Door County Folk Festival
Michael Kuharski
(
Madison, WI)
(Dance Instructor)

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Michael Kuharski, the perpetrator of Istanbul Bar, started folk dancing in Madison in 1969 & has been leading & teaching in that community ever since. He speaks Serbo-Croatian & Bulgarian as well as a little Macedonian, Albanian, & Romanian. He has made 14 trips to the Balkans and one to Poland to study folklore, language and culture (particularly of Albanians, Macedonians, & Bulgarians) while collecting dances, music, instruments, costumes, friends, & dance-relevant anecdotes. Michael is lead organizer of Folk Ball, helps with June Camp, was for twenty-five years Artistic Director of Ensemble Narodno. He teaches weekly at Madison Folkdance Unlimited, annually at Door County Folk Festival, and elsewhere upon invitation. Michael plays Balkan accordion and piano for contra, transcribes folk songs by the score. Beware of his edited versions of favorite folkdance recordings and try to catch him sitting down!