Presentation/Group Discussion - "Bulgarian folk dance club/group for recreational folk dancing today: Who teaches what and to whom?”

In Bulgaria the term "folk dance revival" is used by dancers, dance teachers and many researchers to describe a movement claiming preservation of Bulgarian dance heritage via folk dancing in clubs in the country and abroad. For the past 30 years, ever since the first modern recreational club was founded in 1995 on Bulgarian turf, there has been a keen interest in anything that has to do with folklore tradition including dances, music, songs, instruments, embroidery, costumes, etc.

Daniela and Dilyana (both via Zoom) will trace the history of the "Bulgarian folk dance club movement" (from the beginning of our century to the present day). The conversation will address the movement’s dynamics, teacher’s approaches, and repertoire development in Bulgaria and the United States.

Daniela Ivanova-Nyberg (PhD Ethnochoreolgy) is an ethnochoreologist, choreographer, and writer. Since 2013, she has been an artistic director and coordinator for the Glagolnitsata Society for Poetry and Literature at the Bulgarian Cultural and Heritage Center of Seattle. In addition, she presents lectures/workshops on Bulgarian dance at American universities’ dance departments and other institutions. Daniela authors the book, The Folk Dance Ensemble as a Cultural Phenomenon in Bulgaria (2011). Since 2022, she has coordinated the Sub-Study Group on Dance and Diaspora within the ICTM (International Council for Traditional Music) Study Group on Ethnochoreology. Her academic publications are available at https://danielaivanovanyberg.academia.edu/

Dilyana Kurdova (PhD Candidate Ethnochoreography) is an independent researcher, a folklore dance teacher, and a project-manager in the art sector. In 2023 she published her first book, Reflections on the Bulgarian traditional female costume, and is the international coordinator as well as the assistant dance program director of the Plovdiv Folk Seminar at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts, Plovdiv since 2009. Dilyana has had more than 240 dance workshops in different countries since 2013 and is a frequent lecturer in Bulgaria and abroad on the topics of recreational folk groups, intangible cultural heritage, and traditional Bulgarian dance folklore.