Teachers
Andy Taylor - Carpathian Dances
• Andy Taylor’s passion for international folk dancing began at a young age, nurtured by her
parents, Marianne and Conny Taylor, co-founders of the renowned Folk Arts Center of
New England. Growing up, Andy was immersed in the vibrant Boston folk dance
community.
At age 17, Andy was certified to teach Scottish Country Dance. She went on to earn a
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a minor in Social Anthropology from the University of
Massachusetts Amherst.
Her professional dance career spans over 40 years of performing
with local and international choreographers, including a prolific 20-year tenure with
Prometheus Dance. She continues to teach International Folk and Contemporary dance
forms in schools, at public functions, and in other spaces.
International Folk Dance was Andy's beginning and remains her truest home in dance. For
Andy, dance is a vital process of breathing, growing, and exploring the self. It is a
powerful force for community building and a gift that provides health, friendship, and
lifelong connections.
This will be Andy’s first time as a member of Balkanot teaching staff. We are excited to have her here with us.
Dimitar ‘Mitko’ Petrov - Bulgarian Dances
•
Dimitar ‘Mitko’ Petrov is a professional choreographer of Bulgarian folk dances, a graduate of Music, Dance and Art Academy in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
For more than 35 years his main interest has been researching the unique and diverse folkore traditions and styles in all the ethnographic regions in Bulgaria.
For 26 years he performed at stages all over the world as a professional lead dancer at one of the best professional ensembles in Bulgaria – Ensemble Trakia – Plovdiv, under the leadership of one of the best dancing teachers – professor Kiril Djenev.
Since 1995 he has been a choreographer of Children and Youth Folk-Dance Ensemble, where 250 children at the age of 6 to 18 are being trained.
Mitko has been a guest dance-teacher at workshops for traditional Bulgarian and Balkan dances regularly in Austria, Hungary, England, Taiwan,Macedonia,Germany, the Nitherlands and Belgim where there is a great interest in Bulgarian and Balkan dances.
This will be Mitko’s second time as a member of Balkanot teaching staff. We are excited to have him back.
Roberto Bagnoli - Dances from Israel
• Roberto Bagnoli is a master teacher of international folkdance with a specialization in traditional and modern Israeli dance.
He discovered his love for Israeli dance many years ago in Rome when he started dancing with the Jewish community there, and then began performing with “Sasson Ve Simcha” and teaching classes at the Jewish Community Center. He subsequently studied Israeli dance in workshops throughout Europe, the United States, and in Israel under the guidance of various choreographers and teachers.
In 2000 he co-directed and choreographed the performance “Mazal Tov” and a few years later, founded the association “Folk Atelier Reggio Emilia”, dedicated to preserving and promoting folk dance and other folk arts.
The association is responsible for dance classes throughout Italy, and Roberto himself teaches weekly classes in Reggio Emilia, Modena, Cremona, Crema, Piacenza and Imola. He is the director of two highly successful camps in Italy each year: Balkanot, the first ever Israeli and Balkan dance camp, which takes place every January, and Camp Yofi, Israeli dance, which takes place in July. Roberto conducts workshops and seminars throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States, and has been on the teaching staff of Stockton International Dance Camp for six years.
