13 May 2017 Championships Festivals
A day after the official opening of 21st edition of Stara planina Fest "Balkan Folk", hundred of dancers, singers and musicians took part in a parade on the main street of the town-host Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgaria). About 450 Bulgarian and international guests marched along to the emblematic "Mayka Bulgaria" monument where each group presented a short program. Residentials and guests of the town applauded the participants. Some of the spectators walked along with the participants, others took pictures with them. Final spot of the colorful parade was the Summer Theater where the announced program was held.
On the second festival day, spectators withnesed this astonishing celebration of Bulgarian spirit and folklore. No less impressive, however, were the performances of the guests from India and Indonesia.
CHANDNI - INDIA
Dancer Chandni comes from the German city of Lower Saxony Osnabrück but her motherland is India. She is 23 years old and she started learning classical Indian dances (kathak) when she was 4 years old. She is a Bachelor of Arts degree in this dance direction from the University of Prayag, Delhi. Chandni is a scholar in the Indian Ministry of Culture. She presented India in the SAARC - cultural exhanged program, which was held in Tokyo, Japan. The dancer Chandni won 1st prize at National Cultural Festival held in Hyderabad organised by Centre for Cultural Resources and Training,India and 2nd prize in International Cultural Festival held in Bhutan. She presented herself in the World Cup of Folklore with Indian classical dance - kathak. It imbibes the soul and the spirit of Divinity.I will dance on the musical beats of tabla and ghungroo that harmonise well with the rhythmic foot movements to create jugalbandi.
SMAN 28 - Indonesia
The group from Indonesia "SMAN 28 - Jakarta" is formed in 2009. Since then, even though the group has stopped for a couple years in 2010 - 2011, it became an annual program from 28 High School to send students to participate in international culture festivals. The main purpose of the program is to promote traditional Indonesian performing arts and culture in international stage. International Festivals and competitions:
Folklore Festival, Ke’san, Turkey, 2012; Folklore Competition, Beijing, 2013 (3rd Place); Folklore Festival, Germany, 2015; 475th International Mesir Mecunu Festival, Manisa, Turkey, 2015; Sea Sun Festival and Competition, Lloret de Mar, Spain, 2016 (Grand Prix)
The dance that they presented in II World Cup of Folklore - Veliko Tarnovo 2017 is called ENGGANG BABALIANA - incarnation of the bird ENGGANG who became a role model because of his wise attitude, able to lead and guard the hill land of the people of DAYAK KALIMANTAN. They together maintain the care of the natural preservation of their ancestral heritage land, by always performing customary rituals in honor of preserving traditional culture Kalimantan traditional culture.
AL AZHAR BSD – TANGERANG, INDONESIA
The group Al Azhar BSD comes from Tangerang, Indonesia. It is founded in 2007 and includes 20 performers - 1 musican and sinfer, 8 girls and 12 boys who sing and dance. They have taken part in many festivals not only in their home land - in Turkey, Spain, Korea, Japan and Bulgaria. They won a lot of awards:
- Prize for participation in Barcelona (Spain) as well as in Korea and Japan.
- 3rd place in Folklore festival in Turkey.
- 1st places in national contests (2014 - 2017)
Their program in the World Cup of Folklore includes 3 dances: saman, rapay and pucat. Pucat expresses everyday activities - fishing, farming; Saman and Rapay are dances that express cohabitation, friendship, love.
Singing is poetic, and the instruments they play are wooden drums, cowhide, which are called RAPAY.
Both groups are included in the program of XXI Stara planina Fest "Balkan Folk", VII Bulgarian National Championship and II World Cup of Folklore - Veliko Tarnovo 2017 on 14th of May. The concert starts in 12:15h and is to be broadcasted online on Eurofolk TV: tv.eurofolk.com.
