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.
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
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.
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.
