The 2011-2012 World Music & Dance Series presents...
South Slavic Music & Dance
CANCELED DUE TO FLOODING
Friday & Saturday, September 9-10, 2011
Balkan Dance Party Friday 8 pm
Dance Workshops Saturday 10am & 1pm
in Steelton and Harrisburg
Cherven Tractor: from upper left, Nikolai Kolev, Michael Ginsburg, Donka Koleva and (seated) Belle Birchfield.
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These events are co-sponsored by Capital Area Folk Dancers.
The South Slavic events are canceled due to emergency flood conditions across Central Pennsylvania.
Susquehanna Folk is pleased to welcome the New York-based ensemble Cherven Tractor in their Harrisburg debut, featuring an evening of music and dance from Bulgaria, Macedonia, and southern Serbia. We are intercepting the group on tour on Friday, Sept. 9, and have arranged dance workshops the following day with acclaimed dance master Michael Ginsburg. The events are co-sponsored by Capital Area Folk Dancers.
Cherven Tractor ("red tractor") was formed in 2009 by two preeminent Balkan families in New York: Nikolai Kolev & Donka Koleva, masters of village music of Bulgaria, and Michael Ginsburg & Belle Birchfield, noted musicians from the Serbian brass band Zlatne Uste. The four are also highly regarded teachers at and strong supporters of the Eastern European Folklife Center (EEFC). In forming the band, they wished to both preserve the authentic traditional music of the South Slavic region and also to create a new, pan-Slavic music appropriate for listening and dancing.
Details below:
Dance Party
Advanced Balkan Dance Workshop
Basic Balkan Dance Workshop
Dance Party with Cherven Tractor
Friday evening, September 9 — 8pm
at St. Lawrence Club
13 Highland St, Steelton, PA 17113 Directions
$10 General Admission
at the door
Dance Workshops with Michael Ginsburg
Saturday , September 10
at Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church
5501 Locust Lane, Harrisburg, PA 17109 Directions
10:00am — Advanced Balkan Dance Workshop
for experienced dancers, primarily focused on the rhythms and intricacies of Macedonian/Rom dancing.1:00pm — Basic Balkan Dance Workshop
for dancers at all skill levels, covering "Balkan 101" techniques.
For participants in both sessions, a light lunch between sessions is included. No partner needed. Wear soft-soled shoes and loose clothing suitable for dancing.
Tickets for Each Workshop:
$16 General Admission
$12 SFMS Members
SFMS Members Save!$10 Students
— ages 3 to 22- Admission is at the door. No advance registration required.
- For more information, call Bart at 717-234-3844
or email bart.carpenter (at) sfmsfolk.org
To Learn More...
About Cherven Tractor
The ensemble includes four noted musicians:
Nikolai Kolev (gadulka) is a master gadulka player born in Karavelovo, Bulgaria, now living in New York City. He began playing gadulka at age 10, attended and graduated from the Bulgarian National School of Folk Arts in Shiroka Luka, and then began performing as a soloist of the Sliven Ensemble for Folk Songs and Dances. He formed his own instrumental ensemble Rozova Dolina in 1984 and the vocal/instrumental ensemble Balkanski Glasove in 1992. The latter group took first place at the prestigious International Music Festival in Varna in 1994 and 1995.
In addition to being a virtuoso performer, Nikolai is a well-known composer; his work has been performed by such well known singers as Roumen Rodopski, Savka Sarieva, and Donka Koleva. He has also accompanied manyprominent Bulgarian singers, such as Vulkana Stojanova, Roumen Rodopski and Todor Kozhuharov. In 1999, he was the first Bulgarian to be recognized by the Slavic Heritage Council of America for his outstanding contributions in music. He has been termed "the finest Bulgarian gadulka player of his generation" by Balkan scholar Timothy Rice, Professor of Ethnomusicology at UCLA.
Donka Koleva (vocals) is a native of the village of Tuzha in the Stara Zagora region of Thrace. She also graduated from the Musical Folklore High School in Shiroka Luka, and performed for three years with the Sliven Folk Dance and Music Ensemble. She was the director of the Folk Song Chorus of Sopot and has been a featured soloist on Bulgarian Radio-TV. She has participated in many singing competitions in Bulgaria and Europe. Her voice has been featured on numerous recordings, and in 1997 her recording of "Javore" was named "Song of the Year" in the Bulgarian national radio competition. Since 1993 she has lived in New York City.
Belle Birchfield (tambura) has played baritone truba for the famed Zlatne Uste brass band for more than 20 years. Zlatne Uste is an internationally known group of American-born musicians playing traditional music of the Balkans, primarily representing Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian and Romany (Gypsy) traditions. For the past six years, she has studied tambura with Nikolay Kolev, Todor Kortelev, and Stoyan Kostov.
Michael Ginsburg (tarambuka) is the director of Zlatne Uste and has led the band in playing four times at the invitation-only brass festival at Guca, Serbia. For Zlatne Uste, he normally plays trumpet, but he is also proficient with the tuba, accordion, frula, tupan, and tarambuka. He last appeared with SFMS in June 2010. He has taught Balkan dancing since 1962.
As a dance master, he conducted multiple research trips to Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia and studied in Macedonia with Pece Atanasovski. His energetic and accessible teaching style make him a popular instructor at dance venues all over North America -- including Harrisburg! This workshop marks his seventh time to teach dance here.
Concert Series
