The Ludi-Mladi folk ensemble from Montpellier, France, is scheduled to participate in the 11th edition of the Expats Join Hands in Worldwide Dance festival, taking place from May 15 to 17 at BMW Park in Munich. The ensemble’s director, Iva Milkova, stated that the performance, titled “In the Embrace of the Flame,” portrays a love story resilient to adversity. The choreography draws inspiration from the Nestinarstvo fire-dancing rite, symbolizing eternal love both personally and in relation to Bulgarian national traditions.
Milkova explained that the performance aims to honor the history of the Bulgarian nation, emphasizing that unity and tradition have historically provided resilience. The show features a double narrative: one of personal love and one dedicated to cultural heritage. The choreography is structured in two parts: an introduction featuring free rhythm bagpipe music, followed by a dynamic section combining elements of the Kopanitsa dance and an arrangement of the horo dance Aidar Abasi.
The creative team includes choreographers Nikolay Zagorov, Evgenia Ivanova, and Preslav Varbanov. The overarching message, according to Milkova, encourages the audience to contemplate the sacrifices made for love and the nature of personal choice. The Ludi-Mladi 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.
The traveling festival, organized for amateur folklore ensembles outside Bulgaria, is expected to host over 100 groups at the Munich event.
Topics: #ensemble #folk #ludi
