Balkan Music &
Dance Workshops

Every summer the EEFC presents two week-long summer camps. Follow the links below to read all about and register for the 2024 workshops!

June 15-22, 2024
More info…

August 10-17, 2024
More info…


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Join the circle.
Make a contribution.

Since the beginning the East European Folklife Center has depended on you—our big-hearted community!


Get Your EEFC Swag!

T-shirts, totes, and more — sporting the beautiful EEFC rosette. Tell the world about your favorite summer activity!
See the Collection



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Stay in Touch

There’s more than one way to stay connected to the EEFC throughout the year. Subscribe to our email Newsletter for monthly updates. Join the Discussion List (an active email group with searchable archives since 1993). Send us a message.


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Get the FAQs

Find out almost everything you always wanted to know about the EEFC’s in-person Balkan camps.
FAQs


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Kids at Camp!

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


Scholarships

We award full scholarships to our in-person workshops.
Find out more


Partners

The EEFC is proud to partner with sister organizations, including the Bulgarian Folk Music & Dance Seminar.

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The Idiot and the Tsimbl

May 25, 2020 at 11:00 am – 1:00 pm

The tsimbl (trapeziform hammered dulcimer) formed the sonic backbone of many klezmer ensembles as early as the 16th Century, and was ubiquitous enough to have generated the Ashkenazi family name “Zimbalist.” It generated reams of engraved icons with Jews, Gypsies, cherubs, skeletons, tramps and thieves and even led to the emergence of the xylophone in the classical orchestra via the mysterious "Wood and Straw" man. The lore surrounding the instrument is full of references to the wandering Jew and the instrument itself has alternated as a symbol of both poverty and wealth, Jew and Gentile alike. Join Josh in a colorful lecture to find out why Poles still say, "Ty cymbały!" (you idiot) and what caused an instrument so common for hundreds of years to fall from grace and almost disappear from modern consciousness.

ONLINE
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