The Ludi-Mladi folk ensemble from Montpellier, France, is scheduled to participate in the 11th edition of the traveling festival Expats Join Hands in Worldwide Dance, taking place at BMW Park in Munich from May 15 to 17. The ensemble’s director, Iva Milkova, announced that this year’s performance, titled “In the Embrace of the Flame,” will depict a love story resilient to adversity. Inspired by the Nestinarstvo fire-dancing rite, the performance symbolizes enduring love, both personal and directed toward Bulgarian national traditions.
Milkova stated that the performance aims to remind the audience of their origins and the obstacles faced by the nation, emphasizing unity and tradition as enduring strengths. The double narrative will pay tribute both to an individual and to cultural heritage. Choreographically, the show is divided into two parts: an introduction featuring free, rhythmic bagpipe music, and a more dynamic segment incorporating combinations of the Kopanitsa and an arrangement of the horo dance Aidar Abasi.
The creative team includes choreographers Nikolay Zagorov, Evgenia Ivanova, and Preslav Varbanov. The ensemble’s message, according to Milkova, encourages the audience to reflect on the sacrifices made for love, regardless of its object, ultimately leading to a consideration of personal choice and inner moral conviction. Milkova also reflected on the ensemble’s history.
Ludi-Mladi was founded in 2013 to promote Bulgarian folk dances among compatriots in the region. The festival, organized for amateur folklore groups outside Bulgaria, is expected to host over 100 ensembles and 4,000 guests in Munich.
Topics: #ensemble #folk #ludi
