Kef Times

Location: Richmond, Va.

Occupation: Musician and massage therapist.

Connection to Balkan music/dance: I just moved to Richmond, and am playing with the following bands: Richmanian Ramblers (Romanian music); The Vulgar Bulgars (traditional klezmer, Balkan, Romani music with funky original arrangements); and My Son the Doctor (traditional klezmer and Balkan music). I also busk on my own and play tons of Balkan music; people love it!

Number of times at Balkan camp: First time at camp!

Studied at camp: Albanian violin, Albanian ensemble, Greek violin, Bulgarian ornaments, songbook singing.

Memorable moment at camp: I loved how friendly and welcoming everyone was, how much everybody loved to play this beautiful music and how supportive everyone was. My favorite moment was getting to sing with the Macedonian village ensemble evening performance for dancing; almost all of my cabin mates were in the class and/or in the songbook class that joined them! I loved porch front jams playing this beautiful music with my cabin mates.

Location: Victoria, BC, Canada

Occupation: Student; I did my undergrad in applied linguistics at UVic and am now working toward a master’s in speech pathology at UBC. Before that I was trained in Russian ballet in Mexico. I teach ESL and Spanish at a language school and also teach circle dancing.

Connection to Balkan music/dance: I went to a circle dance camp in Mexico, where I met Steve and Susan Kotansky. They told me about Balkan camp and about the possibility of getting a scholarship.

Number of times at Balkan camp: This was my first time.

Studied at camp: All of the dance classes except one session, when I took frame drum with Polly [Ferber]. I was there mainly for dancing.

Memorable moment at camp: I loved the intergeneration community vibe. There were 80-year-old people and 2-year-old children all eating in same dining hall—amazing food and musical parties every night. I loved the community atmosphere; you could feel that it’s been going on for a long time.

Location: Albuquerque, N.M.

Occupation: I am a fiber artist and a ceramicist. I also sub in the Albuquerque School System in bilingual elementary schools.

Connection to Balkan music/dance: I folkdance sporadically and I sing Balkan music on a weekly basis with a group of experienced and inexperienced singers in Santa Fe. We are led by Willa Roberts.

Number of times at Balkan camp: I went to camp for the first time in the late ‘70s and this last summer was maybe the fifth time. I think it was 16 years between the last time I got to go to camp and this most recent time.

Studied at camp: I loved Michele Simon’s warm-up class and I loved that it happened first thing in the morning. It warmed up my voice for the other singing classes I took. I got very useful information on how to use my voice, which has made me more confident when I sing. I learned new material from Carol [Silverman] and singing with Brenna [MacCrimmon] made me more comfortable about singing in Turkish.

Memorable moment at camp: I was very happily surprised by how little camp had changed over the years. It was still the welcoming, fun, beautiful place I remembered. I was also touched by the generosity toward the camper who had had her luggage stolen.

Location: Eugene, Ore.

Occupation: Unemployed audiologist 🙁

Connection to Balkan music/dance: I dance with two different folk dance clubs in the area. I participate in workshops held in the Eugene and Portland area (Veselo and Balkanalia). I’ve been the foreman of the floor crew that lays down the wooden floor over cement for several years at Balkanalia. I attend Balkan folk dance parties in Seattle (NW Balkan events and Folklife). I talk about Balkan folk dance with almost anybody that knows me.

This year I taught several Balkan dances at the new Dance Pavilion at The Oregon Country Fair. This enabled willing participants to join in and dance while our local Balkan band, Kef, provided live music. The Oregon Country Fair is a very large and unique annual event that draws attendees from all over the country. This year there were 17,000+ staff workers with over 50,000 fair-goers. I am trying to expand this to have more time to teach Balkan dances before each live Balkan performance next year. This is such a good opportunity to expose many (especially young folks) to Balkan dance and culture—people who might never be exposed otherwise.

I often go to local parks here to practice playing my kaval. In doing so I often get the opportunity to tell people about the kaval and dance and culture. I am not in a Balkan band now. I don’t think that my playing is good enough yet. However I do play the kaval on occasion with other musicians with whom I play others types of music. I’ve been practicing a lot and hope to be able to play some Balkan music for our local dance clubs to dance to as my abilities progress.

Number of times at Balkan camp: I’ve been to Mendocino Balkan Camp three years prior to attending this year. I first attended camp in 2010.

Studied at camp: Kaval. I also took dance classes from Milo Destanovski, Alex Marković and Martin Koenig.

Memorable moment at camp: I’m always so impressed with the how good the musicians are at camp and how hard they work to increase their skill and knowledge of the culture. I’m also impressed with how helpful and willing others are to mentor those of us that are at different skill levels, from beginner to advanced. Valeri Georgiev was the kaval instructor this year. He is so helpful and patient with his students that have such broad range of capabilities and skill levels.

I put in a lot of time practicing in preparation for coming to camp this year. However, I found myself feeling very frustrated as I was struggling with the material at camp. I thought I was further along than I was. Sometimes it seemed painful and hopeless to me. But now the lesson seems clear: seeking to improve in something requires hard work and patience. If it’s worthwhile, then trudging through it with diligence and patience brings rewards later. I came home with much greater knowledge, skill and determination to keep working on playing the kaval. I have continued to practice diligently since camp and feel like I’m moving along quite well. It amazes me how when something seems impossible (such as some of the required fingering changes on the kaval)—if I just slowly work on the those changes that within a few minutes or the next day it becomes natural to do that which seemed impossible not long ago.

Location: Oakland, Calif.

Occupation: I sing with Kitka, and I am a caterer, fishmonger, sound designer and composer.

Connection to Balkan music/dance: I play oud and study on my own, and also [sing] with Kitka. For dancing, I go to community dances when they happen, and go to as many Balkan shows as I can to dance the night away.

Number of times at Balkan camp: This was my first year at camp.

Studied at camp: I took Michele’s [Simon’s] vocal techniques class, Greek singing with Christos [Govetas], Turkish singing with Bob [Beer], and Greek ensemble with Lise Liepman. I ended up for the fifth slot trying something new every day, including Serbian dance, brass band, kemençe, Rhodope singing and beginning tapan.

Memorable moment at camp: I was so touched by the way the community opened its arms to me, both socially and artistically. I had injured my wrist previous to coming to camp and so I wasn’t able to play oud as I had hoped. I was on my way mournfully to an empty second period, when I passed Lise’s Greek ensemble, and it was so glorious I couldn’t help but stick right where I was. I got an idea that perhaps I could join them, learning the tunes just with my voice. I was a little nervous to ask, but when I did, I was met with such enthusiasm and support that all my fear melted away. I was able to sing with the ensemble the whole week, and learn songs which came up later that summer as I was in Greece studying music with the Labyrinth program.

Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Occupation: I guess technically I’m unemployed, but I am often designing t-shirts and logos for people for money.

Connection to Balkan music/dance: I intersect with Balkan music for the rest of the year by playing [guitar] along to recordings usually, or if I’m on the left coast I can play Balkan music with real people!

Number of times at Balkan camp: This was my second year at Balkan Camp and there are sure to be more.

Studied at camp: I was studying mostly rebetika at camp.

Memorable moment at camp: An experience that really stuck out to me this year was watching Vlado [Pupinoski] and Kalin [Kirilov] play casually at the smokers’ table. They were just having musical conversation; changing so often in between new melodies but totally on the same page at all times. Then, after a twenty-minute medley of absolute mind destruction for the audience, they would have a cigarette and leave it between their fingers while they played the next tune like it was nothing. It was something I had never seen before.

Location: Lansing, Mich.

Occupation: Applied behavior analysis therapy with children with autism; wife to a trumpet teacher and graduate student in trumpet performance, Matthew; and mother of three, about to be four little ones, Elsie, Lili and Ezra.

Connection to Balkan music/dance: Matthew and a core group of students at Michigan State University and community members started a Balkan brass band, Slavistar, last year. They have been popular at open mic nights at local establishments. As a family, we enjoy participating in any Balkan music events and I’ve wanted to incorporate some songs that include singing into Slavistar’s repertoire with anyone who is interested in learning.

Number of times at Balkan camp: This was a first for us at an EEFC camp.

Experience at camp: I feel like I learned so much from Elitsa [Stoyneva] and Lauren [Brody]. I really enjoyed the time I was able to spend in their classes learning to sing with my “Balkan voice,” as Elitsa would say. I have a new love for the accordion from participating in Lauren’s class

I was absolutely touched by the children’s music performance as they presented their play and music. Elsie, who is 5, has continued to sing the song they learned for the performance, which I believe is in Arabic. I know that there was a lot of dedication put in by Marlis [Kraft-Zemel], Abby [Alwin], and Stacey [Anne Sternberg].

Oh, and what fun it was to go to the Kafana with Matthew for a brief period one evening to watch the mixer bands and spend time getting to know people, while enjoying the music. Our precious cabin roommate moms, Stasha [Hughes] and Monica [Ravinet], made sure the children were looked after well. Monica had to make her way to the Kafana at 2:00 a.m. as Ezra had decided he missed us!

Location: New Orleans, La.

Occupation: I am a full-time jazz drummer. I’ve been playing drums for 23 years, professionally for 15.

Connection to Balkan music/dance: I am originally from Sofia, Bulgaria, and have recently become enamored with the folk music of my native country. Feeling that Bulgarian music needed to be represented in New Orleans, a city with an incredibly rich musical heritage, I started a Bulgarian folk band in New Orleans almost one year ago. The band is called Mahala (it means neighborhood in Bulgarian) and you can find us online at mahalanola.com. We perform for folk dancers in New Orleans, and recently got back from our inaugural Northeast tour, where we played for some folk dancers I had the pleasure of meeting at Balkan camp this year! Being a New Orleans band, we are all very accomplished and busy jazz musicians, yet our knowledge of Balkan music is somewhat limited. Personally I’m rather new to Bulgarian folk music, and to the tapan (I’ve been playing it for roughly one year), so it was great to come to Balkan camp and learn from so many great musicians who have a much deeper understanding of it than I have.

Number of times at Balkan camp: This was my first time at camp.

Experience at camp: I was most surprised and touched by the number of Americans who spoke PERFECT Bulgarian to me! I’ve never experienced anything like it, or met so many non-Bulgarians so interested in my native language and culture. When I describe my experience at Balkan camp to my friends and relatives back in Bulgaria, they have a really hard time believing it!

Location: Tucson, Ariz.

Occupation: I’m a junior in high school. I don’t currently work. I’m focusing on school!

Connection to Balkan music/dance: Balkan music and dance are a huge part of my life, specifically Greek music and dance. Aside from school, I compete and play music for groups in a Greek dance competition called FDF every year and our dance group practices year round, dancing dances from all regions in Greece. I also play live music for groups that compete. I play gaida, flogera, bouzouki, daouli, and doumbek. I fell in love with the music the first time live musicians came to play for our group.

Number of times at Balkan camp: This was my first year at camp, and I absolutely fell in love with it. The atmosphere around me was so welcoming and lively. I loved it.

Experience at camp: This moment at camp inspired me and I carry it close in my heart since I am preparing to start playing at practices for FDF! It was late in the evening on the second-to-last day before the end of camp, and I was sitting at a table with Christo [Govetas], Ruth [Hunter] and Eleni [Govetas] (they invited me to camp earlier that year, when they heard me playing gaida) and we got on the topic of FDF. Christo scooted over to separate himself and me from the group, and proceeded to give me a BOATLOAD of information and stellar advice about playing for groups. I won’t list it all, but the biggest piece of advice he gave me was to learn how to say no if something a director wanted didn’t fit what the music naturally did. Christo, Ruth, and Vassil [Bebelekov] were HUGE helps to me and absolutely an inspiration. Just the atmosphere of being in the woods, surrounded by amazing musicians and people and FOOD really made me kind of reshape the direction of my life! Thank you to everyone who befriended me and played amazing music with me at camp. I’m looking forward to many more years of it.

Location: Nevada City, Calif.

Occupation: I make my living as an accordionist, singer, guitarist and composer.

Connection to Balkan music/dance: I am the leader of a quartet called Beaucoup Chapeaux (Many Hats) (website; Facebook), and among the four of us we play accordion, clarinet, bass clarinet, piccolo, violin, oboe, tenor guitar, plectrum banjo and dobro, and we all sing. We play a fair amount of Balkan music, as well as music from France, Italy and North America, and originals, and we’re the only group doing so regularly in our area. We’ve been very fortunate for the past five and half years to have a weekly gig here in Nevada City. We’ve also made two tours of the Pacific Northwest and have performed at various other venues throughout Northern California. As such, we’ve introduced many people to this music, and continue to do so. I am now happy to be able to recommend the Mendocino Balkan camp to our audiences. Beaucoup Chapeaux is working on our second CD, which will have original songs and instrumentals, as well as music from Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Italy.

Number of times at Balkan camp: This was my first time at camp.

Experience at camp: There is a lot to like about the Mendocino Balkan Music and Dance camp. To begin with, it takes place at the Mendocino Woodlands, which is a stunningly beautiful location and facility. Functioning as a group campground since 1942, the rustic redwood cabins and halls sit amongst tall redwood trees. The air often has that wonderful tang of the ocean which is only a few miles away, and early morning fog often roams through the grounds. As to the classes, I couldn’t have asked for two more exceptional teachers than singer Merita Halili and accordionist Raif Hyseni. The nightly bands and dances were also marvelous. Delicious and nutritious meals are a huge factor in my enjoyment of . . . well, anything, and the meals were wonderful. As a night owl, I especially enjoyed the late night savory dishes provided by the kitchen, a very necessary provision when one plans to play, sing and dance until the wee hours of the morn.

Considering my late-night habits, it should come as no surprise that one of my favorite things about camp was the kafana. A kafana is, simply put, a bar which sells and serves various kinds of drinks. The kafana at Balkan camp does that, and much more. Inspired volunteers create a delightfully intimate and magical space out of one of the dining halls, decorating the redwood walls with twinkle lights and lovely ethnic fabrics. The room itself is graced by a huge open stone fireplace. As evenings can get quite chilly along California’s North Coast, it was used every night. Throw in a small stage, some tables and benches, room to dance, and of course the bar itself, and you end up with a very charming community gathering spot. Whether we were entranced by the beauty of the kaval student concert, or dancing to the music of the wild and cheezy Fetatones until 4 a.m., the kafana was always a warm and welcoming place to be.