Bulgarian Extravaganza

Thu-Sun, January 22-25, 2009

Four Dance Workshops, Thursday-Saturday
in Lancaster and Harrisburg

Sunday Dance Party
at Holy Annunciation Church, Steelton

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Made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

SFMS is pleased to present a four-day Bulgarian Extravaganza in Lancaster, Harrisburg and Steelton. The weekend includes four dance workshops for various levels of experience, taught by renowned dance instructor Iliana Bozhanova, with music by DC-based master kaval player Valeri Georgiev. Our Sunday afternoon dance party features spicy live music by Washington-based Lyuti Chushki ("Hot Peppers").

More about Iliana Bozhanova »
More about Valeri Georgiev »
More about Lyuti Chushki »

To Learn More...

About Iliana Bozhanova

Visit Iliana Bozhanova’s website »

Iliana Bozhanova is a native of Gulubovo, Bulgaria, and comes from a family of musicians and singers in Southern Thrace. She has toured as a principal dancer and singer with Ensemble Ruchenitsa of Plovdiv since childhood. She graduated from the National School for Amateur Art Instructors in 1981 and later received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from the Academy of Music and Dance Art in Plovdiv. She has worked as a choreographer with a number of ensembles, including the Children’s Ensemble for Folk Dances in Bulgaria, Zarove in Holland, Kitka in Norway, and Bosilek in New York.

Iliana has taught at a number of major U.S. dance camps, including Stockton Folk Dance Camp, Old World Music & Dance Camp, Mendocino Folklore Camp, Balkan Camps at Mendocino and Ramblewood, and Mainewoods Dance Camp. She currently serves as Artistic Director of Ensemble Voivodintsi, the 70-person multi-generational folk dance ensemble from the village of Voivodinovo (near Plovdiv), and is the dance program coordinator for the annual Bulgarian Folk Music and Dance Seminar at the Music Academy in Plovdiv.

About Valeri Georgiev

Valeri Georgiev was born in Nikopol in northern Bulgaria and has played kaval since his youth. He attended the prestigious Philip Kutev Folk High School of Music in Kotel Bulgaria, studying kaval and Bulgarian folklore. He then completed a degree at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv, where he was also a member of Zvezdi na Trakia (Stars of Thrace), one of the most well-known folk orchestras in Plovdiv. After graduation he organized and worked with various ensembles in Russe, North Bulgaria, including the orchestra Horo. Since emigrating to the U.S., he has served as musical director for Lyuti Chushki and has taught at multiple music camps on the East Coast and in California.

About Lyuti Chushki Bulgarian Folk Band

Visit Lyuti Chushki’s website »

In the Bulgarian language Lyuti Chushki means “Hot Peppers”, and that is the kind of spicy traditional Bulgarian music this band plays. The toe-tapping music, played on traditional instruments from Bulgaria, takes you back to the old country — it is joyful, evocative, compelling and lyrical, in modes and rhythms generally not found in western music.

Lyuti Chushki brings together professional musicians from Bulgaria and American musicians from the Baltimore/Washington area. They have been playing together for festivals, weddings, concerts, and other special events since 1997, all along the East Coast. They have also participated as key supporters in the summer music and dance program founded in in Plovdiv in 2005.

Their instruments include kaval (end-blown flute), gaida (bagpipe), gudulka (bowed stringed instrument with resonating strings), tambura (fretted instrument similar to a guitar) and tupan (large drum). All of these serve to accompany the unique Bulgarian vocal style, which has a beauty all its own.