Dates Not To Be Forgotten














Homeland | The Glorious Past of Our People | Sviraj! Igraj! Play! Dance! | Official Photographic Documentation of Our Struggle | Dates Not To Be Forgotten | Comrades, Colleagues, Inspiration & Idolatry





BALKANIZE! will be bringing great joy to the masses at the following events:

  • BALKANIZE! performs with Richmond legends Rattlemouth at Art6 Gallery, 6 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA, at 9pm on Saturday, September 19th, 2008. Tickets are $6.00.
  • BALKANIZE! performs at Tribal Jam 8, the eighth installment of Richmond's ONLY ongoing free-for-all bellydance house party on Saturday, September 27th, 2008. The event is FREE, and attendees are asked to bring a vegetarian dish, appetizer, or beverage to be shared.

 

































Other Dance, Music and Cultural Events in the MidAtlantic Region:
 
  • Virginia Commonwealth University will be sponsoring an international folk dance club in the near future. We will post concrete details as soon as they are made available to us. Stay tuned.
  • PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DATES FOR THE FIRST ANNUAL RICHMOND FOLK FESTIVAL HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED! THE FESTIVAL WILL RUN FROM OCTOBER 10th THROUGH OCTOBER 12th, 2008!




























    nffjagoda.jpg
    Flory Jagoda

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    Yuri Yunakov

    nffpapasov.jpg
    Ivo Papasov

    nffhagopian.jpg
    Richard Hagopian

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    Jerry Grcevich

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    Frank London's Klezmer Brass All Stars

    How Did THREE YEARS Go By So SOON?
    - Geoff Bennett Speer 
    As you all know, Richmond, Virginia, was given the indisputable honor of hosting the 67th, 68th and 69th National Folk Festivals. We had a fantastic run. People from all over the region came and participated year after year, setting new attendance records and making the National Folk Festival one of Richmond's BIGGEST public events ever.  
     
    Lovers of Eastern European, Balkan and Near Eastern music were especially lucky to see once-in-a-lifetime acts that otherwise never might have come to Richmond: Bulgarian wedding music masters Yuri Yunakov and Ivo Papasov, Frank London's Klezmer Brass All Stars, Lebanese oud maestro Richard Hagopian, Croatian-American Jerry Grcevich and his Tamburitza Orchestra, and the gifted and generous-hearted Sephardic Bosnian singer and musical conservationist Flory Jagoda. We met and hung out and had great conversations with these incredible musicians; we clapped until our hands were numb and danced until our feet bled. I was very proud and moved to see thousands of Richmonders take a chance and welcome into their ears and hearts styles of music that were totally unfamiliar to many of them.  
     
    Now, as per tradition, the Festival is moving on to another host city. I wish Butte, Montana, all the good music, good times and good luck that Richmond experienced during our all-too-brief time. Now the question arises: Will the concertgoers, musicians, volunteers and sponsors of Central Virginia seize this forward momentum and build a successful RICHMOND FOLK FESTIVAL on the foundations laid by the National Folk Festival? Can we drive a stake into the poisoned heart of the all too typical political bickering, disorganization, financial mishaps, apathy and naysaying that have cursed so many other cultural and creative endeavors in this city?
     
    BALKANIZE! will do its best to do its part; we'll promote the festival whenever and wherever possible, and we're asking that YOU do whatever you can do, too. Consider volunteering for the festival ... support the sponsors who make it all possible ... find out who's running the show and make your ideas and opinions known ... promote and advertise the festival to your friends and family around the region ... and make sure that your City Council representatives understand that this is something powerful and positive that we can't afford to lose! BREAK THE CURSE! KEEP THE MUSIC GOING!
     
     

    He who is late may gnaw the bones. - Bosnian proverb