Workshop and Dance Party with Jaap Leegwater
2024-04-13 15:30 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | St. Bede’s Church Hall, 2650 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA, United States
Jaap Leegwater will be teaching a Bulgarian Dance Workshop at 3:30 PM, with live music from Jaap on flute and Filip Filipov on accordion, followed by a dinner break and an International Folk Dance Party.
Dress comfortably; sneakers or low-heeled dance shoes recommended. Party snacks welcome.

Schedule

Time
Event
Cost

3:30 – 5:00pm
Dance Workshop with Jaap and Filip
$10

5:00 – 6:00pm
Dinner Break – please bring your own dinner; we will provide a few Bulgarian snacks to share

6:00 – 8:30pm
International Folk Dance Party – We’ll have dances for all levels, beginning to advanced, all countries, and all forms (line, couple, and set). We will of course include many of Jaap’s dances in the program and he and Filip will be there to dance with us and play for us! Emcee: Adony Beniares
$10

Please stay home if you are sick, and please wear a mask if you are unsure or have been exposed to someone with a contagious illness. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.
Jaap Leegwater
Jaap Leegwater Jaap Leegwater started his dance career in his native country, The Netherlands, where he earned degrees in both education and international folk dance. Fascinated with the irregular Balkan rhyhms and drawn to the expressiveness of its movements, Jaap specialized in Bulgarian dance and choreography. In 1969, he was one of the first non-Bulgarians invited to study at the State Choreographer’s Schools in Sofia and Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Mr. Leegwater was first introduced to the American folkdance scene by the late Ciga Despotovic in 1980. He gratefully recognizes the support and inspiration received from Marianne and Michael Herman, Dennis Boxell and Yves Moreau in establishing himself in Northern America professionally.
For the past 30 years Mr. Leegwater has conducted workshops and dance seminars in various countries: The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Israël, England, United States, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. He is a regular instructor at many major dance camps and organizations including Maine Folk Dance Camp, Stockton Folk Dance Camp at the University of the Pacific, Mendocino Folklore Camp, the EEFC Balkan Music and Dance Camp, Kolo Festival, in San Francisco, Texas Folk Dance Camp, New Mexico August folk dance Camp, Santa Barbara Folk Dance Symposium, Montreal International Folk Dance Camp, Ontario Folk Dance Camp and the Bulgarian Festivals in Vancouver, B.C.

Filip Filipov
Filip Filipov Filip Filipov is a musician, born and raised in Varna, Bulgaria who plays the accordion, tupan, as well as keyboard. Filip has played numerous performances throughout the Bulgaria as well as at many international festivals in Finland, Russia, The Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, France, Norway, Denmark, the Azores, Brazil and so on. He has also played with many wedding bands such as Folklorni Ritmi (Folk Rhythms) where I worked side by side with the well-known folk singer Rouska Dobreva. During that period we had several appearances on national TV and recorded two CDs. Filip has played with many other bands and ensembles as a guest soloist. In 1994, he created his own band Chernomorec. Filip has a very large and diverse repertoire. Read more…
Please send your dance requests and questions to pfdcparty@gmail.com
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