Kolo Festival 2023
2023-11-24 - 2023-11-25 | Croatian Cultural Center, 60 Onondaga Ave., San Francisco, CA, 94708, United States
As always, there will be live music from: Albania, America, Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Macedonia, Norway, Romani, Romania, Serbia, South Africa, Sweden and Turkey! Jam session charts available all year round! Bulgarian/Macedonian Jam & Sing-along — for all instruments!
A brief performance by Łowiczanie Polish Dance Ensemble performing songs and dances from the Polish Roma community has been added to the Saturday night program. Łowiczanie, under the direction of Mary Kay Stuvland, has been performing since 1975 and is based in San Francisco.
There will be Zoom broadcasting of snippets of the festival through the Global Folk Dance Party channel. It’s FREE!
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2023 will be the 72nd annual Kolo Festival!
Dance Instructors
Sonia Dion and Cristian Florescu
Romanian Folk Dance
Cristian and Sonia have been guest performers with the Collage International Dance Ensemble of Boston, have been regular teachers at l’ École supérieure de danse du Québec and have been selected to be part of the Artists in the Schools program sponsored by the Québec Ministry of Education. In recent years, they have developed a specific interest in working with recreational folk dance groups in Canada and the United States, Mexico and Brazil. They have been teaching in Europa (Austria, England, Poland, Germany, Italy,  Norway, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands, France) in Asia (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia) and Australia  to share their love of Romanian folk traditions.
In recent years, Cristian and Sonia have developed a specific interest in working with recreational folk dance groups. They’ve been teaching in Brazil, Canada and the United States, Europe (Austria, Belgium, England, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland and the Netherlands), Asia (Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan) to share their love of Romanian folk traditions. They have taught workshops in Canada and the United States and choreographed Romanian suites for performing groups, including the world-renowned BYU Folk Dance Ensemble in Utah.Read more…
Anna Angelova
Bulgarian Dances
Anna grew up in a small town in Northern Bulgaria where the lively local festivities (sabors) and traditional ceremonies kindled her
Zoom Registration interest in folklore at an early age. Anna’s dance adventures started when she joined the town’s folk dance ensemble where she learned from esteemed choreographers and performed along experienced dancers throughout her youth years.
Upon coming to Boston to further her education, Anna got introduced to the internationally acclaimed Ahmet Luleci’s Collage Dance Ensemble: a unique experience that unlocked passion and appreciation for the greater Balkan magic, and beyond. The 8 years Anna spent performing with Collage on local and national stages were instrumental for her growth as a dancer – from professional attitude to stage presence to polished style to authentic connection with our ancestors through Ahmet’s vibrant choreographies. In 2022, Anna was honored to teach Bulgarian Dance at Ahmet Luleci’s annual World Camp in Rock Hill, New York.
With the start of her own family in Boston, Anna felt the need to be more involved in the local Bulgarian community. This is when she joined Ludo Mlado, a Bulgarian folk ensemble led by Pepi Petrov and Marieta Mircheva. Anna connected with Ludo Mlado’s mission to preserve the rich dance traditions of Bulgaria. An outstanding moment with Ludo Mlado was the opportunity to participate in the Chicago Folk Festival VEREA. Read more…
For details visit http://kolofestival.org
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Do you love Kolo Festival and wish to see it survive and flourish? We need your help to continue to produce this stellar music and dance program. Whether or not you can attend this year, please consider making a monetary gift.
This year we have matching grants funded by https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcucemrqT4rGdEuA1GXFGqXLH9BSIMr8_HpMitch Allen, Diane Baker and myself for a total of $3k! You can help us receive that money by either a one time contribution or a monthly contribution. You will find both options at https://KoloFestival.org.
Thank you for your consideration!
The California Kolo Festival Board
