Teachers
Maria Bebelekova
Bulgarian Singing
Maria Bebelekova from the Bulgarian Rhodope town of Shiroka Luka, learned singing from her mother and grandmother. She studied at the Shiroka Luka Folk Music School and the Plovdiv Conservatory, then returned to her hometown, where she taught at the music school for 15 years. She sang with the Bulgarian women’s choir Angelite for three seasons, and has performed and recorded regularly with other ensembles. Maria teaches kindergarten and singing for adults and children at the Khan Asparuh Bulgarian School in Sunnyvale, CA, and gives private singing lessons in the San Jose, CA area.
Maria-Bebelekova
Sonia Dion and Cristian Florescu
Romanian Dance
Sonia Dion and Cristian Florescu (soniacristian.net) are known
for their vibrant energy, warmth and exciting choice of dances and music.
Cristian Florescu was born in Bucharest, Romania. He started dancing in 1982 with different
Romanian folk ensembles and studied with various specialists, including Theodor Vasilescu.
Cristian was principal dancer with the National Ensemble Cununa Carpatilor. In 1990-91, he
received his certificate as a recognized solo dancer and choreographer in the field of
folklore from the Romanian Ministry of Culture and the ACAFR. In 1993, he joined Les
Sortilèges, a professional folk dance company based in Montreal Canada, where he has danced,
taught and choreographed. During his time in Canada, Cristian has acquired multiple skills
in various dance forms, including modern dance, ballroom, jazz and tap, as well as
French-Canadian and Irish step dancing.
Sonia Dion was born in Quebec and has been a professional dancer for over 20 years. She was
lead dancer, choreographer and artistic director, among other roles for Les Sortilèges dance
company; Canada's oldest professional folk dance ensemble, with whom she developed several
new productions. Sonia has toured worldwide and has been exposed to a wide range of dance
techniques, including Romanian folk dance, Scottish Highland dancing, French-Canadian step
dance and ballroom dance.
It was at Les Sortilèges that the two met and formed a professional and personal
partnership. They have taught at l'École supérieure de danse du Québec, and have been part
of the Artists in the Schools program sponsored by the Quebec Ministry of Education.
In recent years, Cristian and Sonia have developed a specific interest in working with
recreational folk dance groups. They've been teaching in Brazil, Canada and the United
States, Europe (Austria, Belgium, England, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland and the
Netherlands), Asia (Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan) to share their love of Romanian
folk traditions. They have taught workshops in Canada and the United States and
choreographed Romanian suites for performing groups, including the world-renowned BYU Folk
Dance Ensemble in Utah.
Email them to purchase music for their dances: sonia_dion@hotmail.com
Michael Ginsburg
Bulgarian-Macedonian Dance
Michael Ginsburg has been director and lead trumpet player
of Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band since 1983. He accompanied ZU to brass festivals in Guča,
Serbia, three times between 1987 and 1990, as well as in 2003 and 2005, where he and ZU were
able to play and party with local brass bands and experience the music in its natural
setting.
Michael and Zlatne Uste worked with Ekrem Sajdić and Zlatni Prsti brass band in 2003, and in
2005 with Vranjski Biseri, both in Vranjska Banja, Serbia. Michael performed in the summer
of 2010 with Zlatne Uste at the first competition of international bands at the Sabor
Trubača in Guča, Serbia, representing the United States.
For many years, Michael has been interested in Balkan music and dances, especially
Macedonian and Serbian. He is an expert in the complicated rhythms of Balkan music and has
made several research trips to Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia, and studied in Macedonia
with Pece Atanasovski, with whom he made research tours of the country. Michael has been on
the teaching staff of the Macedonian Pearl seminar in Berovo, Macedonia. Michael lives in
Yonkers, NY.
For Michael's dance music, email him at mginsburg@gmail.com
for electronic copy of music, for a CD with the music, paid directly to him.
for electronic copy of music, for a CD with the music, paid directly to him.
Michele Simon
Singing
Michele Simon (michelesimonsimplyvoice.com)
has been involved with music all of her life, and with Balkan folk music for most of it,
as a dancer, singer, drummer and teacher. She was raised surrounded by music of all
kinds, including classical (especially Bach), standards (especially Margaret Whiting,
Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald), and American folk music. She sang before she
talked, played cello and guitar, and most formatively, enjoyed trading harmonies with
her mother’s rich alto.She has been inspired by countless musicians, both in the U.S.
and abroad, and has been lucky to study with, to name just a few, the late Nadezhda
Hvoineva, from the Bulgarian Rhodope region; the late Esma Redžepova, Queen of Romany
music; Serbian folk specialist Svetlana Spajić; Mary Sherhart of Seattle; Jane Sharp of
Berkeley; and Bulgarian master singer Tatiana Sarbinska, with whom she also trained as a
teacher. Over the last thirty years she has sung with Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble; and
has been steeped in complex odd-metered Balkan dance rhythms through singing and playing
percussion in the folk dance bands Anoush, Brass Menažeri, Helladelics and Zabava! She
has appeared on recordings and stages across America and in Bulgaria, as well as on
Bulgarian and Serbian TV.Michele teaches private students, workshops, and camps,
including the popular Balkan Vocal Technique class that has been a staple at Mendocino
Balkan Camp for almost 20 years. As a singing teacher, Michele’s specialty is
integrating Balkan vocal styles with American voices. With humor, warmth and patience,
she focuses on placement and sound fundamentals, using innovative exercises and imagery,
as well as her model skull, Bartholomew. Michele lives in Oakland, CA.
