Past Festivals

Our ninth Lyrids Folk Dance Festival, held at Peretz Hall in Vancouver, BC, included dances from the Balkans with Steve Kotansky, dances from Albania with Genci Kastrati, and a Greek dance taught by Lee Otterholt. Orkestar RTW was the band for the Saturday Evening Dance Party.

Online via Zoom, our eighth Lyrids Folk Dance Festival, included dances from Bulgaria & Beyond with Jaap Leegwater, dances from Turkey with Ahmet Lüleci, and dances from Israel with Naomi Taussig. At noon, Yves Moreau and France Bourque Moreau did a presentation on Traditional Dance of Québec & Beyond. We enjoyed singing with Michele Simon and drumming with Polly Tapia Ferber. The evening party included music with Orkestar Unbound (Bill Cope & friends), dancing favourite dances, and the day’s dance reviews.

Online via Zoom, and co-organized with Kyklos International Folk Dancers, the festival featured Tineke and Maurits van Geel teaching Armenian, Roma, and international dances in both mornings. In the afternoons, hour-long workshops covered Bulgarian dances, Turkish dances, Israeli dances, Seated dances, Balkan singing, Instrumental music, and Drumming. At mealtimes, we enjoyed culture talks and memorable videos from past Salt Spring Island & Lyrids Folk Dance Festivals.  Osem i Devet + Friends played live music for our dancing at the parties, particularly on Saturday night.

Jaap Leegwater teaching Bulgarian dances, Lee Otterholt teaching an International selection of dances, and Orkestar RTW as the band for the Saturday Evening Dance Party.

Cristian Florescu and Sonia Dion teaching Romanian dances and an International selection of dances, and Osem i Devet with Miamon Miller as the Party Band

Bulgarian Dances by Yves Moreau, International Dances by France Bourque-Moreau, and Orkestar RTW as the Party Band

Mainly Balkan Dances by Roberto Bagnoli, Ukrainian & Moldovan Dances by George & Irina Arabagi, and Orkestar RTW as the Party Band

Romanian Dances by Alexandru David, Balkan Dances by Steve Kotansky, and Orkestar RTW as the Party Band

Dances of Turkey by Ahmet Lüleci, Dances of Serbia by Bata Marcetic, and Kafana Republik as the Party Band

See descriptions of all the Salt Spring Island Folk Dance Festivals. You will find a list of the festivals and be able to link through to all the dances taught.