Bulgarian Folklore in the Post-Communist Era

Speaker: Daniela Ivanova

Time: 4:30 P.M., Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Location: Room 211, Languages Building, West Campus, Duke University

Sponsored by: The Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies

This presentation follows Bulgarian folklore and culture from the Communist era to the present, with specific focus on music and dance. Prior to 1989, "narodni" folklore flourished with substantial support by the State, both monetarily and otherwise.  This support also included authentication/validation of folklore - and ultimately control. With the collapse of Communism and the simultaneous deterioriation of the Bulgarian economy, the State is unable to support the arts to the degree it did in the past, and organized folklore with staged performances appears to be on the decline.  The lecture will provide a general overview of Bulgarian folklore, with specific examples from before and after 1989. Time permitting, she will also contrast the contemporary trends in Bulgarian music and dance to those in Serbia and Macedonia.

Daniela Ivanova is a renowned ethnomusicologist and folklorist from Sofia, Bulgaria. She is also a very gifted choreographer and a researcher of the South Slavic dance culture and participates actively in multiple dance symposia and other organizations. Recent invited presentations include the 18th World Congress on Dance Research, Argos, Greece IOFA/UNESCO; "Paneurhythmy in Bulgaria. Philosophical Aspects" at the 23rd Symposium of the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) Study Group of Ethnochoreology in Bologna, Italy; and "Music and Media" at the 6th International Symposium Folklore-Music-Work of Art organised by Faculty of Music, Belgrade. She has been a guest lecturer in Prague, Geneva, Belgrade and Ljubljana in addition to various
positions in Bugaria. At present she is a doctoral candidate at the Institute of Art Studies of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Her presentation to the CSEEES is based on her recent research in the U.S. and Bulgaria. On this trip, she is also lecturing on similar topics at the University of Alabama and the University of Southern Indiana.

For additional information, please contact Caleb Baker at caleb_baker@unc.edu.