Nine years of distinction: slovacky verbunk and folk dance heritage

The dance Slovacky Verbunk (Dance of Recruits) was proclaimed a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2005. This paper discusses the role of verbunk competition in the process of safeguarding cultural heritage and creating new relations to other Czech folk dances. The following text is based on sources collected in field research and written documents and pays attention on changes related to the verbunk phenomenon in the last decade.