Godečki Čačak

By

A shot from one of the YouTube links provided by Larry Weiner on Dec. 13 https://www.youtube.co

A shot from one of the YouTube links provided by Larry Weiner on Dec. 13 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS9ziH7oZGY).

It all started with a question from Judy Stafford on December 9 about a dance that has long been popular among international folk dancers:

I always thought Godečki Čačak was a Serbian dance, but found out recently that it is named for a town in Bulgaria, near the Serbian border. It appears that Dick Crum introduced the dance to the IFD community. Is it a dance that is/was actually done in Bulgaria and/or Serbia? If it’s a border dance, then is the “standard” IFD music for the dance (as in the below YouTube link) Serbian, Bulgarian, or does it also cross the border? I can’t find any credits for the standard recording—is it Serbian or Bulgarian?

Judy’s question sparked a lively, weeklong discussion spanning almost 40 posts and yielding historical and folkloric insights from some of the EEFC’s best-known dance teachers and scholars. Comments address the musical structure, the dance steps, regional variations in the number of measures, changes in the dance among emigrants to the U.S., and more.

Our listserv is wonderful, but it can be cumbersome to search and retrieve all the related individual posts. Laura Blumenthal volunteered to assemble the entire (as of press time) thread into a 26-page document that is available here as a PDF download: Godecki_Cacak_thread_EEFC_listserv_12.2014.

Koprivštica 2015

By

Gajda players and dancers, Koprivštica Festival, 2005. (Mike Harkin)

Gajda players and dancers, Koprivštica Festival, 2005. (Mike Harkin)

Koprivštica (official name: Национален събор на народно творчество—National Festival of Folklore) is a Bulgarian national folklore festival that is held every few years, typically, once every five years, in the historic town of Koprivštica. It draws visitors from all over the world, including many from North America. In July, Joan Hantman posed this question on the EEFC listserv:

Does anyone know the dates of the Koprivshtitsa festival for next year? I’m trying to plan ahead.

Responses to Joan’s question—and to a similar one posted in mid-October by Whitney Neufeld-Kaiser—included speculations and eventual confirmation about the dates, along with various resources that could be helpful to someone trying to plan a trip for next summer. Here are some highlights.

Koprivštica Festival Dates: Aug 7-9, 2015

Workshops and Tours

Larry Weiner announced this on July 31 and posted a more detailed announcement on Oct. 22:

2015 Bulgarian Folk Music & Dance Seminar in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
July 31-August 6, 2015 (immediately before Koprivshtitsa festival; the seminar ends the day before the festival begins; a chartered bus from Plovdiv to Koprivshtitsa will be available for seminar attendees on August 6th).
This seminar, now in its 11th year, offers a special experience for non-Bulgarians (and Bulgarians interested in connecting with their “roots” music and dance) who want a more in-depth opportunity to learn traditional instruments, singing styles, and dance than is normally possible for groups or individuals traveling to Bulgaria. This rich and unique program couples the teaching expertise of instructors at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv (http://www.artacademyplovdiv.com/) with the traditional music and dance wisdom of tradition bearers from around Bulgaria. The dance program features different groups of dancers and musicians throughout the week, teaching dances from their own villages. A Bulgarian language class will also be offered, as well as optional evening social activities.
Special 15% discount for EEFC members!
Website
Facebook

Paula Davis mentioned this on June 16 and Joseph Benatov posted the link on Oct. 16:

Jim Gold’s Tour
Sofia, Plovdiv, Bansko, Veliko Turnovo, Koprivshtitsa Folk Festival
August 3-16, 2015
Depart from JFK airport in New York City
Website

Link posted by Rick Speer on Nov. 2: 

Nina Kavardjikova Tour
Sofia, Koprivshtitsa, Shiroka Luka, Sofia
August 1-14, 2015
Flyer for Nina K’s Koprivshtitsa tour is online at this link [PDF format]

Mentioned by Dave Golber (Oct. 16, 2014):

Goran Alački is planning his seminar in Macedonia to end at a convenient time so people can get over to Koprivshtitsa afterwards.
Goran Alački’s Macedonian Pearl Seminar—10th Anniversary!
July 25-August 3, 2015
Berovo, Macedonia
Website

Tips

Wally Washington posted this on Oct. 22:

It’s been more than 20 years since I have been, though I doubt that this has changed, but for the folks looking for tips on the Koprivshtitsa festival there is one point that should be made explicit. There is not much in the way of hotel space in Koprivshtitsa, or even very close by. That is one reason for the popularity of tours; the tour will have the housing aspect taken care of.

Can you get to the festival on your own? Sure, people do it every fest. Can you get a room in town? Sure, at least maybe. One year I got a room for Saturday night on Saturday morning. But you’d better be pretty flexible if you attempt that—I had a backup place to stay an hour away with the tour I was on. I don’t know that I would encourage someone to try to go on their own.

And as in all things, the different tours will have different styles and appeal to different people. One year when I was more on top of things I almost posted to this list an only slightly snarky listing of my impressions of the different tours. So it may be wise to pay attention to which tour you are signing up for. Though I suppose they will all get you to the festival each morning. (Though I do have a memory of some tours not getting there in time for Friday of the fest.)

And Barbara Babin posted on Oct. 23 that she had a contact for some rooms for rent during the festival, but on Oct. 29 posted that that they were now all taken.

It can pay off to follow the listserv on a daily basis! You can choose to receive individual messages in your email inbox or receive a daily digest. Click for information on subscribing.

Gems from the Listserv

By

In this section we bring you some recent posts from the EEFC’s listserv.

The listserv is a discussion list where subscribers post and discuss items of interest. It has a searchable archive going back to 1993 (available to anyone) and has been overseen by list angels Noel Kropf and Emerson Hawley for most of that time.

This time we bring you highlights of two recent discussions: one about the scheduled 2015 Bulgarian national folk festival in Koprivštica, Bulgaria, and one on the dance Godečki Čačak.

Koprivštica 2015

By Julie Lancaster, Winter 2014-15
Gajda players and dancers, Koprivštica Festival, 2005. (Mike Harkin)

Gajda players and dancers, Koprivštica Festival, 2005. (Mike Harkin)

Koprivštica (official name: Национален събор на народно творчество—National Festival of Folklore) is a Bulgarian national folklore festival that is held every few years, typically, once every five years, in the historic town of Koprivštica. It draws visitors from all over the world, including many from North America. In July, Joan Hantman posed this question on the EEFC listserv:

Does anyone know the dates of the Koprivshtitsa festival for next year? I'm trying to plan ahead.

Responses to Joan’s question—and to a similar one posted in mid-October by Whitney Neufeld-Kaiser—included speculations and eventual confirmation about the dates, along with various resources that could be helpful to someone trying to plan a trip for next summer. Here are some highlights.

Koprivštica Festival Dates: Aug 7-9, 2015

Workshops and Tours

Larry Weiner announced this on July 31 and posted a more detailed announcement on Oct. 22:

2015 Bulgarian Folk Music & Dance Seminar in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
July 31-August 6, 2015 (immediately before Koprivshtitsa festival; the seminar ends the day before the festival begins; a chartered bus from Plovdiv to Koprivshtitsa will be available for seminar attendees on August 6th).
This seminar, now in its 11th year, offers a special experience for non-Bulgarians (and Bulgarians interested in connecting with their "roots" music and dance) who want a more in-depth opportunity to learn traditional instruments, singing styles, and dance than is normally possible for groups or individuals traveling to Bulgaria. This rich and unique program couples the teaching expertise of instructors at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv (http://www.artacademyplovdiv.com/) with the traditional music and dance wisdom of tradition bearers from around Bulgaria. The dance program features different groups of dancers and musicians throughout the week, teaching dances from their own villages. A Bulgarian language class will also be offered, as well as optional evening social activities.
Special 15% discount for EEFC members!
Website
Facebook

Paula Davis mentioned this on June 16 and Joseph Benatov posted the link on Oct. 16:

Jim Gold’s Tour
Sofia, Plovdiv, Bansko, Veliko Turnovo, Koprivshtitsa Folk Festival
August 3-16, 2015
Depart from JFK airport in New York City
Website

Link posted by Rick Speer on Nov. 2: 

Nina Kavardjikova Tour
Sofia, Koprivshtitsa, Shiroka Luka, Sofia
August 1-14, 2015
Flyer for Nina K's Koprivshtitsa tour is online at this link [PDF format]

Mentioned by Dave Golber (Oct. 16, 2014):

Goran Alački is planning his seminar in Macedonia to end at a convenient time so people can get over to Koprivshtitsa afterwards.
Goran Alački’s Macedonian Pearl Seminar—10th Anniversary!
July 25-August 3, 2015
Berovo, Macedonia
Website

Tips

Wally Washington posted this on Oct. 22:

It’s been more than 20 years since I have been, though I doubt that this has changed, but for the folks looking for tips on the Koprivshtitsa festival there is one point that should be made explicit. There is not much in the way of hotel space in Koprivshtitsa, or even very close by. That is one reason for the popularity of tours; the tour will have the housing aspect taken care of.

Can you get to the festival on your own? Sure, people do it every fest. Can you get a room in town? Sure, at least maybe. One year I got a room for Saturday night on Saturday morning. But you’d better be pretty flexible if you attempt that—I had a backup place to stay an hour away with the tour I was on. I don't know that I would encourage someone to try to go on their own.

And as in all things, the different tours will have different styles and appeal to different people. One year when I was more on top of things I almost posted to this list an only slightly snarky listing of my impressions of the different tours. So it may be wise to pay attention to which tour you are signing up for. Though I suppose they will all get you to the festival each morning. (Though I do have a memory of some tours not getting there in time for Friday of the fest.)

And Barbara Babin posted on Oct. 23 that she had a contact for some rooms for rent during the festival, but on Oct. 29 posted that that they were now all taken.

It can pay off to follow the listserv on a daily basis! You can choose to receive individual messages in your email inbox or receive a daily digest. Click for information on subscribing.


Godečki Čačak

By Julie Lancaster, Winter 2014-15
A shot from one of the YouTube links provided by Larry Weiner on Dec. 13 https://www.youtube.co

A shot from one of the YouTube links provided by Larry Weiner on Dec. 13 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS9ziH7oZGY).

It all started with a question from Judy Stafford on December 9 about a dance that has long been popular among international folk dancers:

I always thought Godečki Čačak was a Serbian dance, but found out recently that it is named for a town in Bulgaria, near the Serbian border. It appears that Dick Crum introduced the dance to the IFD community. Is it a dance that is/was actually done in Bulgaria and/or Serbia? If it's a border dance, then is the "standard" IFD music for the dance (as in the below YouTube link) Serbian, Bulgarian, or does it also cross the border? I can't find any credits for the standard recording—is it Serbian or Bulgarian?

Judy’s question sparked a lively, weeklong discussion spanning almost 40 posts and yielding historical and folkloric insights from some of the EEFC's best-known dance teachers and scholars. Comments address the musical structure, the dance steps, regional variations in the number of measures, changes in the dance among emigrants to the U.S., and more.

Our listserv is wonderful, but it can be cumbersome to search and retrieve all the related individual posts. Laura Blumenthal volunteered to assemble the entire (as of press time) thread into a 26-page document that is available here as a PDF download: Godecki_Cacak_thread_EEFC_listserv_12.2014.

Gems from the Listserv

By

In this section we bring you some recent posts from the EEFC’s listserv—one entertaining and two practical.

The listserv is a discussion list where subscribers post and discuss items of interest. It has a searchable archive going back to 1993 (available to anyone) and has been overseen by list angels Noel Kropf and Emerson Hawley for most of that time. (Click here for the archive search page.)

Topics range from finding lyrics to sharing music and dance videos, publicizing events in your local area, scholarly discussion on ethnomusicology topics, travel tips, practical matters such as gajda maintenance, and much more.

Not everyone in our community subscribes to the listserv, and until now there hasn’t been an easy way to share the wealth to be found there with non-subscribers both within and outside our community.

In future issues, we plan to include some older treasures from the archive. But we need your help. If you can think of a memorable listserv discussion you enjoyed that might be of interest to Kef Times readers, please drop us a note referencing the archived post.

Or . . . volunteer to go through a year’s worth of archived posts and see what you turn up of interest from that year—say, 1997. Or 2001. Your choice. (Let us know so we don’t have multiple people spending time digging through the same year.)

Russians and Caffeine

By Alexander Eppler, Fall 2014

Turkish Coffee on blackAs a child, I grew up in a Russian Orthodox parish [in the U.S.] where many of the parishioners were deformed by WW I, the Stalin terror or WW II . . . eyes, parts of faces, missing body parts, that sort of thing. In many cases combined with the attendant psychiatry as well . . .

When I first became aware that the Americans had come up with decaffeinated coffee, this news came to me via the parish in the form that it was roundly judged to be “a communist plot to weaken America.”

It took me a few years to drill down to the reason for this view:

Coffee was considered to be the devil's drink . . . barbarian . . . nothing like Russian tea. Pilgrims were occasionally scandalized, in going to Greek monasteries, to be offered this brew. However, during the WW I disaster, Russian troops frequently found themselves without medicine. The nurses and doctors quickly discovered that really strong coffee could keep some of the wounded from going into shock and dying. Hence, among the first two or three waves of the Russian emigration, coffee was considered a somewhat beneficial medicinal drink to strengthen the constitution, even though it had a dodgy foreign past.

 

This post appeared on the EEFC listserv on Mon, September 1, 2014, and is reprinted here with permission from the author. Alexander Eppler, a multi-instrumentalist who has taught kaval at the EEFC Balkan Music & Dance Workshops, is a flute maker in Seattle.

UNESCO Reissues Continue: Algeria, Bali, Benin, Bulgaria, France, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam

By Larry Weiner, Fall 2014
UNES08019

UNESCO Collection’s 1983 “Bulgaria” recording is available for download or as a compact disc.

Just thought I'd pass along this notice I got from Smithsonian Folkways in Washington, DC. . . . and you can download the liner notes . . . hurray!

The Smithsonian Folkways reissue of two albums per week from the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music continues! Read the latest guest blog posts, and check back weekly to explore musical traditions from around the world. Click here to find out more.

On September 19, Larry added the following comment for Kef Times:

The recordings were made in 1983 with the cooperation of both Balkanton and Bulgarian National Radio and most tunes were probably not released previously. The original liner notes (in English and French) are included as a PDF with the CD, or they can be downloaded here.

You can also use Smithsonian Folkways’ search engine to find other music of interest.

 

This post appeared on the EEFC listserv on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014, and is reprinted here with permission from the author. Larry Weiner is a dance teacher and tapan player in Washington D.C. You can read an interview with him in the Fall/Winter 2001-02 Kef Times.

 

Cool Resource: Discogs

By Rachel MacFarlane, Fall 2014

Discogs page w Tahir album-resized[In response to a post from Dean Brown, who recently tracked down a particular Romani tune taught by Carol Silverman at an EEFC workshop by finding the entire 1982 Jugoton album on YouTube.]

Rachel writes:

When I’m looking for song credits I have had great luck using the site discogs.com. You can find the Jugoton Trajko Ajdarević Tahir LP listed and pictured there. (Title: Romske Pjesme: Ajde amenca, e bahtale Romenca). Mustafa Ismailović is indeed listed as the composer of “Na kelav, na gilavav.” Unfortunately the album is minimally cataloged here, but you can read the verso of the album cover from the photo and find the track credits.

The cool thing about Discogs is that you can sign on to enter albums yourself. If you’ve got the time and energy to do this kind of cataloging so many people can benefit! I bought the above record myself years ago at the Zagreb Jugoton store. Maybe someday I’ll pull it out from storage and compose a better Discogs entry.

Rachel M.

P.S. I also like being able to pull album cover images from the Discogs entries to use for my iTunes collection.

 

This post appeared on the EEFC listserv on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014, as part of a conversation started by Dean Brown and is reprinted here with permission from the author. Rachel MacFarlane is the EEFC’s Workshop Manager and production manager of Kef Times.

Cool Resource: Discogs

By

Discogs page w Tahir album-resized[In response to a post from Dean Brown, who recently tracked down a particular Romani tune taught by Carol Silverman at an EEFC workshop by finding the entire 1982 Jugoton album on YouTube.]

Rachel writes:

When I’m looking for song credits I have had great luck using the site discogs.com. You can find the Jugoton Trajko Ajdarević Tahir LP listed and pictured there. (Title: Romske Pjesme: Ajde amenca, e bahtale Romenca). Mustafa Ismailović is indeed listed as the composer of “Na kelav, na gilavav.” Unfortunately the album is minimally cataloged here, but you can read the verso of the album cover from the photo and find the track credits.

The cool thing about Discogs is that you can sign on to enter albums yourself. If you’ve got the time and energy to do this kind of cataloging so many people can benefit! I bought the above record myself years ago at the Zagreb Jugoton store. Maybe someday I’ll pull it out from storage and compose a better Discogs entry.

Rachel M.

P.S. I also like being able to pull album cover images from the Discogs entries to use for my iTunes collection.

 

This post appeared on the EEFC listserv on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014, as part of a conversation started by Dean Brown and is reprinted here with permission from the author. Rachel MacFarlane is the EEFC’s Workshop Manager and production manager of Kef Times.

UNESCO Reissues Continue: Algeria, Bali, Benin, Bulgaria, France, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam

By

UNES08019

UNESCO Collection’s 1983 “Bulgaria” recording is available for download or as a compact disc.

Just thought I’d pass along this notice I got from Smithsonian Folkways in Washington, DC. . . . and you can download the liner notes . . . hurray!

The Smithsonian Folkways reissue of two albums per week from the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music continues! Read the latest guest blog posts, and check back weekly to explore musical traditions from around the world. Click here to find out more.

On September 19, Larry added the following comment for Kef Times:

The recordings were made in 1983 with the cooperation of both Balkanton and Bulgarian National Radio and most tunes were probably not released previously. The original liner notes (in English and French) are included as a PDF with the CD, or they can be downloaded here.

You can also use Smithsonian Folkways’ search engine to find other music of interest.

 

This post appeared on the EEFC listserv on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014, and is reprinted here with permission from the author. Larry Weiner is a dance teacher and tapan player in Washington D.C. You can read an interview with him in the Fall/Winter 2001-02 Kef Times.

 

Russians and Caffeine

By

Turkish Coffee on blackAs a child, I grew up in a Russian Orthodox parish [in the U.S.] where many of the parishioners were deformed by WW I, the Stalin terror or WW II . . . eyes, parts of faces, missing body parts, that sort of thing. In many cases combined with the attendant psychiatry as well . . .

When I first became aware that the Americans had come up with decaffeinated coffee, this news came to me via the parish in the form that it was roundly judged to be “a communist plot to weaken America.”

It took me a few years to drill down to the reason for this view:

Coffee was considered to be the devil’s drink . . . barbarian . . . nothing like Russian tea. Pilgrims were occasionally scandalized, in going to Greek monasteries, to be offered this brew. However, during the WW I disaster, Russian troops frequently found themselves without medicine. The nurses and doctors quickly discovered that really strong coffee could keep some of the wounded from going into shock and dying. Hence, among the first two or three waves of the Russian emigration, coffee was considered a somewhat beneficial medicinal drink to strengthen the constitution, even though it had a dodgy foreign past.

 

This post appeared on the EEFC listserv on Mon, September 1, 2014, and is reprinted here with permission from the author. Alexander Eppler, a multi-instrumentalist who has taught kaval at the EEFC Balkan Music & Dance Workshops, is a flute maker in Seattle.