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Our in-person workshops are a great experience for families. Get the scoop to ensure everyone has a blast!


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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

July 17 – 19, 2020

 

In 1977, the EEFC offered the first of many wonderful getaway weeklong Balkan Music & Dance Workshops. In 2020, we’re excited to roll with the punches and debut 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 an online platform to centralize our gathering for the weekend. In other words, this event is more than just a series of Zoom meetings—we’re creating a digital village. Beginning Wednesday, July 15th, you’ll receive an invitation to join our online space, which, while initially designed to recreate the functionality of community office spaces, is about to receive a Balkan twist. On the surface, it’ll look like a regular office building, but 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 office space contains a direct link to a Zoom meeting where the real magic is taking place. We strongly recommend that you download the latest version of Zoom for the optimal experience. 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.

The Workshop & Program

Virtual Camp runs on Pacific Time from Friday evening, July 17, to late Sunday afternoon, July 19. Classes begin Saturday morning and continue on Sunday. A selection of instrumental, vocal, and dance classes at all levels are offered across six 90-minute class slots.

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

Families

We welcome families! Children are welcome to participate alongside their parents and guardians in any adult class, and we have a special singing class with Lily Storm, just for them.

Volunteer Opportunities

There are many opportunities to help us out behind the scenes! Please email our Site Manager, Corinne, here.

Registration

West Coast Virtual Camp is over! Mark your calendars for our East Coast edition, August 14-16. Stay tuned for more info coming soon!


2020 Teachers & Performers


 

Tano Brock

Evening Serenade

Tano Brock was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. At a young age, he began attending various music camps in California with his family, where he picked up his first instrument, doumbek. He...Read More

Beth Bahia Cohen

Pontic Dance Set

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

Bobby Govetas

Drómeno Dance Set

Bobby Govetas is an accomplished percussionist, performing on daouli and drum kit. He is equally at home playing the subtle rhythms of Macedonia and Thrace as he is rocking out with his friends....Read More

Christos Govetas

Improvisation Class & Drómeno Dance Set

Christos Govetas was born in the village of Proti, in the province of Serres in Greek Macedonia. After emigrating to Boston in 1978 he joined the Rebetiko band Taxími as a bouzouki and baglama...Read More


Eleni Govetas

Drómeno Dance Set

Eleni Govetas was born into the musical Govetas family, and has been immersed in the music from day one. She began performing with her family at the age of nine, and has continued to pursue...Read More

Joe Kaloyanides Graziosi

Greek Dance Line-Leading Class

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


Merita Halili

Albanian Serenade

Merita Halili is one of Albania’s top performers. Born in the capital city of Tiranë, Merita grew up singing the lyric songs of her native region of Central Albania. Her nationwide debut...Read More


Ruth Hunter

Drómeno Dance Set

Ruth Hunter began her musical career singing and playing Bulgarian folk music, but immersed herself in Greek music and culture after marrying Christos Govetas in 1995. She sings and plays...Read More

Raif Hyseni

Albanian Serenade

Raif Hyseni hails from The Republic of Kosova, which has a large Albanian majority. He grew up in the town of Mitrovicë, where he studied accordion at music school and performed in amateur...Read More

Kalin Kirilov

Bulgarian Serenade

Kalin Kirilov, born in Vidin, NW Bulgaria, began singing and playing the accordion at the age of four. He studied tambura and music theory in Vidin and Pleven and graduated from the Academy of...Read More

Steve Kotansky

Balkan Dance Class

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


Nick Maroussis

Greek Strings Class

Nick Maroussis is a musician based out of Seattle, Washington, where he grew up playing strings in various rock bands in the greater Seattle area. His involvement in the Greek community and...Read More

Magda Matache

Culture Corner: Romani Music and Anti-Romani Racism

EEFC Virtual Camp 2020 Culture Corner

Romani Music and Anti-Romani Racism presented by Carol Silverman and Magda Matache Focusing on the Balkans, we present...Read More

John Morovich

'Northern' Group Sing

John Morovich grew up in Seattle's sizable Croatian community. Since 1973, he has studied, taught, and performed traditional music and dance of Croatia and other parts of Southeastern...Read More

Zhivka Papancheva

Bulgarian Dance Set

Zhivka Papancheva is a beloved Bulgarian folk singer from the Strandzha region. She started singing from an early age, and graduated from the boarding music school “Filip Kutev” in Kotel....Read More


Aya Safiya

Evening Serenade

Aya Safiya is a Bay Area-born violinist who specializes in traditional Greek music. She has studied Greek violin for over 25 years with various teachers including Nicos Chatzopoulos and Nikos...Read More

Eva Salina

Evening Serenade

Eva Salina is a mother, gardener, and a passionate interpreter and instructor of Eastern European vocal traditions. Eva was born and raised in California, spent 14 years in Brooklyn and now lives...Read More

Carol Silverman

Culture Corner: Romani Music and Anti-Romani Racism

Carol Silverman has been involved with Balkan and Romani music and culture for over thirty years as a researcher, teacher, performer and educational activist. An award-winning professor of...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

Milen Slavov

Bulgarian Dance Set

Milen Slavov was born in the Thrace region of Bulgaria. He began playing piano accordion at the age of seven, performing on stage at age 8, composing and arranging at 16, and producing multimedia...Read More

Lily Storm

Children's Singing Class

Lily Storm has been researching and performing Eastern European folk songs for almost three decades. A long-time member of Kitka Women's Vocal Ensemble, she has studied and collaborated with many...Read More

Sean Tergis

Doumbek Class

Drawing on a music base in folk music from the Middle East, Turkey, Greece and the Balkans, Sean Tergis brings a unique element to his drumming through many different influences. Since 2002, Sean...Read More


Schedule

Schedule subject to change. All times in Pacific.

NOTE: Each event in the schedule is linked to its corresponding Zoom meeting. Of course, you can also access the Zoom sessions from within the Sococo online platform interface (see the Workshop Details) tab.

Zoom meetings will become active shortly before each scheduled event starts—please do not click on any link below until 10-15 minutes before the event’s start time. You can always join a session as it’s happening.

 

Friday, July 17
4:00PM “Campground” opens
5:00PM Belated Canada Day Party with live music by Raif Hyseni & Merita Halili, then Eva Salina
6:00PM “Lamb Roast” with serenades by Tano Brock & Aya Safiya (6:00), then Kalin Kirilov (6:30)
7:00PM Dance Hall begins, with music by Drómeno
8:00PM Kafana begins

 

Saturday, July 18
9:00AM “Campground” opens
9:30AM Balkan Vocal Technique Hacks with Michele Simon
11:00AM Improvisation class with Christos Govetas
11:00AM Kids’ Singing class with Lily Storm
12:30PM Break for Lunch
2:00PM Doumbek class with Sean Tergis
3:30PM Balkan Dance class with Steve Kotansky
5:00PM “Northern” Group Sing with John Morovich
6:00PM Break for Dinner
7:00PM Dance Hall: Pontic with Beth Bahia Cohen (7:00), then Bulgarian with Milen Slavov & Zhivka Papancheva (7:30)
8:00PM Kafana begins

 

Sunday, July 19
9:00AM “Campground” opens
9:30AM Greek Dance Line-Leading class with Joe Graziosi
11:00AM Greek Strings class with Nick Maroussis
12:30PM Break for Lunch/EEFC Board Office Hours (1:00)
2:00PM Culture Corner: Romani Music and Anti-Romani Racism with Magda Matache & Carol Silverman
3:30PM “Southern” Group Sing with Michele Simon, Tom Farris & Bill Cope


FAQs

General

Will there be a workshop geared toward East Coast time?
Yes! Please pencil in August 14-16, 2020 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 music and video be available?
Class materials, such as lyrics and song files, will be made available to campers at the teacher’s discretion. See the Resources & Materials tab on this page. Classes will not be recorded and disseminated for this edition of Virtual Camp.

 

Technical

Do I need a Facebook account to participate?
No. We are using Sococo and Zoom. Beginning Wednesday, July 15, campers will receive a link to an orientation video and will be invited to join the Sococo platform and begin exploring.

How can I avoid lag on Zoom?

  • Turn off your camera. As much as we love to see you, this will 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

 

Lily Storm – Kids’ Singing
Saturday, 11:00 a.m.
Anna Sto Dhasos (song lyrics PDF)
Teften Kate (song lyrics PDF)

 

Sean Tergis – Doumbek
Saturday, 2:00 p.m.
Audio files & charts

 

Steve Kotansky – Balkan Dance
Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Collection of audio files

 

Group Sings
“Northern” Balkan with John Morovich (Saturday, 5:00 p.m.)
“Southern” Balkan with Michele Simon (Sunday, 3:30 p.m.)
EEFC Songbook PDF

 

Greek Dance – Joe Graziosi
Sunday, 9:30 a.m.
Class playlist (PDF)

 

Culture Corner: Romani Music and Anti-Romani Racism with Magda Matache & Carol Silverman
Sunday, 2:00 p.m.
Balkan and Turkish Romani Music and Dance Resources (PDF)
Roma and Human Rights Resources (PDF)


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We’ve had years to hone our in-person workshops, and we know their ins and outs like the back of our hands. This is a new endeavor for our organization, and while we are doing our best to anticipate your questions, you might have one we haven’t thought of yet!

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!