By MIKE PHILLIPS

PRAGUE — Swirling greens,
blues, reds and yellows float in
the world’s largest stadium mingl-
ing with the earthy strains of An-
tonin Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances.
A quarter ofa million people, held
in an incredible silence, focus
their attention on 14,000 women
dancing in a celebration of their
country’s cultural heritage and its
dedication to physical fitness.

The massive Strahov Stadium
on the last weekend of June is
charged with emotion and na-
tional pride. A woman in her
mid-thirties smiles at the beauty
of the dancers. A tear erupts from
the corner of one eye and traces a
delicate line down her cheek.

* * *

Czechoslovakia’s Spartakiade,
an all-in sports, cultural, tourism
and national event that takes five
years to organize and involves
millions of people, is a mass-
participation project few Cana-
dians can quickly identify with.
After all, how many national
sports events in this country open
with the reading of poems dedi-
cated to peace and to the best of
our humane, national traditions?

Rooted in a tradition of mass,
and working class sports move-
ments that reach back to 1862,
Spartakiade has evolved into a
celebration of Czechoslovakian
independence, and since 1955 has
also marked the anniversary of
the Soviet army’s liberation of the

- country from nazi rule in 1945.

There’s nothing like it in Can-
ada. Mass culture here and on the
continent in general is very much
a spectator culture, running the
gamut from watching high priced
professionals play the game for us
and for the profits of the busi-
nessmen who pretend to own the
sports, to the banality of
*‘Rambomania”’ currently sweep-
ing the U.S.

Spartakiade is what ‘‘Particip-
Action’’ might have the potential

TRIBUNE PHOTOS — MIKE PHILLIPS

to be, if we had a government that ;

sincerely wanted to do something
meaningful about people’s phy-
sical fitness, and wanted to tie

SPARTAKIADE:

MT

celebrating a people's
'B past, present, future |

Spartakiade celebrates national independence and rich cultural traditions.

such a movement to a deeper ap-
preciation of our own culture and
national identity.

Spartakiade doesn’t give
Czechoslovaks inane TV
commercials exhorting them to
run around the block a few times
for their health. Instead, the
government, assisted by the
Union of Physical Training
(CSTV), the trade unions, youth
and pioneer organizations, sports

clubs — in short all the key social
institutions — finances and or-
ganizes a national project that
combines tourism, mass-parti-
cipation sports, like the 1984 mass
cross-country ski run, and the
June finale itself, where the best
of more than a million trainees
will perform.

eo ose

“The Spartakiades keep get-
ting nicer but at the same time the

Every age group from three to 75 is represented in the exercises.
Women from their mid-20s to their 70s brought the Slavonic Dances to
life, while the 19 year olds in the People’s Army thrilled the spectators.

compositions are more difficult
and complicated’’, 73-year-old
Maria Gavurkova says, recalling
each one she’s been in since her
first in 1924.

She’s one of the tens of thou-
sands of Czechoslovak citizens
who donate their time training the
young participants, and no, she
isn’t the oldest participant in
Spartakiade 85. ‘‘I know of two
other women who were with us in
the Slavonic Dances composition
who were 75’’, Gavurkova de-
clares.

Any secrets to her vitality?
**No secrets. I exercise at the gym
twice a week and I don’t overdo
the eating. That’s all.”’

* * *

The banner over the gate admit-
ting the participants to the arena
reads: ‘‘For Socialism, For
Peace’’. Through this portal pass
the 160,000 grandparents,
mothers, fathers, children and
youth — ranging all the way from
three to 75 years — who’ve been

selected from 1,500 local Spar-
‘takiades to show their stuff in the

Strahov.
Inside, the audience becomes
one with the performers. A

stormy ovation answers the thun-
derous cry of 14,000. 18 and 19
year old People’s Army soldiers
as they sprint across the infield at
break-neck speed to rivet. them-
selves at attention in front of the
capacity crowd.

Later a jazzy routine per-
formed by young girls (11-14
years old), sets the entire stadium
into rhythmic clapping in time
with the intricate dance move-
ments. The clapping will echo
again and again throughout the
stadium as the excitement and

enthusiasm builds.
Poe ake Lae

Now the stadium is silent.
With the silence of Strahov

trailing behind it, a pale blue flag

bearing the Spartakiade logo rip-
ples through the wind, carried
along by a lanky 14-year-old boy
racing down a steep hill, heading
home at full tilt with his souvenir
of Spartakiade 85.

Now the five year cycle toward
Spartakiade °90 begins.

Since 1980, the family has been
emphasized in the Spartakiade
events, with special compositions
performed by children aged three
to five with their parents and

grandparents. |

Silent
Scream:
The sequel

Gary Trudeau composed
these six strips for his
syndicated cartoon,
“Doonsebury”’. His dis-
_ tributor, the United Press

Syndicate, refused to
Semen them. They

June 10, 1985 issue of
the New Republic. The
Tribune takes the liberty
of reprinting them for
our readers’ interest.

IN“SILENT SCREAM 7 WE SHOWED
YOUTHE TERMINATION OFA 12-

yoni PREGNANCY.
LL BE WITNESSING TE END OF
i ta- sere PREENANCY

WHY SHOULD I BE FORCED TO BE-
QQME.

CIRCLMSTANCES, ESPECIALLY HEN
THE KIDLL HAVE NO FATHER?

A MOWER UNDER

pi 7 HM the

6 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JULY 17; 1985"