Dubrovnik Enters Guinness Book With Largest Ever Linđo Dance

Needing more than 250 dancers to simultaneously perform the traditional folklore dance ‘Linđo’ to enter the Guinness Book of Records, Dubrovnik’s folklore community packed out the famous Stradun on Sunday to attempt the feat.

Under the watchful eye of officials, 274 dancers from Dubrovnik and surrounding areas were counted, sending Linđo and Dubrovnik into the record books for the largest ever Linđo performance with a large cheer.

Linđo is a popular dance from Dubrovnik and the Dubrovnik region. It is danced to the accompaniment of lijerica (an old Southern Dalmatian instrument with three strings), which came from the Eastern Mediterranean in the late 18th century and spread on the Adriatic coast in the 19th century. The dance master plays with the lijerica sitting on his left knee, while stamping with his right foot, thus dictating rhythm to the dancers. They move in a circle around the dance master, who gives commands (in rhyme, humorous and often with double meaning). He also decides who will dance with whom and dictates the change of dance figures, along with encouraging the dancers to compete in improvisations.