Teachers
Ahmet Luleci - Dances from Turkey
• Ahmet Lüleci is a choreographer, dance teacher and performer as well as a researcher of Anatolian culture.
Since arriving in North America in 1985, he has taught many workshops and camps throughout the U.S. as well as Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Europe, Brazil, Argentina and Australia.
In Turkey, Ahmet also served as Director of Dances for Hoytur, long considered Turkey’s leading dance association. Since the age of 8, he has danced with numerous school ensembles and private associations, many of which won outstanding awards in city-wide and national/international competitions. Between 1973 and 2003, he participated in international dance festivals and competitions throughout Europe and North America.
Ahmet’s college major was music, and his fascination with dance led him to conduct scholarly research into the historical, social and cultural background of the costumes and spoon dances from Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. His efforts resulted in a 400-page study which earned first place in a national competition.
Ahmet is the founder/artistic director of the Boston-based group Collage Dance Ensemble. He and Joe Graziosi co-founded the World Music and Dance Camp in New York.
This will be Ahmet’s second time as a member of Balkanot teaching staff. We are excited to have him 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 first time as a member of Balkanot teaching staff. We are excited to have him here with us.
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.
