Salt Spring Island Folk Dance Festival News

April 30 – May 2, 2010: Seventh Annual Salt Spring Island Folk Dance Festival, Fulford Hall.

“Laissez les bons temps rouler!” A full weekend of ethnic dance, music, costumes, and feasting featuring Cajun, Appalachian, and Bulgarian culture. Iliana Bozhanova and Todor Yankov, renown Bulgarian dance instructors and folklorists will be teaching village dances from their country. Jerry and Jill Duke of San Francisco will teach Cajun and Appalachian dances.   Live music by Orkestar RTW of Seattle.

Details for the festival, how to register, schedule, biographie, photos etc at http://members.shaw.ca/ssfdf

Participants – Pre-registration is required, and be forwarned, this joyous annual event is usually fully booked by mid-February.

Spectators – The Salt Spring community is welcome to “drop-in” and spectate from the upper balcony during the daytime workshops, free of charge.
The Salt Spring community is invited to a Pre-Festival Lecture entitiled: “Dance in Rituals and Religion.”   Jerry Duke, former Chair of the Dance Department at San Francisco State University, and Professor Emeritus of Dance History and Ethnology, will share his very interesting research Friday April 30th 4:00 pm,  Fulford Hall $5 at the door, no registration required.

Volunteers – Volunteers are needed to help Chef Kelly Kelsick and Harry Burton in Fulford’s Kitchen, preparing and tidying up for the ethnic meals being served during the festival. Help is appreciated for Sat and Sun lunch, and Sat dinner. Interested, email Rosemarie Keough keough ( at) saltspring.com

Photo Credit: Front page banner photo by Uri Cogan

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DETAILS:
YOU ARE INVITED to the SEVENTH ANNUAL SALT SPRING ISLAND FOLK DANCE FESTIVAL!

REGISTRATION is NOW OPEN.  The Festival is taking place April 30 to May 2nd, 2010, at Fulford Harbour, Salt Spring Island, in our wonderful community hall. The Festival Flyer is attached below.

Excitement for the festival is incredibly high. This is the first time that Festival Director, Rosemarie Keough, has introduced European teaching staff. Rosemarie envisioned inviting Iliana Bozhanova and Todor Yankov to teach at Salt Spring while she was in Bulgaria enjoying Yves Moreau’s 60th Birthday Celebrations a few years ago. Yves is North America’s most beloved Bulgarian folk dance instructor. Yves’ three-week long birthday was in Trakya – the Black Sea region of Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece, and the guests were ninety privileged dance teachers, festival directors, or dance performers who came from 16 different nations. For the Bulgarian folklore tour, Yves selected Iliana Bozhanova of Plovdiv to share her culture – such is her renown. Iliana presented several dance workshops and organized a full-day birthday festival with dance performances from early morning through dusk by groups who came from throughout Bulgaria. Iliana is a beautiful and radiant dancer and also an excellent teacher who literally sparkles with enthusiasm. Iliana’s teaching classes are complimented by her good friend Todor Yankov who has a marvellous voice and plays accordion fantastically well. In the years between, Rosemarie and Yves spearheaded an initiative to bring Iliana and Todor to Canada. A lot of planning and work has resulted in Iliana and Todor’s success in receiving work visas from both the Canadian and the US governments. A North American tour has been arranged for Iliana and Todor, bookended by Salt Spring’s Seventh Annual Folk Dance Festival and a similar event in Montreal.

It is an enormous pleasure to announce that Iliana Bozhanova and Todor Yankov are flying from Bulgaria to share their culture and teach us Bulgarian folk dances here on Salt Spring Island at our festival. And, in case you are wondering, Iliana speaks English fluently, and Todor is learning.

And we are all so fortunate that Jerry Duke accompanied by his lovely wife Jill, are arriving from California to introduce us to Cajun and Appalachian folk dancing.  ”Laissez les bons temps rouler!”  Get ready for a lot of fun! Rosemarie also met Jerry and Jill at Yves’ Trakya birthday, as they too were participants. They are both wonderful, kind people and great dancers. Jerry is the former Chair of the Dance Department at San Francisco State University. Jerry is Professor Emeritus of Dance History and Ethnology. Through the festival weekend he’ll be sharing his wealth of knowledge with us.  We’re excited to invite you to a “Pre-festival lecture” entitled “Dance in Rituals and Religion” which Jerry will be presenting to those who arrive early on Friday afternoon. This lecture which will start at 4:00 pm and promises to be very interesting.

Orkestar RTW will be coming from Seattle to perform Balkan and International dance tunes for the Friday and Saturday evening parties. For many years RTW has provided live music for the Radost Folk Ensemble, as well as at numerous venues in the Seattle and beyond. This is their first visit to Salt Spring Island and we are delighted to welcome Ronald Long on the accordion, Dina Trageser  with the tambura & vocals, Sonya DeWitt bass & vocals, Steve Shadle clarinet & vocals, and Tim McCormack tapan & tarabuka. As a special favour to the Salt Spring Folk Dance Festival, Orkestar is currently reviewing international music from the VIFD and Pinewoods volumes so as to round out their evening sets with dances from many parts of the world.

Harry Warner of Salt Spring’s Black Velvet Band will be providing sound equipment and logistics, assisted by Jim Welsh.

The cost of the festival this year is $140 – a slight increase over the previous festival reflecting the cost of the air fares for our Bulgarian guests. Registration includes 8 dance classes, 2 reviews, Jerry Duke’s lecture “Dance in Ritual and Religion”, 2 scrumptious lunches, parties, dinner feast and so much fun. Cheques are to be made out to: ” Salt Spring Island Folk Dance Festival” and along with your name, phone number, postal and email address can be mailed to the festival registrar Melvin Klassen in Victoria. Yes, Melvin is an “off-islander” and we’re very happy that he has volunteered to be our registrar!
SSFDF 2010
c/o 1464 Stroud Road
Victoria BC V8T 2K9
Canada

You’ll likely find all the information you need for registration in this email, or certainly on the festival website, or on the attached Festival Flyer.  Please contact Melvin with any further registration questions specific to reservations and payment.  You can reach Melvin at the Festival Registrar’s email address: ssfdf@shaw.ca  or at phone number 250-595-7052.

We mentioned the festival website. Have a look at: http://members.shaw.ca/ssfdf

On this website are biographies of our featured instructors and musicians; details about registration; information about Salt Spring Island, how to get here and where to stay; festival schedule; pictures; information about DVDs; and acknowledgement and appreciation to our sponsors.

Festival registration is capped at 95 dancers. Early registration is strongly advised to ensure your participation, and is greatly appreciated by festival organizers. Melvin, in addition to his support of our festival, is also an official volunteer for the Vancouver Olympic Games and the Paralympic Special Games. As such, he has much more time to dedicate to our folk dance festival in January than he will once the games begin. So please do contact Melvin earlier than later.

A few bursaries are available, primarily for students. If you are a young person, and a bursary would help make the difference for you to be able to come and share the joy of dance, please be in touch with the Registrar. These bursaries are valued at either half ($70) or the full ($140) registration fee. Thanks is extended to an anonymous dancer who offers the bursaries. Should you be interested in offering a bursary to someone in need, please express your desire to help to the Registrar.

A special note of gratitude is extended to the festival sponsors: Freybe Gourmet Foods for their contribution of such flavourful soups, so good that you’d think they are homemade; and to Salt Spring Coffee for the bottomless cups of organic, fair-trade, sustainably grown coffee which is simply the best! Links to the websites of these two fine companies are given on our Festival website.

The annual festival flyer is attached, and it is a lovely flyer! The illustrations on the flyer are actual photos of our teachers  - you may have to actually open the attached file to see the photos in position. Biographies of Iliana, Todor, Jerry, Jill and Orkestar RTW are below.

HAPPY DANCING!!!!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! AND HERE’s LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT THE FESTIVAL!!!!

Rosemarie Keough
Festival Founder and Director

Iliana Bozhanova grew up in a family of musicians and singers in South Thrace, Bulgaria. At the age of fifteen, Iliana became a member of the folk dance Ensemble Rachenitsa, and performed Bulgarian folk dances throughout her own country as well as in Greece, Serbia, Poland, Belgium, Portugal, France, Italy, Holland, and Russia. In 1981, she graduated from the National School for Art Instructors in Plovdiv. She completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in “Bulgarian Folk Dances and Choreography” at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv, the oldest folk arts academy in the Balkans and the most acclaimed in Bulgaria. That same year, she became choreographer and artistic director of Ensemble Radost in the village of Yoakim Gruevo, and the Children’s Ensemble of the Roza Dimitrova Orphanage in Plovdiv. Since  2004, Iliana has been the director and choreographer of Ensemble Voivodintsi, which is comprised of 4 dance groups, 3 of children and 1 of adults, 2 singing groups – men and women. For several years, Iliana has served as Dance Coordinator for the Folk Seminar, held annually at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv. As a Bulgarian folk dance teacher, liana is well-known by folk dance groups across Europe and America. She has been a featured teacher at many famous camps, including Mendocino, Pinewoods, Mainewoods, and Stockton. Besides her work as a dance teacher and choreographer, Iliana has worked as a technician of architecture and civil engineering. She is married and has two sons.   www.ilianabozhanova.com

Todor Yankov, accordionist and singer, was raised in the village of Dobralak in the Rhodopi Mountains of Bulgaria. His father, Vasil Yankov, was a well-known gaida player in the area. Todor began to play gaida, like his father, and then when he was 10 year old, he took up kaval. Soon after that he became an orphan, and had no one to send him to study at Shiroka Lûka Music High School, which had been his dream. When he was 16, he discovered the accordion and began to teach himself to play. He is also a wonderful singer. For many years he played with the Hisar Folk Orchestra at different holiday celebrations. He has been the accordionist for the following folk dance ensembles: Rûchenitsa, Hebar, Pûldin and now, Ensemble Voivodintsi.  In 2004, Todor and Iliana founded Ensemble Voivodintsi with 32 dancers and singers. Today the members are over a hundred!
Todor currently works as a machine operator in the Plastics division of Liebher Corporation, in 1980 he graduated from the Construction Trades High School in Plovdiv, where he studied electrical installation.

Jerry Duke is Professor Emeritus of Dance History and Ethnology, and former Chair of the Dance Department at San Francisco State University.
Jerry has taught European and American folk dance for over 40 years. He introduced Cajun dance to the international folk dance community in the early 80s, and was one of the first teachers to popularize Appalachian dance. He danced and choreographed for the Aman, Dobre, and Khadra Folk Ensembles, as well as the Appalachian Celebration Company. His choreographies have been presented at major concert halls and festivals throughout the U.S. and in Europe. He has also directed many folk dance events including the San Francisco Kolo Festival, the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, and the annual World Cultures Dance and Music Concert at SFSU. Jerry’s publications on dances of the U.S. include: Clog Dance in the Appalachians, Dances of the Cajuns, and Recreational Social Dance. He has designed courses and edited readers for offerings such as Dance in Rituals and Religion, Ethnology of Dance, and Field Studies in Cultural Dance. His conference papers and lectures include many presentations of American folklore and dance.

Jill Duke has taught in a Montessori public school for the past 10 years, ensuring that her students dance often, and has partnered with Jerry at workshops since their marriage 22 years ago. These workshops include Mendocino Folklore, Texas Thanksgiving, and Stockton Folkdance camps.

Orkestar RTW has been performing Balkan dance music for many years, providing live music for the Radost Folk Ensemble, as well as at numerous venues in the Seattle area and elsewhere.Their current members are Ronald Long (Accordion), Dina Trageser (Tambura & Vocals), Sonya DeWitt (Bass & Vocals), Steve Shadle (Clarinet & Vocals), and Tim McCormack (Tapan & Tarabuka).