balkanalia!
A native of Turkey, Ahmet Lüleci, is an accomplished choreographer, dance teacher
and performer as well as a researcher of Anatolian culture. He is currently the artistic
director of the Boston based Collage Dance Ensemble, which allows him to further his goal
of making folk dance and music accessible to a wider audience.
Since arriving in North America in 1985, he has taught many workshops and camps throughout
the United States as well as Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Holland, England, Switzerland,
Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Norway, Italy, Spain and Australia. He has set innumerable suites
of dances for the stage working with dance organizations around the world.
His college major was music, specializing in voice. Just as his love of folksongs guided
him toward academic study of music, Ahmet's fascination with dance led him to conduct
scholarly research into the historical, social and cultural background of the costumes and
spoon dances from Turkey's Mediterranean coast. His efforts resulted in an exhaustive, 400
page study for which he was awarded First Place in the 1985 national competition in research
on the folkdances of Turkey by the Turkish ministry of Youth, Sports, and Education. In 1997
Ahmet completed a second degree in Fine Arts.
Cristian Florescu was born in Bucharest, Romania. He started dancing in 1982 with different Romanian folk ensembles, and studied with various specialists including the renowned Theodor Vasilescu. Cristian was principal dancer with the National Ensemble Cununa Carpatilor with whom he toured extensively in Europe, Asia and North America. In 1990-91, the romanian Ministry of Culture and the ACAFR conferred him a certificate as recognized solo dancer and choreographer in the field of folklore. He also was chief répétiteur for the Folk Ensemble Balada in Romania and worked as choreographer for the Academic Ensemble Joc in Moldova. In 1993, he joined Les Sortilèges, a professional folk dance company based in Montreal with whom he was actively involved as a dancer, teacher, répétiteur and choreographer until 2003. Since coming to Canada, Cristian has acquired multiple skills in various dance forms including modern dance, ballroom, jazz, tap as well as French-Canadian clogging and Irish step dancing.
Sonia Dion was born in Québec and has been a professional dancer for over 20 years. She was lead dancer and choreographer for Les Sortilèges dance company, Canada's oldest professional folk dance ensemble, with whom she developed several new productions including Une page d'histoire, un pas de danse, Montréal en danse, and Pour se faire plaisir. Sonia has toured worldwide and has been exposed to a wide range of dance techniques including Romanian folk dance, Scottish highland dancing, French-Canadian clogging and ballroom.
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 to share their love of Romanian folk traditions.