maksimilijan’ was borrowed by this Kalyady rite particularly from the Batlejka performances. Its plot was transformed into a folk drama with people performing the roles instead of the puppets. The village style of life also helped the transformation of Batlejka plays into life performances. Semežava’s layout was charactersed by ‘linear homesteads’, a typical style of rural architecture when all the buildings within a farm are constructed in one line and connected by spacious hallways. Particularly this kind of hallway, which could be used both as ‘the stage’ and ‘the auditorium’ housing the crowd of viewers was good for the rite. This rite was reconstructed: the tradition of performing the ‘Tsars’ in Semežava was passed from generation to generation up to the late 1950th, when the rite was forbidden. Nevertheless, even during the Soviet times the villagers continued to cele¬brate Christmas having no official approval. The rite was revived in 1997 owing to the personal interest of the local community and the support of scholars

Language or dialect used:

Material objects that are associated with the practice of the element:

Other intangible elements associated with the practice of the element:

Transmission model element in the community:

The List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding

БелТА.pdf

БелТА.pdf

Буклет_запрашэнне.pdf

Буклет_запрашэнне.pdf

Звязда.pdf

Звязда.pdf

Культура-1.pdf

Культура-1.pdf

Культура-2.pdf

Культура-2.pdf

буклет.pdf

буклет.pdf

Cary_music.pdf

ноты_песні.pdf

Cary_expertise.pdf

экспертн_заключэнне.pdf

Абрад_Калядныя цары_Т.Кухаронак_А.Сташкевіч_2012.pdf

Абрад_Калядныя цары_Т.Кухаронак_А.Сташкевіч_2012.pdf