John Wooden
The folk ensemble Bulgarika will be performing in New England this weekend. I did a search for them to see if anyone had posted recent videos of them on YouTube, and found this group of young dancers from Seattle. They are an energetic bunch of kids and great ambassadors for Bulgarian culture in the United States.
The name of this group is Hopa Trop, and they have a blog in Bulgarian and English.
Video #1 shows Donka Koleva of Bulgarika teaching the dance song Kukuvicka to the kids. It reminds me of the Romanian dance Alunelul (also a children's song).
In video #2, Hopa Trop dances Dunavsko Horo to the music of Bulgarika. This version is played on traditional folk instruments and is one of the most popular dances in Bulgaria. The young people range in age from five to fifteen.
Video #3 is a dance from Northern Bulgaria: Veselba. I haven't seen it anywhere else on YouTube.
The emphasis with this group is easy dances that the youngest children can do, and it also channels their energy in a positive way. From what I've seen on their blog, Hopa Trop is a good sized group. I counted 19 kids on the blog's home page.
If you enjoyed this, you may also like:
The Best of Bulgarika
For more on Bulgarian folklore groups in the United States:
Bulgarian Folk Dance in the United States: Ensemble Lyush from Dallas-Forth Worth
Bulgarian Folk Dance in the United States (features Ethnic Dance Chicago, Ludo Mlado from Boston, and Rosa from Atlanta
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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