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 from May 15 to 17 at BMW Park in Munich. The ensemble’s director, Iva Milkova, announced that their performance, titled “In the Embrace of the Flame,” will depict a love story resilient to adversity. Milkova stated the dance is inspired by the Nestinarstvo fire-dancing rite, symbolizing both enduring personal and national love for Bulgarian traditions.
She explained the performance aims to remind audiences of their origins, the challenges faced by the nation, and the enduring strength found in unity and tradition, expressed through a dual narrative of personal and cultural devotion. The choreography features two segments: an introduction with free, rhythm bagpipe music, followed by a more dynamic section combining elements of the Kopanitsa and an arrangement of the horo dance Aidar Abasi. The creative team includes choreographers Nikolay Zagorov, Evgenia Ivanova, and Preslav Varbanov.
Milkova noted the performance encourages reflection on the sacrifices made for love, regardless of its object, ultimately leading to a consideration of personal choice and moral conviction. The ensemble, which comprises 12 Bulgarian dancers—six students aged 18 to 24 and six older participants aged 38 to 50—was founded in 2013 to promote Bulgarian folk dances among compatriots in the region. Milkova described the festival’s organizational effort as creating a temporary “homeland” for hundreds of Bulgarians far from home.
The festival itself, organized for amateur folklore ensembles outside Bulgaria, is expected to host over 100 groups and 4,000 guests in Munich.
Topics: #ensemble #folk #ludi
