LEPOTA Russian Folk

rld Culture Festival 2011 in Berlin and Karneval der Kulturen 2012. Having introduced western audiences to Russian traditional music, the Ensemble has become a figure of Berlin’s world music culture. LEPOTA was founded in October 2010, in Berlin by the russian folklorist and ethnosinger Elena Mironova. The work of the group is based on authentic recordings of village songs and chants that they collected from archives or on field research trips through rural Russia. For many centuries, these folk songs were an essential component of village life in Russia and were handed down orally from one generation to the next. The last generation to have taken active part in this tradition is now over 80 years old. Many of these songs are no longer heard, not even in rural areas.The aim of the Ensemble is to preserve this unique musical culture and keep it alive in a modern, urban context. Many of the songs in repertoire of the group were originally sung for the major holidays or festivals such as Easter or weddings. Others were customary for festivals marking the changing of the seasons, like mid-summer or thanksgiving. Some of the songs are performed a ca****la to a dance, the others are accompanied by authentic folk instruments such as the overtone flutes, the Russian ocarinas and harmonica. LEPOTA is a creative Project based on the latest results of research by folklorists and ethnomusicologists. We sing in the old regional dialects of Russia and appear in concert wearing magnificent traditional costumes, some of which are over 100 years old. LEPOTA had performance on different places: music clubs, music hall, open-air stages, theatre stages, street performances. Group has programs:

• Folk music of Russia
• Russian Cristmas
• Russian Carnival
• Rite of Spring
• Russian Wedding
• Workshop in traditional Singing, Dancing and Crafts