All-Sokol Slet feels like “one giant family” say Sokol LA members
Thousands of people have flocked to Prague this week for the 17th All-Sokol Slet, a gathering of Sokol branches from all over the world which takes place in the Czech capital every six years. The almost week-long event culminates on Thursday evening and Friday afternoon with mass performances in a huge stadium.
The 17th All-Sokol Slet kicked off on Sunday with a parade through the centre of Prague. Singing, dancing, and doing acrobatics, the 15,000-member-strong and 2.5-kilometre-long procession marched from Wenceslas Square to Old Town Square in considerable heat.
Leading the parade were Sokol members from the US, the country outside Czechia with the biggest Sokol membership and the biggest representation at this year’s Slet. Hundreds of people came to Prague this year from American Sokol organisations, one of which was Sokol LA. I was able to catch up with a few of its members earlier this week in between their busy rehearsal schedule.
Some of the people I spoke to have been in Sokol for decades and have attended several all-Sokol Slets already; others only joined last year and are attending the Slet for the first time. Some attended as children in the Czech Republic and then re-joined years later after emigrating to the US. Otto, the group’s vice-president, explains his reasons for joining.
“I came to the United States in 1989 just before the Velvet Revolution and now I’ve been there for half my life. I was looking for an organisation because my English was very poor, so probably like many other people I joined Sokol first where they spoke more Czech. Sometimes Czechs found their husband or wife there – I didn’t, but that’s ok, I like Sokol.”
But the youngest of the people I speak to is not an émigré – Teresa O’Donnell is from Portland, Oregon. Her mother is Czech and both mother and daughter have been actively involved in Sokol for over two decades.
“My mom emigrated to the United States in 1968. I’m actually also a member of Sokol Střesovice because in 2000 after I graduated high school I lived in Prague with my grandmother, who was a big Sokol enthusiast. That was a Slet year and so she sent me to participate. So that’s how I got involved.”
Teresa says that for her, Sokol was a place where she could be around people who understood her background and where she had a shared culture and community.
“The community and the family, I think that’s a big thing. I’ve known Zdenka and Otto since 2012 and I hope we will all continue in the future as a unit. For me, having been born in the US, it’s really nice to be around people who understand my background and how it was for my mum and the traditions and culture that we had at home. I really enjoy the community aspect and I think it’s really the culture that brings us together.”
She and her mother were both members of Sokol San Francisco, the nearest Sokol unit to Portland, but then a few years ago Teresa moved to LA and joined the Sokol LA branch, where she has been an active member for the past few years, as well as being its membership secretary. Although Teresa is the only one of the Sokol LA members I spoke to who was born in the US, she says this is not necessarily representative of American Sokol as a whole.
“American Sokol started in 1865 and so actually many of our members are second or third generation.”
The US is one of the countries outside Czechia where Sokol is the most active, with the most branches and members (around 5,000 members in 32 units). It is also the country where Sokol has the longest history, Teresa proudly tells me.
While Sokol was founded in the Czech lands in 1862, the US Sokol started only three years later, and while the organisation was banned in Czechoslovakia by both the Nazi and Communist regimes, Sokol in the US enjoys an uninterrupted history, making it technically the longest-running Sokol association anywhere in the world. But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to keep it running, as the Sokol LA vice-president Otto tells me.
“A few years ago, we almost had to dissolve our Sokol because there were only older people. It was after covid so some people had passed away and almost nobody was willing to do anything. So we were in the situation where we would either have to close or find new people. We are so lucky that four young girls decided to take over, so we have a new board – I’m the only old-timer there!”
In addition to ageing membership, financial difficulties and long travel distances also present challenges. For example, the closest Sokol unit to Portland where Teresa is originally from is in San Francisco, over 1000 kilometres away – about twice as far as the distance from one end of Czechia to the other. Even getting people together for regular rehearsals under such circumstances is difficult, says Romana May, the Sokol LA secretary.
“It’s hard for us to practice together because we are from all over. Just our district is like the whole Czech Republic – we are four or five hours from each other. Just getting together is a hassle.”
But despite these challenges, through dedication and perseverance, the Sokol LA group found ways to learn the sometimes complicated routines. Otto, the group’s vice-president and longest-serving member, is also the group’s coach and teaches the routines to the others.
“We are doing two pieces for Slet – Babí Léto with umbrellas and the Loyal Guard. I am also a member of a Sokol group here, Sokol Královské Vinohrady, because I’m retired so I live half the year in Prague and then go back. So over the wintertime I had five practices a week in different units, so when I came back to the United States I knew all these pieces, everything about them, so it was easier for me to teach them. The one with the umbrellas is really difficult. The Loyal Guard is not so difficult so I was able to teach it over WhatsApp, which we do on a regular basis now.”
Romana chimes in with yet more ways that Otto went the extra mile to accommodate all members and help them learn.
“Otto is very special – he personally visited the older Sokol members in their houses to practice one-on-one for the Loyal Guard. He is really dedicated and he put in so much time. Without him we would not be here. We are very well-prepared. I felt today that I am very confident and I am very happy we had such a strict coach.”
The group has been preparing for a year to take part in the Slet, with 17 of its 80 members coming to Prague to participate. Rehearsals took place as regularly as possible, says Teresa.
“It depends – once a week or every other week, once a month sometimes in the beginning. Then we had a joint meeting with Sokol San Francisco in the Paso Dobles area because it’s halfway between LA and San Francisco.”
The culmination of Slet week is two mass performances at Fortuna Arena in Vršovice (formerly known as Eden Arena). Between the parade and these two performances the Sokol members have a pretty packed rehearsal schedule that starts early in the morning and continues for most of the day, which Otto finds tiring and Teresa says doesn’t afford them a lot of free time.
“We never did two pieces together before, and one of them is really difficult. Also the weather changed in the last six years, it’s too hot, so we are exhausted sometimes.”
“Otto and I are in both compositions so our schedule is a little bit more hectic than the others’. They have a little more free time.”
But the rehearsals also present an opportunity for the members to finally see how the performances look when all the different Sokol units come together, says Petra.
“We are very excited, we have worked very hard all year and now it’s coming to the pinnacle of all of that. Today was actually amazing when we saw the entire group, 1200 people, in the stadium, just to see the piece coming together. We haven’t seen that before – it was only six of us, so it doesn’t bring the whole thing together – but today we did, so it brings that feeling of accomplishment.”
She also adds that it’s exciting to see performances by other Sokol groups that they are not a part of and to get to be a spectator for once.
“I am really looking forward to watching all the other performances. We had a chance today to see the performance that the little kids were practicing before us and that was amazing, so I am really looking forward to Friday when we are not performing and we’ll have a chance to watch.”
And there are yet more surprises in store, says Otto.
“On Thursday night there will be a light show under the sky – we don’t know what it is, it has never been there before. So we are excited to see what they will put together.”
But the main thing that all the Sokol LA members reemphasise time and time again, is that the most wonderful thing about the Slet is the feeling of friendship and community.
“It is my first Slet, but I’m hoping not the last. I want to come back every single year I can. It’s fun to watch all the people around the world going for the same idea and experiencing that camaraderie and friendship. Every day brings new experiences and new opportunities. I love the energy in the city because you meet different groups everywhere you go – in the tram, in the metro, on the streets. That’s what it’s all about, I think – people connecting.”
“We practised last time with Switzerland and Canada. There are so many people who I don’t remember but they remember me. So that’s very exciting if you see somebody and you don’t know what their name is and you feel shy to ask, but then you realise we are really good friends. All these Slets are for friendship – you will meet your neighbours and next time you will meet them again, so it feels like home.”
“The entire week is the highlight because it’s nice to just be here – even when we’re standing around waiting for direction during the practices we get to meet new people.”
“My parents were born in Slovakia so I am really excited that I met some Sokol members from Slovakia and we already became friends and we want to meet again in the future.”
“Every day is a premiere. We learn every single day, we meet new people – it’s just spectacular. Also what was exciting was that for the first time they invited us to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and they invited other leaders from other Sokols like Canada, Slovakia, Poland, Germany. It was so interesting to meet other people. We exchanged contacts and the atmosphere was just awesome. We have so many contacts now and everybody was so friendly – it’s just like one giant family.”
The main events – the huge mass acrobatics performances, where hundreds of Sokol members perform together – are taking place on Thursday evening and Friday afternoon in front of a sold-out stadium. But don’t worry if you didn’t manage to get a ticket – you can still catch it on Czech Television.
