site.btaMontreal’s Trakia Folk Dance Club Founder: Traditions Are Not Easily Preserved Abroad

Traditions are not easily preserved abroad, Montreal’s Trakia Folk Dance Club founder Tsonko Stoyanov told BTA’s BG World service on Tuesday.

A concert celebrating the 10th anniversary of the founding of the club will be held on October 28 under the title "Let's Preserve Traditions". Discussing the difficulties to preserve native traditions abroad, Stoyanov pointed out that he has a 14-years old daughter born in Canada and he finds it difficult to make her dance, although he makes great efforts. "There are no Bulgarians at the school where she studies and the only place where she speaks Bulgarian is at home and at the Bulgarian events that are organized in Montreal," he added.

However, he said he is satisfied with himself because he has managed to attract many people to dance Bulgarian folk dances.

Stoyanov noted that the Trakia Folk Dance Club includes not only Bulgarian members, but also dancers from Canada, Greece, China, France, Afghanistan, Morocco. They are people with different professions, including doctors, teachers and lawyers.

Stoyanov took his first steps in dancing when he was seven years old. He went on to work as a professional dancer and choreographer in Yambol. In 1997 he traveled to Canada with an ensemble on a two-week tour. "After the tour, everyone in the group came back, but I emigrated on my own, without knowing a word of French or English. Since then, I've been living and working in Montreal," Stoyanov explained.

The name of his club was inspired by a Thracian Ensemble he was a part of in Yambol for 13 years. Over the years, more than 150 dancers have passed through the club, and at this point there are about 80 members.

Stoyanov also pointed out that three times each year he organizes dancing events in the Bulgarian church that gather some 300 people.

The club has been organizing the anniversary concert for a year. "We have invited many good ensembles, singers and musicians as guests," he said.

Over the years, the Trakia Folk Dance Club has participated in many festivals and events in Canada and the United States, and has won three first prizes at competitive festivals, but this anniversary concert is "their first such big show," Stoyanov said. The club will perform five dance pieces during the event and the dancers will recreate different customs on stage.