Sladjana Duvnjak doesn’t really know who taught her to dance when she was a child in what was then Yugoslavia.

“It’s just part of our tradition,” she said. “Any kind of celebrations that the parents would go to — let’s say, weddings — the kids would go. You were watching adults being happy and dancing, they would grab you. As a kid, that’s how you started to learn, and then it stays with you.”

This week, Duvnjak could be the one to grab you.

Hogfish will present an a cappella opera called “Svadba,” which means “wedding” in Serbian. The story invites the audience into the rituals between a bride and her friends on the eve of her nuptials. Composer Ana Sokoloviç derived the text and music from Serbian poetry and Balkan folk songs, and the two performances will culminate in a celebratory dance party with audience members.

Leading the way into the circle will be Duvnjak and fellow dancer Barbara Merson.

“I’m not really a professional performer,” Duvnjak said. “But I’m always there to have fun.”

Since Matt and Edwin Cahill started Hogfish, they’ve been encouraging their audience to dance with them. Last year, for example, they staged their adaptation of “The Breasts of Tiresias” at Aura in Portland and kicked off an electronica dance party. It’s their own ritual — one that comes in part from their own wedding reception, where 90-year-olds danced with 8-year-olds.

“That embraces what’s at the heart of Hogfish, but also inside Serbian and Balkan dance, which is that there’s no perfect,” Matt Cahill said. “There’s just getting up and being with community, and it’s OK to stumble. There’s no test or gold star or judging. It’s just fun, and you stumble together and make new friends.”

‘JOIN THE CIRCLE’

Duvnjak was born in the former Yugoslavia and grew up in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She lived in Serbia before she moved to Maine in 1997. When she and her ex-husband arrived here, Duvnjak thought for the first few days that they were in Portland, Oregon. She stayed, raising her daughter and working as a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service. She found a small but dedicated community at the St. Demetrios Serbian Orthodox Church in Biddeford.

“The first generation are the ones who start building the community, but it takes the second or third generation,” Duvnjak said.

Ten or so years ago, Duvnjak also found Folk Dance Brunswick. This group meets at People Plus on Union Street every Friday night — even in snowstorms and on Christmas Day — to dance together.

“We are the kind of people that you don’t have to know the steps or the choreography,” she said. “If you show up, somebody will grab you and hold your hand. I will be pulling you and telling you, ‘One two three, stop, one two three, to the left, to the right. Pretty much everyone can dance. It doesn’t have to be choreography, doesn’t have to be perfect. There are dances, yes, with the certain steps. But if you have a smile on your face and a good attitude, people will grab you, and you just join the circle.”

In that spirit, the evening usually starts with a basic lesson for beginners. Duvnjak said the group has worked on dances from all over the world, but many are from Balkan countries. They are often designed for big groups of people, holding hands or belts, moving together in a circle or a line. She finds dancing to be good for relaxation, for exercise and for making friends.

“We go with the slow dances for newcomers,” she said. “And then we pick up a bit faster to the end.”

Her favorite dances are the fast ones, and she really loves a brass band. And it was an area band that recommended Duvnjak to the Cahills at Hogfish. Matt Cahill looked her up on Facebook and saw that they had a mutual friend — Elizabeth Horton, a board member at the nonprofit who facilitated an introduction. Duvnjak told them that she didn’t know a lot about opera, but she does know how to have a good time on the dance floor.

“If you are having the party, I can help you lift the spirit,” she told them.

ROOTED IN TRADITION

When Duvnjak read “Svadba” for the first time, the opera made her think of the traditions her grandmother might have practiced. It is inspired by popular songs in different dialects and eras.

“It sounded very familiar,” Duvnjak said.

For Hogfish, “Svadba” has been an introduction to the local Serbian community. The opera is sung in Serbian, so they have been working with a translator to get the diction right. Duvnjak has also been working on steps with the cast, and her experience has shaped the show in important ways. Many Balkan folk dances are performed in a circle, for example, so Hogfish will stage “Svadba” in the round.

“You’ll even see the singers at several times grab hands, as we were taught by Sladjana and Barbara, and they dance in the round,” Matt Cahill said.

They’re also creating a children’s program with little games for the youngest members of the audience to follow along with the performance, a nod to the intergenerational experience of Serbian dancing. The opera itself lasts just 55 minutes.

“This is really a show that, like what we’ve learned from our Balkan dance friends, that the whole family can come to,” Matt Cahill said.

What Duvnjak hopes for is that the whole family will not just come to the opera but also to the dance floor. She’ll be there to lead the way. The way to learn, she said, is to jump in.

“The best place for people who don’t know how to dance would be in the middle,” she said.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Svadba” (“Wedding”) presented by Hogfish

WHERE: Halo at the Point, Thompson’s Point, 20 Van Aken Way, Portland

WHEN: July 26 and 30 at 7 p.m.

HOW MUCH: Ticket prices start at $23.18 and go up to $161.90 including fees.

INFO: For more information about “Svadba,” visit hogfish.org. For more information about Folk Dance Brunswick, visit folkdancebrunswick.com.