zharava > about us > performers

Elena grew up in Smolyan, a town nestled in the evergreen hills of the Rhodope mountains in southern Bulgaria. She has been captivated by the Bulgarian folklore music and rhythms ever since she was little. Perhaps the overwhelming power of 100 bagpipes (kaba gaidi) echoing in the mountains can be the best explanation why. She was introduced to folk dancing in elementary school. Through Zharava, she is able to share the richness of the Bulgarian dance traditions with others. Elena is currently working on her Ph.D. degree in Computer Science at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is happiest when she is with friends and family, hiking in the mountains, skiing, dancing, strolling the streets of cities around the world, learning foreign languages and expressing herself in creative ways. Elena is also a member of the Zharava executive committee.

Ina was born "in the Metro 2 system of the Soviet Union and raised under the base of Stalin's futurist monument." (Varna, Bulgaria) Besides the name of Zharava, she likes "jumping around in an orderly fashion" to traditional Bulgarian music. She enjoys long walks on the beach, brown-eyed boys, music, picnics, white rice, and card games. (For more information please call to schedule a date as appropriate) She would very much like to say to the world that it's not as round as it thinks. Ina firmly believes that "Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate."

Kim, from Euclid Ohio, has been dancing since the age of 5. She performed with the Duquesne University Tamburitzans for 4 years, and plays the violin and the brac. Kim likes any type of dancing, plays volleyball and tennis, and enjoys driving her new "Tigo" convertible. She has not seen but would like very much to see the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights). Kim enjoys Zharava because of everyone's sense of humor and everyone accepting her as part of the group, even though she is not Bulgarian. Kim's favorite saying is Carpe Diem ("Seize the Day"), and she just got engaged during a trip to Colombia. Kim also enjoys being a Zumba instructor in her spare time.

Lazi is from Plovdiv. Her mother is a "pure" (koreniachka) Plovdivchanka and her father is from Manastir, a village in the Rhodopes which is the highest in altitude in Bulgaria (at about 1200 meters). She loves Zharava as it enlivens its members in tapping into and evolving Bulgarian tradition through creativity. For her, Zharava is not simply a group or a loose congregation of people, it is a phenomenon. It is a magnet for a new kind of expression, where transnational cultural identities meet what is uniquely Bulgarian, without compromising one or the other. She believes Bulgarians have a passion for life that is unparalleled. It is from this that their resilience and stoicism originates. Bulgarians distrust false authorities (including the state, the West, the East, etc.) that try to conform them. They are unruly and wild and defy simple definitions. Lazi believes these national traits can be channeled in the most constructive ways. She would have aspired to be a professional choreographer, if she had another lifetime at her disposal. Lazi is also a member of the Zharava executive committee.

Nadia was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. Her "known genes" point to Graovsko, Transko, and Northern Bulgaria, which she "remembers" through the exceptional joy the dancing from these regions brings to her. She has always been fascinated by Bulgarian traditional dancing, and since she left her native country, has been looking for that special inspirational teacher and choreographer who can bring together the magic and the passion of Bulgarian spirit. Nowadays it is difficult to tell if Nadia found Zharava or Zharava found her, but the result is, she loves this fun, smart, young-spirited international crowd, infected with the magic of the Bulgarian dance. She believes dance is about harmony, attraction, rituals and expression. Bulgarian dance is further remarkable in its combination of complexity, power and tenderness. However, what makes these dances really unique to Nadia is their indirect and, at the same time, extremely intense interaction. She especially favors the Shoppe region where the fast-paced dancing almost reaches the level of a trance. This is in full contrast with the individual shoppe's genuine laid-back sense of humor that you can see in one of her favorite jokes: Nane: "Vute, why are you digging from a sitting position?" Vute: "Because when I tried it from a laid-down one, it did not work out well".

Nevena is from Varna, the most beautiful city in Bulgaria. For her Zharava is a unique group of people, who are friends and family, dancers and performers. It has a contagious positive spirit and ambition. It brings its Bulgarian members closer to their beloved country and to their culture. It is a little home-away-from-home across the ocean that makes her feel at home, and makes the distance to friends and family back in Bulgaria more bearable. Nevena believes Bulgarians are warm and honest people, very spontaneous and genuine in their joy, hospitality and compassion. They are also very successful and ambitious, and their ability to preserve their core values and morale, while realizing their highest career goals, is admirable. Besides Zharava, she likes to spend time outdoors, hiking and camping, studying foreign languages and exploring other cultures through travel, literature, foreign films and music. She is very active in making sure everybody around her is fascinated with Bulgarian culture. After inviting her entire department at the IMF to attend the Festival of Cultures at the World Bank, in which some Zharava members took part, she taught her co-workers to dance Bulgarian horos and to speak basic Bulgarian words (and made everyone put up with the loud Bulgarian music coming from her office as well).

Rhodie grew up outside of NYC, and still considers herself a New Yorker. She loves being with Zharava, and is grateful to have been "adopted" by this wonderful Bulgarian community. She likes the positive energy, the opportunity to learn a different dance form, and to experience something of the Bulgarian culture.  Rhodie is a professional ballet dancer, and has performed in Europe and Asia as well as in the US. She currently teaches and coaches ballet full time. She has three gorgeous daughters who all live in NYC. When not dancing or teaching dance, Rhodie loves to be at the beach or out in nature. A favorite quote is "Never, never, never give up." She loves seeing new places, meeting new people, and wants to see every little part of the world! Rhodie is also a member of the Zharava executive committee.

Tania is from Yambol, Bulgaria and moved to the United States in 2000. She grew up with folklore dancing, and is extremely happy that there is such a unique group as Zharava. Zharava is like a little piece of Bulgaria in the middle of the US capital. Tania loves the energy and the enthusiasm everybody shares about Bulgarian folklore dancing. She loves any outdoors activities, like biking, camping, whitewater rafting, etc. These days she is busy with school though, since she “was crazy enough to leave her secure accounting job and decided to follow her passion and be an Interior Designer.” However, there is always time for partying, hanging out with friends, and good wine. Tania would love to visit the pyramids – something about them is so mystical and amazing. You might be surprised to hear this, but Tania doesn’t have a high school diploma, but somehow managed to slip through the cracks and graduate from the University of Virginia as well as to get her CPA (but don’t tell anyone).

Thea's parents started taking her to international folk dancing groups when she was about 9 years old and she immediately fell in love with the Bulgarian dances that were taught there. Bulgarian music is so beautiful, varied and complex that its appeal is magical and addictive. For Thea, it is wonderful to be part of Zharava, not only because you get to learn great dances, but also because you can learn so much about the cultural context and styling of the different regions and folk traditions within Bulgaria through the teaching of Desi Jordanoff. Bulgaria is at a crossroad where Asia, Europe, and the Middle East have met for thousands of years, and the cultural collisions that have happened there are powerful, complex and fascinating. Besides Zharava, Thea dances swing and tango, and sings (beautifully) lots of different styles from medieval Flemish to Bulgarian folk music.

Tzvety Weiner was born and raised in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in a family steeped in Bulgarian folk music. At the age of 5 Tzvety started taking classes in theory of music, solfege, and piano — all mandatory subjects for those who sought to become professional musicians. Later, Tzvety enrolled in folk singing classes in preparation for the famous Shiroka Luka folk music High school in Bulgaria. Around that time, communism collapsed in Eastern Europe and Tzvety faced choices that she never considered before. Instead of pursuing her predestined profession, she decided to take a break from music and became interested in computer science. In 1998, Tzvety moved to the US to complete a college degree in Computer Science. The love for Bulgarian music and performing in general was never left too far behind though. Luckily, a traditional Bulgarian band, Lyuti Chushki, was actively performing in the DC area and she joined the band as the lead vocalist. Since then, Tzvety has also performed with a Macedonian music band called Luk Na Glavata. In 2005, Tzvety and her husband, Bryndyn Weiner, decided to start a wedding style band. The Balkanics was born with Tzvety as the lead vocal. In late 2006, Tzvety alongside a handful of young Bulgarians, became one of the founding members of a dance group which grew into the only dance Bulgarian folk ensemble in the D.C. area - Zharava.  

Tzvety has always loved dancing and if it wasn't for her love for the Bulgarian song, she would probably be a dancer today. For her, Zharava provides more than just a dance practice though. For Tzvety dancing in the colorful line is a joy, a calling and a thrill that hardly anything else can replace. A great deal of things make our culture so different and out of reach for the Westerner. The odd rhythms, the temperament of each folk region carrying its own characteristics, the sadness of our songs and how it is conveyed in our dances, the connection between the people, the colorful language, the warmth that we each have in us passed down from the caring hand of our grandmothers, the complex melodies and beautiful ornaments, our one-of-a-kind cuisine, it's all that the West is not.  

Right now, Tzvety is a mother of a baby boy named Alek and taking time off all her extra curricular activities. Otherwise, she is a singer in 2 bands and 2 vocal groups. If Tzvety could say anything to the entire world it would be that there's no point in killing each other. Let's dance.

What drew Veni to Zharava were the strength of Bulgarian traditions and Nadia (see above). Besides Zharava, he likes poker, fishing and the ladies. He likes the saying "Dinosaurs went extinct. How do you think people will end up?" He admires Khan Asparukh, and, while others may find this surprising, he likes explosions (or comparable big bangs).

Youliana is from Sofia, Bulgaria. She came to the US in 1998 and graduated with BA from University of Georgia and MA from American University. She is currently working for the USG and lives in Alexandria, VA. Youliana enjoys dancing and learning about new cultures. She was aware of the idea of Zharava even before the group was formed, and was one of the first people who joined in January 2007. She joined because she loves Bulgarian folklore and likes to stay close to the Bulgarian community. What she likes most about being part of Zharava is the opportunity to share the beauty of Bulgarian folklore with others. She sees Bulgarian culture and folklore as very close to the earth because they stem from the people's everyday lives and challenges. Everything in Bulgarian folk dance is somehow connected to the duties that the Bulgarian predecessors had: cooking, taking care of the family, growing food, etc. There is no superficiality to it, which makes it very real. Youliana also dances flamenco. Last year (2007) she went skydiving and loved it, so she will definitely repeat it this year too! If she had a chance to say something to the entire world, it would be to protect the Earth and all living creatures. This is the only home we have and it is sad what we have done to it.

Zlati is from Sofia, Bulgaria. For her, being a member of Zharava means being a part of something unique and beautiful, which helps her keep in touch with Bulgaria. Her favorite quote comes from Terry Pratchett: "Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life." Zlati is also a member of the Zharava executive committee.