Atanas Kolarovski in 2015
A legendary Macedonian dancer nonpareil and former lead soloist and director of "Tanec", the Macedonian national folk ensemble. Atanas has helped to spread Macedonian culture and folklore throughout North America, Europe and East Asia.
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Ahmet Lűleci in 2018
A fabulous dancer and one of the premier teachers of Turkish dance in the world. Ahmet directs the popular annual "World Camp" on the east coast and is in great demand at workshops, camps, and festivals.
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Ventzi Sotirov, Alex Markovic, Galia Miloucheva, John Kuo in 2019
A native of Sandanski in the Pirin-Macedonian region. He was a lead soloist with the Bulgarian National Folk Ensemble "Pirin" and was rated by his peers the number one professional dancer in Bulgaria.
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Chris Bajmakovich in 2019
A talented young Macedonian-American musician who excels as a vocalist and as an accordionist and whose music is in demand in the Macedonian, Bulgarian, Rom, Serbian and other communities. He was part of Ilija Ampevski's critically acclaimed ensemble which wowed the audience at the 2004 Chicago World Music Festival.
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James Stoyanoff in 2019
A master of the clarinet who performs and teaches Greek, Macedonian, and Turkish music. He studied clarinet with such masters as Karakos, Halkias, Anestopoulos, Gündeger, and others. His most recent project is researching and revival of the classic Macedonian starogradski style of "chalgija" music.
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Yannis Konstantinou in 2018 and 2020
Yannis Konstantinou lives in Florina, Greece, where he was born and raised, dancing along alongside his family from a young age. He is a master dancer, researcher and teacher of the dances of Greek Macedonia. He is the artistic director of the Lygkistes dance group with branches in Florina and Athens, and organizes annually the traditional Greek dance seminar in Prespes that was started by his father, Simos Konstantinou, in 1986. |
and others...
