East European Folklife Center, Berkeley, CA Videos

Almost at one week till camp! Time for a Friday Flashback to the 2018 Albanian Student Ensemble performing at East Coast. This year, Merita Halili and Raif Hyseni will once again be part of our world-class pool of instructors to reprise their roles teaching Albanian Singing and Albanian Ensemble (respectively). We can’t wait to recreate this scene in two short weeks! TOMORROW, August 3rd, IS THE LAST DAY TO REGISTER FOR EAST COAST CAMP! Visit [eefc.org] to add your name to the long list of folks this year who will be joining us at Iroquois Springs. 🎥 Video originally posted by Noel Kropf

Thank you for 2024 West Coast Balkan Camp!
After a week and change of recovery, the woods feel so far away…but what a wonderful time we had together while we there. 2024 West Coast Balkan Camp was, as it has been since our return to camp and our time before COVID, an absolute delight. It was a joy to sing, music, dance, and celebrate together. And we are happy to report that the sun made a welcome appearance on our pre-student concert parade, almost as if to join us. The board and staff are hard at work to make sure East Coast is just as wonderful, but we hope all of you West Coast attendees are feeling buoyed and rejuvenated by nature and community together. As always, we thank our incredible instructors, work-exchange crews, and volunteers for their labor. And, of course, we thank all of you for another magical time. Stay tuned for more wonderful social media snippets of camp, and be sure to use the hashtag #balkancamp2024 when you post your own. Until we meet next year, there’s always the Internet, and we’ll see you there!

2023 West Coast Rhodope Singalong
A little #flashbackfriday to last year’s Mendocino Rhodope singalong led by Carol Silverman. One of the most special aspects of this singalong is the accompaniment by the amazing gajda players on the West Coast. You can spot Varol Saatcıoğlu, our gajda instructor, and Mark Levy, the leader of our Bitov Ensemble, among the talented instrumentalists in this video. Visit [eefc.org/balkan-camp/west-coast] and register by June 8th to sing with, learn more about, and simply enjoy the sounds of the gajda as well as many other unique Balkan instruments!

We’re less than three weeks out from Mendocino camp, folks - let’s get a beat going! For all our rigorous rhythmists, we’re excited to share that Sean Tergis will be reprising his Doumbek class from last year while the one and only Dan Auvil will be teaching Tupan/Daouli. Be sure to visit [eefc.org/balkan-camp/west-coast] and register by June 8th to drum your heart out with these amazing instructors (and many more ensembles) at West Coast Balkan Camp!

It’s less than one month to West Coast Balkan Camp! To quote our Marketing & Outreach Manager, “Yaaaay we’re doin it yaaaaaay.” The excitement is only continuing to build for another magical summer together. Visit eefc.org this weekend (or better yet, today!) to register, check our teacher list, and make your plans to see and celebrate with these many wonderful faces!

Don’t let Mendocino catch you off guard (as it may have done to John Morovich who may have been expecting to conduct an ode to Bucovico during the Croatian singing class’s showcase last year)! Visit eefc.org this weekend (or better yet, today!) to register and make your plans to join us this summer under the beautiful Redwoods.

Summer's just around the corner, and the party is already getting started…It’s time to sign up for Balkan Camp!
Registration is open for both our West and East Coast Summer Music & Dance Workshops! And we are absolutely thrilled at the prospect of sharing two more glorious weeks in the magic of the Redwoods and Catskills with all of you. Mark your calendars and learn more about our campsite, classes, and staff as you sign up on our camp pages at [eefc.org] (also linked in the comments below). Be sure to also follow our social media pages and eblasts for more updates. Just a few more weeks - we can’t wait to see you soon! 🎥 2024 East Coast Camp Parade (filmed by Amita Vempati)

It’s the last Wednesday night of the year, and what better way to pay tribute to the middle of the week than to dance along with one of our beloved West Coast kafana mainstays, the legendary Fetatones. Though we are closing out 2023, we are looking back on such a wonderful year together. It was a joy to gather, celebrate, and dance together, and we are getting ready to do it all over again in 2024! As in every year, your support is invaluable in keeping us going. Until January 31, our goal is to raise $50,000 towards our Baseline Fund, which, like the incredible beats that keep us going on the dance floor, supports EEFC’s general operations, from venue rentals and catering to staff travel and honorariums. Visit [eefc.org/join-the-circle/eefc-membership-donate] to help EEFC continue its world-class programming and unforgettable (and unfor-feta-ble) community traditions.

After four long years apart, West Coast Balkan Camp 2023 was one for the books…and “Ramo Ramo” at the parade was just a snippet of it! We are so absolutely thrilled for a strong showing at Mendocino this year from friends both old and new (with 50+ first-timers!). The spirits of cooperation was particularly strong as everyone banded together to ensure a well-functioning and creatively enriching camp. And, of course, we are grateful as ever to all of our teachers, performers, staff, work-exchanges, site manager, kitchen staff, the Mendocino staff, and all of our community for a wonderful reunion. As we prepare for East Coast Camp (in just a few more weeks!), we look forward to sharing more fun memories of West Coast and seeing yours as well. Use the hashtag #balkancamp2023 in your caption or tag us to share your photos/videos with our community. Thank you to everyone for such a wonderful week - we are so happy to have shared it with you ❤️

For our final post of 2022, we throw it back to the Albanian dance set during East Coast BalkanFest with our beloved Merita Halili and Raif Hyseni as part of Raif & Friends. Between the gorgeous music, dancing crowd, cool mist through the summer heat, and lens flares, we hope this clip is reminiscent of what makes the EEFC and our events such holistically, memorably, and uniquely joyful spaces. Here’s to celebrating together in the next year and beyond. From all of us to all of you, happy new year! Thank you always for being part of our community - We cannot wait to join hands and voices with you in 2023.

As we wrap up the end of the year, we feel a tremendous sense of gratitude for the beautiful moments we shared together after a few years apart. Friends who attended the West Coast Balkan Fest may remember this beautiful moment between our beloved Alexander Marković and Christos Govetas (with Dromeno!). Wherever you are today, we hope you can enjoy this video and dream about more such magical connections on our dance floors! To help us make more of these memories and raise $40,000 by January 31 for the 2023 Balkan Camps, visit [eefc.org/join-the-circle/eefc-membership-donate]. Any and all support is so appreciated!

It’s the middle of December and after just a few weeks, we are almost halfway towards our goal of raising $40,000 before January 31! And you know what that means… Time to break out the zurnometer. As the zurna/zurla itself is such a vital part of the Balkan celebratory soundscape (and beyond!), we love having the zurnometer to celebrate our community support. Staying true to the spirit of the season and the instrument, enjoy a snippet of this 1982 television documentary about zurla makers and performers courtesy of Arhiva Makedonija. Check out the zurnometer and make your contribution at [https://eefc.org/join-the-circle/eefc-membership-donate/].

It’s #fridance, and we’re throwing it back to this feature of one of our fearless dance and brass band leaders, Michael Ginsburg. 20 days till we can make beautiful music and dance together at BalkanFest, and over 50% of our registration spaces have been filled. Space is limited in our venues, so sign up at https://eefc.org/balkan-camp/east-coast-balkanfest/ soon!

This week’s #fridance is also a MOVIE NIGHT ANNOUNCEMENT! Please join us on Saturday, July 23 at 8:00 PM ET (7:00 CT, 6:00 MT, 5:00 PT) for a virtual screening of "Camels and Song" (Οι καμήλες και τα τραγούδια) led by Joe Graziosi. This 1988 ERT (Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation) documentary is an examination of New Year's Eve and Day customs in the village of Neo Monastiri, Domokos, Thessaly, inhabited by Greeks who emigrated there in the early 20th century from Megalo Monastiri (Goljam Manastir) in the Kavakli (Topolovgrad) region of Southeastern Bulgaria. We will screen the film together, with plenty of time afterwards for insights from Joe and for live Q&A/discussion. Demetri Tashie will be assisting Joe with translation and subtitling. Don't forget the popcorn! Register at least 2 hours prior to the event at https://www.cognitoforms.com/EastEuropeanFolklifeCenter/MovieNightWithJoeGraziosi2. We are offering a sliding-scale set of fees, with a free option. As we will be sending the Zoom link to the event via email, you must register in order to attend the event no matter which payment level you choose.

May classes begin tomorrow, Sunday at 2:45 PM Eastern starting off with Greek Dances of Spring. We welcome back direct from Thessaloniki Rena Karyofyllidou and Kyriakos Moisidis. If Kyriakos’s Aggistro is any indication, we’re all in for a lively ushering in of Spring. Sign up at least two hours before the class at https://www.cognitoforms.com/EastEuropeanFolklifeCenter/GreekDancesOfSpringWithRenaAndKyriakos

Happy Tuesday! Here’s a gorgeous performance by bouzouki virtuouso Stambourlos to commemorate not only the new week, but also the start of our virtual class Rebetiko Bouzouki with Nick Maroussis tonight at 8:30 PM ET! Register at eefc.org to join us on bouzouki, guitar, or tambura. 🎥 from GTC1Films on YouTube. Give them a follow for more wonderful Balkan music content! Original Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLvgtNogaMQ&ab_channel=GTC1Films

Our #fridance selection is a jaunty number from Pirot in Southeastern Serbia! If you’d like to learn more about the beautiful dance traditions of this region, you’re in luck! Alex Marković is teaching Dances of Southeastern Serbia this month on Thursdays 8:00 PM ET. Register at eefc.org to join us! 🎥 Video credit to the YouTube channel “Anthems of Europe”

Happy #fridance ! Here’s some beautiful archival footage of Serbian kolo to inspire the start of your weekend.

We pay a tribute this weekend to Atanas Kolarovski, an internationally renowned Macedonian master dancer, choreographer and teacher. Atanas passed away last week at the age of 95 in his birthplace of Dračevo, Macedonia. He had a storied history as an artist: After WWII, Atanas performed with the Yugoslavian Army Ensemble. With them, he was able to travel all over Yugoslavia, studying the regional dances and dance styles of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Banat and Kosmet. He was asked to help form Tanec, the Macedonian State Folk Ensemble, where he remained for 19 years as artistic director, choreographer, and lead solo dancer, traveling the world for 16 of those years. He did many teaching tours all over the world, including in the US, Belgium, Germany, Holland, and Japan. We honor his role in our communities (including those on the West Coast, where Atanas lived and worked). Here, we share a 1983 video of Atanas leading Adana, a suite of dances he choreographed for the Radost Folk Ensemble based in Seattle, Washington.