Hobbies

Ethnic Dance

With 14 years stage performance in ethnic dance and singing in four different dance troupes, representing three different countries, I am very interested in all types of folk dance and folk music:

George Tomov Ensemble, New York City, New York, 1982-1988

The Tomov troupe (approximately 50 members including musicians) performed in the United States (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania), Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Montenegro during the six years I was a troupe member. Our dance performances included dances of

• Slovenia (Medjumurje area)
• Croatia (including Posavina, Slavonija, Dalmatia)
• Bosnia-Hercegovina (particulary silent dances of the Dinaric mountain zone)
• Serbia (including Vojvodina, Shumadija, Vranje)
• Vlach dances (Romanian-speaking minority of Serbia)
• Rom (Gypsy) dances of Serbia
• Macedonia (including East Macedonia, Vardar Zone)

Singing also included choral singing (songs of Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia), duets (Slovenia), and solos (Dalmatia)

Served as interpreter for informal troupe activities in (the former) Yugoslavia, as well as for a radio program in Skopje, Macedonia.

Performed in Carnegie Hall, New York City, May, 1988 and Alice Tulley Hall, Lincoln Center (various appearances), New York City Public Library; Belgrade Television, July,1985; various folk festivals, Slavic festivals as well as for the Croatian, Serbian, and Macedonian communities of the tri-state area.

UCLA Yugoslav Performance Group, Elsie Dunin, director -- 1971-1978

I performed with with the Yugoslav Performance Group (approximately 30 members, with musicians) in the southern California -- including dances of

• Slovenia (Medjumurje area)
• Croatia (including Slavonia, Posavina, Dalmatia (Lindjo), archaic dance styles of Adriatic islands (Krk, Mljet) and Istria)
• Bosnia-Hercegovina, particulary silent dances of the Dinaric mountain zone (including Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Serb dances)
• Serbia (including Vojvodina, Shumadija, Vranje)
• Vlach dances (Romanian-speaking minority of Serbia)
• Montenegro
• Macedonia (Vardar Zone, Eastern Macedonia, Bitola area)

Singing also included choral singing (songs of Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia), duets (Dalmatia, Serbia, Croatia, starogradske pesme, as well as archaic singing styles of Adriatic islands and Istria), and solos (Dalmatia)

Performed in various folk festivals, as well as for the Croatian, Serbian, and Slovenian communities of Southern California

Honarestan-e Madame Yelena, Armenian Dance Troupe, Mme. Yelena Avetissian, director, Tehran, Iran -- 1963-64

I performed with with Madame Yelena's Armenian troupe (approximately 80 members) in Tehran and Abadan -- including dances of

• Armenia
• Kurdistan
• Azerbaijan
• Iran (Persian dances)

Performed in Talar-e Farhang, Tehran, spring, 1963, and Cinema Taj, Abadan, spring, 1964.

Lithuanian Folk Dance Group, Paris, France -- 1961-62

I performed with a dance group (approximately 15 members), based at a Lithuanian church in Paris. The group performed at a folk festival at the Sorbonne, Université de Paris, 1962.

Other Involvement with Ethnic Dance

I have acted as Master of Ceremonies for concerts of traditional ethnic dance and music of the Iranian and Arab Middle East and of Central Asia. My tasks included introducing the performers, describing the dances, music, traditional musical instruments and clothing, giving explanations of their cultural contexts, presenting slides. These presentations were conducted in English, French, German, Persian in the United States (Seattle), Germany (Göttingen), and France (Lyons).

I have done formal studies in dance ethnology

• two semesters in the ethnology of dance with Elsie Dunin, Dance Department, the University of California, 1971
• 0-day intensive course in the dances of the Adriatic zone at the Ljetna Skola Folklora, Badija Island, Croatia, summer 1976.

Travel

since May, 2000 I have visited Italy twice, the Netherlands four times, Sweden, the Czech Republic and the United States (New York City and Seattle)

Opera

Since moving to Leipzig, I have had the opportunity to enjoy the Leipzig Opera on a regular basis. Between January and May, 2001 I saw die Zauberflöte, Evgenii Onegin, La Traviata, Carmen, La Cenerentola, Falstaff, and Orfeo ed Euridice and for the 2001-02 season I am planning to attend some performances in Dresden as well.

Singing, particularly songs of various lands: I was a member of both the Russian and the French choirs at Georgetown University, sang chorally, in duets as well as solos with two Yugoslav dance troupes (see above) and am presently singing in our choir here at the Max Planck Institute.

Cooking

particularly northern and southern Italian, French, Iranian, Indian, Chinese cuisines. Having been raised in New Jersey in a traditional southern Italian family, I learned a love for traditional cooking and fine food from home.

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