Bulgarian Dancing
Tanya Dimitrov
Tanya Dimitrov is a professional dancer with over 20 years of experience, and a choreographer for 16 years. She graduated from the National School of Dance Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Academy of Music Fine Art and Dance in Plovdiv, Bulgarian.
Tanya’s professional dance career started from Turkey, where she had the pleasure and honor to participate in several International professional dance companies with numerous tours and concerts. Tanya has performed in many other professional dance companies, including: Hurrem Sultan Dance Company, Magic You Ney Dance Company, Sultans of Anatolia; Sultans of the Dance, Akademus, Kolours of Turkey, Lake of Dreams, and Love Seasons. She has traveled and performed widely abroad, including in: China, Canada, Cyprus, Turkey, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland, and Bulgaria.
After her return to Bulgaria in 2008, Tanya founded eleven dance groups, both for children and adults, and in 2016 she created the TDS DanceArt, Ltd. company. Since the end of 2016 she has made her home in Phoenix, AZ, where she founded Balkanik Dance, a dance group for Bulgarian folk dancing.
Tanya and her husband are the founders of the first Bulgarian folk festival “Tupan Bie” in Phoenix, AZ. This year on October 18-19 they are going to celebrate the festival for the 8th consecutive year.
This is Tanya’s first time at Balkanalia. Welcome!
Balkan Dancing
Michael Ginsburg
Michael has been director and lead trumpet player of Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band since 1983. He accompanied ZU to brass festivals in Guča, Serbia, three times between 1987 and 1990, as well as in 2003 and 2005, where he and ZU were able to play and party with local brass bands and experience the music in its natural setting. Michael and Zlatne Uste worked with Ekrem Sajdić and Zlatni Prsti brass band in 2003, and in 2005 with Vranjski Biseri, both in Vranjska Banja, Serbia. Michael performed in the summer of 2010 with Zlatne Uste at the first competition of international bands at the Sabor Trubača in Guča, Serbia, representing the United States.
For many years, Michael has been interested in Balkan music and dances, especially Macedonian and Serbian. He is an expert in the complicated rhythms of Balkan music and has made several research trips to Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia, and studied in North Macedonia with Pece Atanasovski. Michael has been on the teaching staff of the Macedonian Pearl seminar in Berovo, North Macedonia. Michael has been a frequent staff member of the EEFC Balkan Music & Dance Workshops on both coasts. He has given workshops in Balkan dance throughout North America, as well as in Brazil, Japan, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He has also been on the staff of many prominent folk dance camps and seminars in the US. Michael lives in Yonkers, NY.