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Find out almost everything you always wanted to know about the EEFC’s in-person Balkan camps.
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Virtual Camp West Coast 2021

June 25 – 27, 2021

 

In 1977, the EEFC offered the first of many wonderful getaway weeklong Balkan Music & Dance Workshops. We’re excited to reprise our online edition, which you can enjoy from the comfort of home.
 

Thanks to high-speed internet, we continue to welcome new friends and old to our community of musicians, singers, dancers, and those who love them. Beginners and advanced practitioners will continue to “rub shoulders” while benefiting from the expertise of our extraordinary teaching staff and enjoying bliss-inducing live-music performances. We can’t provide the traditional rustic redwoods setting nor a superb glamping experience in the Catskills, but this Virtual Camp weekend retains our signature style—an immersive learning experience that opens hearts and minds to the beauty of Balkan music, dance, and culture.


 


The Platform

We’re using the online platforms Zoom and Sococo to centralize our gathering for the weekend. All daily classes, evening and late-night Kafana programming, will take place on Zoom. This year we are also again featuring a “digital village,” accessible through the optional Sococo interface. You’ll see rooms named for familiar places like the Registration Table, which will have volunteers ready to take your questions; the Meadow, where you’ll enjoy an afternoon class; and the Dance Hall and Kafana, where we’ll gather for live music and dancing. You’ll even be able to locate where your friends are within the map and casually hang out (i.e. video chat) around the Fire Circle and other organic gathering places.

For official programming, each “room” of our Sococo “virtual village” space contains a direct link to a Zoom meeting where the real magic is taking place. But if you want to take a break from class, there are plenty of areas to relax with friends and catch up contained within our online village. There will be a basic $15 charge to use the Sococo platform.

You also have the option to forego Sococo and to attend classes and evening musical events just via Zoom. We will provide a “cheat sheet” of Zoom links to all campers which will make it easy to find your way. We strongly recommend that you download the latest version of Zoom for the optimal experience.

The Workshop & Program

Virtual Camp runs on Pacific Time from Friday evening, June 25, to late Sunday afternoon, June 27. Classes begin Saturday morning and continue on Sunday. A selection of instrumental, vocal, dance, and even cooking classes for all levels are offered across seven 75-minute class slots.

The early-evening programs include folklore presentations and group sings with musical accompaniment. Dance parties featuring live music from our world-class staff musicians will delight your feet. The party continues in the Kafana, with a variety of musical sets by you and your fellow campers.

Swag Box!

Now that we’ve been “pandemicking” for over a year, how can we make the experience even closer to camp without actually being on site with our friends? We could maybe build a dance hall in the yard. Or we could gather together some of the elements of camp, distill them down to their essence, and pack them lovingly in a box to send to you! This box will contain a variety of items that will appeal to the senses, including a selection of EEFC-branded items, recipes to remind us of the good food we share at camp, a handy “How-To Kafana” guide with instructions and props, items to help create a redwood cabin ambiance at home (no black widows, scorpions or mice, we promise), as well as other delightful keepsakes.

Order your box here for $50, shipping included in the price. But hurry—quantities are limited and we want to make sure your goodies arrive on your doorstep before Virtual Camp starts! Deadline to order Swag Box: May 20, 2021

Registration

West Coast Virtual Camp is over, and it was most excellent! Mark your calendars for our East Coast edition, August 13-15. Stay tuned for more info coming soon. Workshop updates are announced on the EEFC listserv discussion group, and on our Facebook page.


2021 Teachers


 

Nizo Alimov

Brass Melody

Born in 1986 in Štip, eastern Macedonia, into a musical family, Nijazi "Nizo" Alimov recorded his first song at 13 years of age. He started learning baritone horn from his uncle Ramče Ibraimov...Read More

Bob Beer

Balkan Cooking Class: The Meze Table

Bob Beer is the grandson of a Greek immigrant from Marmara Island in northwestern Turkey. When he was nine years old his mother played a record of Greek music from Istanbul, and his interest İn...Read More

Beth Bahia Cohen

Makam

Beth Bahia Cohen has spent a large part of her career exploring how the violin is played in various cultures. Of Syrian Jewish and Russian Jewish heritage, she was inspired at a young age by the...Read More

Polly Tapia Ferber

Frame Drum

Percussionist Polly Tapia Ferber is a music educator, performer, and recording artist who specializes in hand percussion from the Middle East, Turkey, North Africa, the Balkans, and Spanish...Read More

Adam Good

Macedonian Tambura

Adam Good is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston. With a foundation in jazz guitar, his interest in the music of Eastern Europe and Turkey began in the mid-90s. His talent on...Read More


Joe Kaloyanides Graziosi

Greek Dance; Culture Corner: Greek Folklore Movie Night

Joseph Kaloyanides Graziosi was born and raised in the greater Boston area. Of Greek and Italian ancestry, Joe was exposed at an early age to Greek music and dance through both family contacts...Read More


Nina Kavardjikova

Bulgarian Dance

Nina Kavardjikova was brought up in the folklore traditions of her mother’s family village in the Tŭrgovishte area of Northern Bulgaria, started dancing and performing on stage at the age of 7,...Read More

Steve Kotansky

Balkan Dance

Steve Kotansky, known widely as a versatile dancer and teacher, has made many research trips to Bulgaria, the former Yugoslavia, Romania, Hungary, Greece, and Albania. He has been a regular on...Read More


Ari Langer

Violin

Ari Langer grew up in Ashland, Oregon, where he studied classical violin, performing in solo competitions and with local string quartets and orchestras. He took a sharp left turn to attend the...Read More

Lise Liepman

Santouri

Lise began her involvement with Balkan music in 1976 in the vibrant dance scene of the San Francisco Bay Area. She was a member and director of Westwind International Folk Ensemble for many years....Read More

Michele Simon

Class on Balkan Vocal Technique Hacks; 'Southern' Group Sing

Michele Simon has been involved with music all of her life, and with Balkan folk music for most of it, as a dancer, singer, drummer and teacher. She was raised surrounded by music of all kinds,...Read More

Svetlana Spajić

Serbian Singing

Svetlana Spajić, a native of Loznica, Serbia, began performing publicly in 1993 with Paganke, as its youngest member. Paganke (The Pagan Women) was a pioneer Belgrade group formed in the 80s...Read More


Dragi Spasovski

Macedonian Singing + Banica Cooking Class

Dragi Spasovski learned to sing from his mother, whose sweet voice was the backdrop to his boyhood in Skopje. Her repertoire seemed limitless and her love of singing infused his life. Beginning in...Read More

Jessaiah Zuré

Turkish Roman Dance

Jessaiah Zuré is a California native, the daughter of musicians. Raised primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area in a very creative and open environment, she was exposed to many styles of music...Read More



Schedule

Schedule subject to change. All times in Pacific.

Friday, June 25
5:30 p.m. “Campground” opens
6:30 p.m. “Lamb Roast” with serenades by Donka & Nikolay Kolevi – Bulgarian (6:30), then B.A.T. (Beth Bahia Cohen, Adam Good & Tev Stevig) – Turkish (7:00)
7:30 p.m. Dance Hall: Balkan with Drómeno (7:30), Macedonian Village with Bajsa Arifovska (8:15), Balkan with Édessa (9:00)
9:45 p.m. Kafana begins. Link to Kafana schedule here.

 

Saturday, June 26
10:00 a.m. “Campground” opens
10:30 a.m. Macedonian Singing + Banica Cooking Class with Dragi Spasovski, accompanied by David Bilides & Michael Lawson (class ends at about 1:00 p.m.)
11:00 a.m. Bulgarian Dance with Nina Kavardjikova
12:30 p.m. Break for Lunch
1:30 p.m. Balkan Vocal Technique Hacks with Michele Simon
1:30 p.m. Santouri with Lise Liepman
3:00 p.m. Turkish Roman Dance with Jessaiah Zuré
3:00 p.m. Makam with Beth Bahia Cohen
4:30 p.m. Snack Break!
5:00 p.m. Violin with Ari Langer
5:00 p.m. Balkan Dance with Steve Kotansky
6:30 p.m. Culture Corner: Greek Movie Night with Joe Graziosi
7:45 p.m. Dance Hall: Balkan with Sherefe (7:45), Balkan/Romani with Melez & Friends (8:50), Sitna Lisa with David Bilides’ Macedonian Folk Ensemble class (9:35)
9:45 p.m. Kafana begins. Link to Kafana schedule here.

 

Sunday, June 27
10:00 a.m. “Campground” opens
11:00 a.m. Serbian Singing with Svetlana Spajić
11:00 a.m. Brass Melody with Nizo Alimov
12:30 p.m. Break for Lunch/EEFC Board Office Hours
1:30 p.m. Greek Dance with Joe Graziosi
1:30 p.m. Macedonian Tambura with Adam Good
3:00 p.m. Frame Drum with Polly Tapia Ferber
3:00 p.m. Balkan Cooking Class: The Splendid Meze Table, with Bob Beer
4:30 p.m. Snack (Meze) Break!
5:00 p.m. “Southern” Group Sing with Michele Simon, Bill Cope & Hilary Musaji


FAQs

General

Will there be a workshop geared toward East Coast time?
Yes! Please pencil in August 13-15, 2021 for an East Coast edition.

I love what the EEFC is doing. Where can I donate to support more of this work?
You can donate via Paypal or via our website.

Will class materials be available?
Lyrics, song files, and other materials will be made available to campers at the teacher’s discretion. See the Resources & Materials tab on this page.

 

Technical

Do I need a Facebook account to participate?
No. We are using Sococo and Zoom. Several days before camp begins, campers will receive a link to an orientation video and those who have signed up for it will be invited to join the Sococo platform and begin exploring.

How can I avoid lag on Zoom?

  • Consider using a direct hardwire/ethernet connection to your internet instead of using wireless WiFi.
  • Turning off your camera may improve the flow of data.
  • Close all other applications on your computer. It’s best if Zoom is the only thing running.
  • Reduce other activities that steal bandwidth like large downloads or family members watching Netflix on the same internet connection during class.


Class Materials & Resources for Download

List updated 6/28/21

 

To download audio files and PDFs:
PC: right-click as you click on the red download link.
Mac: press Control as you click on the red download link.
Note: Some browsers work better than others for downloading. So if you’re not successful with one browser, try another.
 

Édessa – Dance Set
Friday, 9:00 p.m.
Sing-along lyrics PDFs:

 

Dragi Spasovski – Macedonian Singing & Banica Cooking Class
Saturday, 10:30 a.m.

RECIPE: Banica with Leeks and Cheese PDF

Song lyrics PDFs:

Audio reference files for Pavle Mi Pie:

 

Nina Kavardjikova – Bulgarian Dance
Saturday, 11:00 a.m.
Online Dance Program PDF

 

Lise Liepman – Santouri
Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Vart Kaghelen – Armenian 6 – chord chart PDF
Audio files:

 

Jessaiah Zuré – Turkish Roman Dance
Saturday, 3:00 p.m.

 

Steve Kotansky – Macedonian Dance
Saturday, 5:00 p.m.
Audio files:

 

Svetlana Spajić – Serbian Singing
Sunday, 11:00 a.m.
Link to folder with lyrics and audio files

 

Nizo Alimov – Brass Melody
Sunday, 11:00 a.m.
Ismail Oro – Kočani Orkestar (YouTube)

 

Joe Graziosi – Greek Dance
Sunday, 1:30 p.m.
Dances taught with music resources PDF

 

Adam Good – Macedonian Tambura
Sunday, 1:30 p.m.

 

Polly Tapia Ferber – Frame Drum
Sunday, 3:00 p.m.
Drum patterns chart PDF

Audio files:

 

Bob Beer – The Splendid Meze Table: Turkish Small Plates
Sunday, 3:00 p.m.
Meze Recipes PDF

 

“Southern” Balkan Group Sing led by Michele Simon
Sunday, 5:00 p.m.
EEFC Songbook PDF
Group Sing playlist with songbook page numbers PDF

 


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Contact the EEFC Office if you need tech support or further clarification. Our staff and volunteers are eager to help, and your feedback will help us review and hone our processes. There is no question too small. See you at Camp!