2024 Teachers

This is a list of last year’s teachers, just to give you a sense of our fantastic staff. We will begin publishing names for 2025 starting by the end of the year.

Dance

Joe Kaloyanides Graziosi

Greek Dance

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

Konstantin Marinov

Bulgarian Dance

Konstantin "Kotse" Marinov is from Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. From the age of 5 he performed with the Children's and Youth Ensemble "Zagorche." Kotse was born into a dancing family: he and his...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

Instruments & Ensembles

Dan Auvil

Tupan/Daouli

It was love at first sight when Dan first saw (and heard!) the large, two-headed drum called the tupan/daouli. That was almost 50 years ago...and he's been playing Balkan percussion ever since....Read More

Paul Brown

House Bassist (non-teaching)

Paul Brown has been playing music for 44 years, studying bass and improvisation at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and oud and makam with Haig Manoukian and Necati Çelik. Comfortable in...Read More

Catherine Foster

Romani Clarinet & Saxophone

Catherine Foster has been performing music from Southeastern Europe for over 30 years and has been playing trumpet, clarinet, and saxophone with Borozan Brass Band, Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band,...Read More

Valeri Georgiev

Bulgarian Kaval

Valeri Georgiev is from the Bulgarian Danube town of Ruse. He studied kaval in Kotel with Stoyan Chobanov and Georgi Penev, and graduated from the Plovdiv Academy of Arts with a BA degree in...Read More

Bobby Govetas

Beginner Ensemble

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

Greek Clarinet

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

Greek Ensemble

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

Greg Masaki Jenkins

Beginner Ensemble; Rebetika Ensemble

Greg Masaki Jenkins is a second-generation American Balkan folk dancer who grew up at the Balkan Music & Dance Workshops. He gigs regularly throughout the San Francisco Bay Area with the...Read More

Kalin Kirilov

Accordion; Bitov/Bulgarian Village Ensemble

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

Nick Maroussis

Greek Strings; Rebetika Ensemble

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

Stoyan Kostov

Bulgarian Tambura

Stoyan Kostov has been playing Bulgarian tambura for over 40 years. He graduated from the folk music school in Kotel and the Plovdiv Academy of Music and Dance. Stoyan performed with Ensemble...Read More

Mark Levy

Macedonian Village Ensemble

Mark Levy created the first week-long Balkan Music & Dance Workshop in 1974, and co-founded the East European Folklife Center in the early 1980s. He recently retired from the faculty of the...Read More

Benji Rifati

Trumpet; Brass Band

Benji Rifati is an American-Rom who has spent years studying trumpet from Romani masters of Eastern Europe. His teachers include legends such as Zahir Ramadanov and Demiran Ćerimović, as well as...Read More

Varol Saatcıoğlu

Thracian Gajda

Varol Saatcıoğlu was born in Edirne, Turkey, into an extended family of musicians. At the tender age of five, Varol was accepted into the Istanbul University State Conservatory where he studied...Read More

Aya Safiya

Greek Violin

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

Ali Yağız Şen

Makam Theory

Ali Yağız Şen, whose stage name is Jarolim Gayri, hails from the vibrant musical landscape of Istanbul, Turkey, and is a multi-instrumentalis, pedagogue, and scholar deeply rooted in the rich...Read More

Sean Tergis

Doumbek

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

Singing

Tzvety Dosseva

Bulgarian Singing

Tzvety Dosseva is the daughter of well-known Bulgarian musicians Lyuben Dossev and Tanya Dosseva. Inheriting her parents' talent for music and performing, Tzvety experienced the stage for the...Read More

Christos Govetas

Greek Singing

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

Ruth Hunter

Introduction to Balkan Singing

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

Carol Silverman

Romani Singing

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

Balkan Vocal Technique 101; Balkan Vocal Technique Master Class

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

Dina Trageser

Bulgarian Choral Singing

Dina Trageser attended her first EEFC camp at Mendocino in 1997, and has been avidly learning, performing, and eventually teaching Balkan singing ever since. In 2005 she founded the women’s...Read More

For the Kids

Tano Brock

Youth Band

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

Darina Drapkin

Children's Activities

Darina Drapkin is a native Russian speaker, having immigrated to the U.S. over 40 years ago. Her enthusiasm, curiosity, and musical interests have led her into many genres and traditions of...Read More

Eleni Govetas

Youth Band

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

All About Camp Work Exchanges

The Mendocino Workshop runs smoothly thanks to a hard-working crew of work exchange campers, who receive a partial tuition waiver (and a few full waivers) in exchange for their work.

Work exchange folks have a job at camp, like washing dishes or cleaning bathrooms. In exchange for their hard work, they pay reduced tuition (in most cases 50%) to come to camp. Some jobs require special skills, experience, or knowledge of the workshop environment, others requiring lifting or standing, etc. Others are great for first-timers or require no special skills.

The Site Manager fields work exchange requests and helps manage the work exchange crews during camp, along with crew leaders who manage the larger crews.

What’s the difference between a work exchange and a workshop scholarship?
A work exchange job means that you get assigned some work/duties at camp and in exchange some or all of your tuition costs are waived. A scholarship is different—with a camp scholarship, some or all of your tuition costs are paid by generous donors and you do not have any work duties at camp. If you have applied for and end up receiving a scholarship, you may withdraw your work exchange request. Please note that the Mendocino scholarship application period has already ended, and that scholarship decisions will be announced in April.

About the work and jobs:
Workers are required to arrive at camp by 4:00 p.m. the first day of camp and stay until 11:00 a.m. the last day. Note that we cannot accommodate part-time campers for work exchange. Work exchangers are also expected to be timely and responsible throughout the week (that means arriving to your shifts on time, getting the work done, etc.)

At Mendocino, the majority of work exchange positions are on the Dish Crew. Folks on the Dish Crew work two 90-minute shifts per day. There’s a swap meeting the first night to trade around shifts and optimize your schedule, but it’s still possible you may have to miss a class or two. Lots of the people on Dish Crew enjoy being part of a team, making friends, and having some additional structured time. (And everybody loves using the sink sprayer!) This is a great crew for first-timers, as no prior skills or knowledge of camp are required, and making new friends is quick and easy.

Other crews include Bath Crew (cleaning bathrooms/washhouses, taking out trash, some auxiliary setup of chairs/benches); Donation Store Crew (setting up, running, and closing down the Donation Store. Often includes pre-camp organizing get togethers in the Arcata area for those available); Kafana Crew (setting up, running, and closing down the Kafana. Includes lots of late-night shifts.) Other specialty jobs include the Gofer (town runs everyday for supplies), Wellness Advisor, Stage Manager and Sound Techs in the Dance Hall and Kafana, Housing, Rides, Bedding, and other admin help. Many of these positions require special prior experience at camp or in a similar role.

How to apply:
Requests for work exchange will be collected on a rolling basis through May 1st. We encourage you to make your work exchange request early to ensure we have a spot for you. Jobs may run out, and date of request is strongly considered when assigning jobs to applicants. Please note that we can only accommodate full-week campers for work exchange, and that application for a work exchange position does not guarantee a work exchange position. Applicants who are offered work exchange jobs are expected to accept the commitment and register for camp within a timely manner. Application for the 2025 work exchange team will be open in the spring. Stay tuned!

Mendocino Woodlands Camp 1 Map

Use this map to help you decide which cabin or cabin area to request on your registration form. Please note that the central section (Cabins 17-31) is generally reserved for staff.

Click here to download a full-size PDF of this map.

Getting to Mendocino

Mendocino Woodlands Camp One is in Jackson State Forest about 175 miles north of San Francisco, roughly 12 miles inland from the coastal town of Mendocino.

From the south, take Hwy 101 North to Cloverdale. Highway 101 bypasses Cloverdale, so take the Hwy 128 Fort Bragg/Mendocino exit (after a couple of Cloverdale exits). Some 60 miles later (twisty road, but gorgeous vineyard, redwood, and coastal scenery), take Hwy 1 North to Mendocino.

From the north (Oregon), take I-5 South to Grants Pass, then Hwy 199 to Crescent City. From there, take Hwy 101 South to Leggett. From there take Hwy 1 South (insanely twisty road to the coast, with the reward of breathtaking ocean views) to Mendocino.

From Mendocino, go east on Little Lake Road (Co. Rd. 408) from Hwy 1
(at stoplight) for 5.6 miles, then turn right on Co. Rd. 700 (winding dirt road). Drive for 4 miles to Camp One. Please drive slowly and carefully on this dusty road!

If you’ve never been to the Woodlands, plan to arrive before dark. Registration will be located just outside the dining hall.

Dine & Dance—Bed & Breakfast

Come for early evening activities, the dance party and the late night kafana. Then spend the night and enjoy breakfast before you hit the road!

Here’s how it works:

• 6:00 p.m.: Arrive at our lovely redwoods site (see Directions tab above). Check in at the Kafana and set up your bunk. Join us for a delicious dinner, starting at 6:30.
• Then take in a folklore presentation, singalong, or join in our auction. Dancing to live music begins in the main hall generally around 9:00.
• Our Kafana in the woods is a bar and a club, and a place where much music and merriment happens into the wee hours. Stay as long as you like!
• Sleep in a bunk with the bedding you brought from home.
• Roll out of bed, have breakfast by 9:30 a.m., and hit the trail by 10.

All this can be yours for $145. A cheap hotel in Ft. Bragg (forget the town of Mendocino), easily runs twice as much and provides no options for gajda, ouzo, čočeks, or çiftetelli!

HOW TO REGISTER

Registration for the B&B option will be available when general camp registration is open in spring 2025. Stay tuned!

Evening Parties

Live in the area? Join us for a fabulous evening of live music and dancing.

Admission includes the evening dance party, a delicious complimentary evening snack, as well as late-night kafana activities until 2:30 a.m. No overnight accommodations are available for partygoers; please make sure you make provisions for getting home safely after the party (or consider registering for our B&B option above!).

Arrive anytime after 8 p.m. and pay your fee at the Kafana. The dance party generally starts at 9 p.m. Please make your reservations by email two days before the first day of camp. It is also possible to attend the Friday Lamb Roast. The cost for this event is $50, and it includes dinner and the evening party (no overnight accommodations).

HOW TO REGISTER

To register for an evening party, call us at 510/219-5462, OR email the EEFC Office at least two days before the beginning of camp (we do not have telephone reception in the Woodlands).

Tell us your name(s) and which night(s) you will be attending. Please make sure your reservation has been confirmed before heading to the Woodlands.

Payment. Please be prepared to pay your full fee at the Kafana when you arrive using cash, credit card, or check.

Evening Schedule 2024

This schedule is from last year, but we’ll keep it here a while to give you an idea of what to expect in 2025.



Culture Corners and Group Sings begin at 7:45 p.m. Dance parties, unless noted, begin at 9:00 p.m.

Saturday
Dance
Brass—Fanfare Zambaleta
Bulgarian—Bulgarian Staff Musicians

Sunday
Group Sing (7:45-8:45): Ipirot Songs with Ruth Hunter

Dance (9:00-)
A Special Birthday Celebration for Joe Graziosi!
Greek Zournadhes & Daouli—Eleni, Christos & Bobby Govetas
Greek Island—Aya Safiya
Greek Thracian—Varol Saatcioglu

Monday
Group Sing—”Northern”: Dina Trageser with Chubritza

Dance
Bulgarian—Bulgarian Staff Musicians
Turkish Roman—Tano Brock

Tuesday
Auction Night (dance party begins around 10:00 p.m.)
Dance
Rhodope Sing-Along—Mark Levy & Gajda Mafia
Greek—Drómeno

Wednesday
Culture Corner: Greek-American Music & Dance of the 50s and 60s—A Personal Odyssey: an audiovisual presentation by Joe Graziosi

Dance
Macedonian Village—Michele Simon, Mark Levy, Dan Auvil & friends
Romani—Benji Rifati & Carol Silverman

Thursday
Group Sing—Macedonian & Bulgarian: Michele Simon

Dance
Greek—Aya Safiya & friends
Bulgarian—Bulgarian Staff Musicians

Friday
Student Ensembles play for your dancing pleasure (dance party begins at 8:00 p.m.)

Daily Schedule 2024

This schedule is from last year, but we’ll keep it here a while to give you an idea of what to expect in 2025.

CLASS LEVELS

• Beginner (B): You are new to this instrument/singing style.
• Intermediate (I): You have some proficiency: can match pitches, accurately replicate phrases heard by ear, and play at speed.
• Advanced (A): You have technical mastery: you are focused on stylistic details and self-expression.

If you are interested in a class that is not at your level, you can always audit! Please remember that the pace of instruction will not be geared to you, and hold your questions till the end of each session. If a class does not have a designated level, all are welcome!

CLASS SCHEDULE 2024

SLOT 1 (9:30-10:45)
Dance: Bulgarian—Kotse Marinov
Sing: Vocal Technique Intro—Michele Simon
Instrumental:

• Accordion—Kalin Kirilov
• Bulgarian Kaval A—Valeri Georgiev
• Bulgarian Tambura B—Stoyan Kostov

Kids: Children’s Activities—Darina Drapkin

SLOT 2 (11:00-12:15)
Dance: Greek—Joe Graziosi
Sing:

• Romani I/A—Carol Silverman
• Bulgarian B—Tzvety Dosseva

Instrumental:

• Trumpet—Benji Rifati
• Tupan I/A—Dan Auvil
• Clarinet/Saxophone A—Catherine Foster

Ensemble:

• Bitov (Bulgarian Village)—Kalin Kirilov
• Rebetika—Greg Jenkins & Nick Maroussis

SLOT 3 (2:00-3:15):
Dance: Greek—Joe Graziosi
Sing:

• Greek—Christos Govetas
• Bulgarian Choral—Dina Trageser

Instrumental:

• Doumbek B—Sean Tergis
• Thracian Gajda B—Varol Saatgioglu
• Makam Theory—Ali Yagiz Şen
• Bulgarian Tambura A—Stoyan Kostov

Ensemble: Greek—Eleni Govetas

SLOT 4 (3:30-4:45):
Dance: Turkish Roman—Jessaiah Zuré
Sing:

• Balkan Survey—Ruth Hunter
• Bulgarian A—Tzvety Dosseva

Instrumental:

• Doumbek I/A—Sean Tergis
• Greek Strings—Nick Maroussis
• Bulgarian Kaval B—Valeri Georgiev
• Clarinet/Saxophone I—Catherine Foster

Ensemble:

• Beginner Ensemble—Greg Jenkins & Bobby Govetas
• Macedonian Village Ensemble—Mark Levy

Kids: Youth Band—Eleni Govetas & Tano Brock

SLOT 5 (5:00-6:15):
Dance: Bulgarian—Kotse Marinov
Sing:

• Vocal Technique Master—Michele Simon
• Romani B—Carol Silverman

Instrumental:

• Thracian Gajda—Varol Saatcioglu
• Greek Violin—Aya Safiya
• Tupan B—Dan Auvil
• Greek Clarinet—Christos Govetas

Ensemble: Brass Band—Benji Rifati