Today, “Balkan” dance ensemble at “Tsar Boris III” cultural club in Sofia came back from Budapest, where it was an official guest to a very special occasion – the 25th anniversary of the ensemble for Bulgarian folklore dances “Martenitsa”. On 20 October 2007 in the full hall of MOM in the Hungarian capital people spoke a unifying language – the language of Bulgarian folklore. No need to talk a lot, but just glance to the eyes of the dancers from “Martenitsa”, who showed pure love to Bulgarian folklore, to our traditions, to the temperament of the Bulgarians. For about 3 hours the two ensembles have been spreading their emotion over the audience, who was impressed and applauded repeatedly. The concert wasn’t the end of the feast – the party went on until dawn, accompanied by ensemble Balkan’s orchestra and the zurna players from Kavrakirovo, Bulgaria.

A lot can be said about this experience. The brightest memory would remain the words of a dancer from “Martenitsa”: “It is a pleasure for me to dance along with a Bulgarian!”

“Martenitsa” dance ensemble was founded in 1982 in Budapest, Hungary and it is one of the oldest and one of the best ensembles for Bulgarian folklore outside Bulgaria. This was the final concert about the anniversary, which started in April with a concert of “Martenica” in Sofia, Bulgaria.

We would like to thank to our friends about the chance to be their guests for their special celebration!

The visit to Budapest of folklore dance ensemble “Balkan” at “Tsar Boris III” cultural club in Sofia was financially supported by “Culture” National funds, to which we are extremely thankful!


Autor Detelina Sotirova 
Translation in english Vera Aronova