Teachers
Anna Angelova
Bulgarian Dance
Buy Anna Angelova's Dance Music Files. All proceeds will become donations to support Kolo Festival.
Anna grew up in a small town in Northern Bulgaria where the lively local festivities (sabors) and traditional ceremonies kindled her interest in folklore at an early age. Anna’s dance adventures started when she joined the town’s folk dance ensemble where she learned from esteemed choreographers and performed along experienced dancers throughout her youth years.
Upon coming to Boston to further her education, Anna got introduced to the internationally acclaimed Ahmet Luleci’s Collage Dance Ensemble: a unique experience that unlocked passion and appreciation for the greater Balkan magic, and beyond. The 8 years Anna spent performing with Collage on local and national stages were instrumental for her growth as a dancer - from professional attitude to stage presence to polished style to authentic connection with our ancestors through Ahmet’s vibrant choreographies. In 2022, Anna was honored to teach Bulgarian Dance at Ahmet Luleci’s annual World Camp in Rock Hill, New York.
With the start of her own family in Boston, Anna felt the need to be more involved in the local Bulgarian community. This is when she joined Ludo Mlado, a Bulgarian folk ensemble led by Pepi Petrov and Marieta Mircheva. Anna connected with Ludo Mlado’s mission to preserve the rich dance traditions of Bulgaria. An outstanding moment with Ludo Mlado was the opportunity to participate in the Chicago Folk Festival VEREA.
In addition to her continuous dive into the richness of authentic Bulgarian folklore, Anna has been intrigued by the expressive and passionate rhythms of the Romani dances, thus seeking to acquire further dance knowledge of their intricate folklore.
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
John Morovich
Tamburica, Croatian Singing
John Morovich grew up in Seattle’s sizable Croatian community. Since 1973, he has studied, taught, and performed traditional music and dance of Croatia and other parts of Southeastern Europe.
In 2018 John was inducted into the Tamburitza Hall of Fame.
He is a featured soloist with the Sinovi Tamburitza Orchestra, artistic director of the Seattle Junior Tamburitzans and Tamburaški Orkestar Kišobran. He is past conductor of the Jele Croatian Women’s Choir and Klapa Ruzmarin, of Vancouver, B.C.
For the last decade he has been a guest choreographer/music arranger for several Croatian folk ensembles in Western Canada and has performed with Vela Luka Croatian Dance Ensemble, Ruže Dalmatinke, Kultur Shock and Balkan Cabaret.
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.
Yannis and Simos Konstantinou
Symeon Konstantinou is a graduate of the Department of History and
Ethnology, Democritus University of Thrace and since October 2024. He
is a student in the interdisciplinary postgraduate program "Folklore and
Cultural Management" at the National Kapodistrian University of
Athens. His scientific disciplines are Social Anthropology, Ethnography
and Folklore. His field of research is the geographical area of Florina
and Prespa. Since the age of 18, Symeon has been a teacher of
traditional dances in the children's and student classes of the
Association of Greek Traditional Dances "LYGISTES". She has taught
Greek Traditional Dance in seminars both in European countries and in
various states of America. At the same time, he has been involved with
traditional music and, mainly, traditional percussion on a professional
level since 2014, where he has taken part in festivals throughout
Greece and abroad (USA, Europe).
Yannis Konstantinou is an internationally recognized teacher and researcher of
traditional dance, music and costumes of west Macedonia. He is particularly
interested in how local customs, historical events, regional topography and the
migration of various ethnic groups have influenced the evolution of dance and
music in the region. His most recent research, which resulted in a Master’s degree,
has been a detailed archival investigation of the types and variations of the
costumes in the Florina region. Yannis participates in numerous conferences and
seminars in Greece, the Balkans, Europe, and North America, and has served as
judge numerous times at the Greek Orthodox Folk Dance Festival (FDF) held
annually in California. Yannis regularly teaches at many dance groups across the
United States and has taught multiple times at the California Kolo Festival, the
Chicago Spring Festival, and World Camp (NY). In 2017, Yannis taught at both the
Mendocino Balkan and Folklore Camps.
Yannis has been dancing from childhood alongside his parents, family and friends in
the villages of Florina in northwest Greece, and to this day, his personal teaching
and dance style convey this lifelong experience. He has a deep passion and
commitment to preserving and sharing the local traditions and culture of Greek
Macedonia, which is evidenced every year at the “Seminar of Traditional Dance”
that he organizes in Prespa, Greece which host dancers from around the world.
Yannis is the founder, artistic director and master instructor of the highly respected
cultural association, "Lygkistes", with over 200 members dancing in Florina and
Athens. Since 1994 "Lygkistes" has performed extensively throughout Europe and
the Balkans including taking second place among 120 competitors at the prestigious
LLangollen International Dance competition. Yannis was the Artistic Director and
instructor of the Florina branch of Lykeion Ellinidon for eight years.
