Burnaby (IFD) Wednesday afternoon Zoom group is having guest teacher Holly Plotner. She is teaching at our group on June 1st from 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm (Pacific Time). Holly is an avid dancer and spent her early years dancing at weddings and festivals in Chicago’s diverse ethnic community. However, she didn’t discover International Folk Dancing until the mid-80’s, and was immediately hooked. Holly, now living in Austin, Texas where she dances with Austin International Folk Dancers, Texas International Folk Dancers, Austin Scandinavian Dancers and Csárás Hungarian Dancers. She is a frequent dance leader, performer, programmer, and teacher and has directed many camps, workshops and performances. As well, Holly plays violin, percussion and sings in several local bands in the Austin area. Currently, Holly and her two Siamese kittens can be seen dancing at Zoom parties and camps all over the internet.

Holly’s teaching session, starting with warm-up dances, runs from 1:00 – 2:30 pm (Pacific) and we’re looking forward to learning the dances she plans to teach.

After the break at 2:30 pm, we’ll resume our regular programming with our Zoom team leading dances for your enjoyment.

Please feel free to join us for chat time […]

Bulgarian Workshop
with Nina Kavardjikova

Saturday, June 19, 2:00 – 4:00pm EDT

Online via Zoom – To benefit the Folk Arts Center of New England

$10 is suggested to support this program and FAC, but any amount is appreciated.

Join this workshop via Zoom. Find link here.

About the Workshop

In her workshop on Saturday, Nina will present village dances from different ethnographic areas of Bulgaria, emphasizing the regional styles.

About Nina

Nina Kavardjikova was brought up in the folklore traditions of her mother’s family village in the Targovishte area of Northern Bulgaria, and began dancing and performing on stage at the age of 7. She later became a professional dancer and toured the world as a soloist with the Trakia State Folklore Ensemble (Plovdiv). In the years following her graduation with honors from the Academy of Music, Dance, and Fine Arts in Plovdiv, Nina has been a ballet master with Trakia State Folk Ensemble, had her own performing group Aegis, staged dances for many Bulgarian dance ensembles, and was a professor in Bulgarian Folklore and Dance at her alma mater.

Folklore research has been […]

Come dance with us!

We are presenting a three-hour Bulgarian dance virtual (Zoom) workshop with Jaap Leegwater, accompanied by his accordionist, Jan Wollring.

Date: Saturday, June 12, 2021 – 10:00 am – 1:00 pm (Pacific Time).
Jaap and Jan will play a few tunes for us on flute and accordion at the break for us to dance to.

Tune in at 9:45 am (Pacific Time) for chat time.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

Presented by Burnaby International Folk Dancers.

Please note that this workshop is free of charge. Donations are accepted to support the presenters.  Donations of $20CAD/$15US or more will get access to Jaap’s folder (Music, sheet music & dance notes).

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/99504932576
Passcode: Bifd (Uppercase ‘B’ lowercase ‘ifd’)
Meeting ID: 995 0493 2576

Information: https://burnabyfolkdance.org/event/bulgarian-dance-workshop-with-jaap-leegwater/

Dances from South Serbia

with Alex Marković

Saturday, May 15: 2:00 – 4:00pm EDT

Online via Zoom – To benefit the Folk Arts Center of New England

$10 is suggested to support this program and FAC, but any amount is appreciated.

Join this workshop via Zoom by activating this link.

About the Workshop

The Ottoman Empire lost southern Serbian regions to the emerging Serbian state in 1878, leaving strong influences on local culture after several centuries of imperial rule.

For this workshop we’ll survey a variety of traditions from the area, learning a few dances that will span the spectrum from rural Serbian and Albanian dances to urban Romani and Serbian repertoires. In addition to learning steps we’ll look at dance styling, too, breaking down how rural versus urban traditions and various ethnic traditions differ from each other. There’ll be something for everyone- please join us!

About Alex

Alex Marković has an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Illinois-Chicago. He wrote his doctoral thesis on identity politics and musical performance among Romani brass musicians in Vranje, Serbia, conducting 17 months […]