Konstantin Marinov

Bulgarian Dance

Konstantin Marinov is from Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. From the age of 6 he performed with the Children’s and Youth Ensemble “Zagorche.” He was born into a dancing family: he and his father, mother, and sister all have 100 percent dancing in their blood! His father is a choreographer, and is a long-time soloist of the Military Ensemble in Sofia. In 1987, Konstantin entered the State Choreographic School, now the National School of Dance Arts in Sofia, graduating with a diploma as artist/ballet dancer and teacher of dance arts. After graduation, he was assigned to the Black Sea-area “Sunny Beach” Ensemble. While serving in the army, he was also an artist of the Military Ensemble. His teachers were Stefan Kolaksizov and Vasil Gerlilov, creators of the show East Wind, known as the “Bulgarian River Dance.” With the Ensemble “Sunny Beach” and others, he danced at international folk performances in Belgium, France, Canada, as well as in the USA.

In 1999 he emigrated to the US and settled in the Chicagoland area, where he established several Bulgarian folklore clubs (Constantine’s Folk Clubs), in the spirit of Bulgarian “reading rooms (chitalishta),” local culture centers that have the aim to preserve and nurture Bulgarian folk dance and folklore in a dynamic way. Konstantin organizes annual festivals in Chicago, which feature multiple Bulgarian folk ensembles and cultural groups under the umbrella and name of his “Vereya” dance ensemble.

Recent article about Folk-Fest “Vereya” (in Bulgarian), with videos