Folk Dance Tours and Cruises
Compiled by Dick Oakes
Here are various cruises and tours available to folk dancers. Some of the tour operator names are linked to their biographies on this site. Bon voyage!
- ANATOURS STUDY TOURS IN TURKEY
Melissa Miller and Dr. Rashid Ergener have together been conducting AnaTours Study Tours in Turkey since 1990. They invite you on a journey to the land of the Great Goddess. Typically, you'll travel through Anatolia, the cradle of numerous civilizations, and of early matrifocal societies, and see Çatal Höyök where the Great Goddess made her first appearance in 6500 BCE. Also see Ephesus and Aphrodisias, Ankara, Troy, and İstanbul.
AnaTours
(408)246-7646
< info (at) anatours (dot) com >
www.anatours.com
- ARMENIAN HOLIDAY
Tineke van Geel's Armenian Holiday specializes in tours to Armenia. On the tours she attaches great importance to a pleasant balance of travel time, sightseeing, relaxation, and getting to know the real Armenia by using the many contacts she has developed through the years. Tineke speaks Armenian fluently.
Tineke van Geel
Hoofdweg 54
8383 EH NIJENSLEEK
THE NETHERLANDS
Tel and Fax: +31-521-380382
< tineke (at) armeniaholiday (dot) com >
armeniaholiday.com
- BALKAN CONNECTIONS
Nancy Bolt is the State Librarian for Colorado. Nancy, along with Alex Palichev and Iskra Mahailovam, are the sponsors of Balkan Connections, which specializes in trips to Bulgaria, a country called the "undiscovered gem of Europe" because of its beauty and cultural history dating back 7,000 years. All trips include visits to ancient Neolithic and Thracian sites as well as Roman, Greek, and Turkish cultural heritage. The country is beautiful, the people are friendly, the food is tasty, and the shopping terrific. Balkan Connections trips include personal attention and are small enough to add new adventures when the opportunity arises.
Nancy Bolt, Colorado State Librarian
201 East Colfax, Denver, Colorado 80203
303 866 6733 phone
303 866 6940 fax
< nancybolt (at) earthlink (dot) net >
www.balkanconnections.org
- BALKAN FOLKLORE STUDY TOURS
Delores Crawford offers tours that are mainly about villages, the architecture which changes from the mountain areas to the plains, the farmers and herders, the craftsmen who still carve wood, make pots, weave textiles, embroider clothing, and especially the people who still enjoy making music, dancing, and celebrating their customs.
Delores Crawford
11065 Collinwood Dr.
Santee, CA 92071-3106
Tel: (619) 562-5948
< delcraw4d (at) aol (dot) com >
(No website)
- BULGARIAN SUMMER TOURS
Iliana Bozhanova has organized tours in Bulgaria for her friends during the summer to the Koprivštica Folk Festival as well as to Sofia, Plovdiv, Kalipetrovo, Voivodinovo, Varna, Veliko Târnivo, Arbanasi, Kazanlak, Shipka, and Sheravana. Check out her website page for this year's tours.
Bulgarian Summer Tours
c/o Iliana Bozhanova
str. "Asen Hristoforov" 2 ap.63
4004 Plovdiv, BULGARIA
< iliana33 (at) hotmail (dot) com >
www.ilianabozhanova.com/news1.html
- CULTURAL FOLK TOURS
Bora Özkök offers tours to Turkey on which will take you to see the Ottoman Military Band in Istanbul, the spiritual Whirling Dervish ceremony in Cappadocia, native folk dancing, a live gypsy orchestra, and much more.
Bora Özkök
9920 Scripps Lake Dr., Suite 105
San Diego, CA 92131
Tel: (800) 935-8875 or (858) 566-5951
< tourinfo (at) boraozkok (dot) com >
culturalfolktours.com
- TINEKE VAN GEEL'S FOLK TOURS
Tineke van Geel has been a folklore dance teacher since 1975 and has studied dance in Armenia. Since 1997 she has organized tours to Armenia, Bali, Great Britain, The Netherlands, and Switzerland.
Tineke van Geel
Hoofdweg 54
8383 EH NIJENSLEEK
THE NETHERLANDS
Tel and Fax: +31-521-380382
< info (at) tinekevangeel (dot) nl >
tinekevangeel.nl
- FOLK DANCE ON THE WATER CRUISES
Mel Mann offers one or two cruises a year for folk dancers that include evening folk dance sessions and sometimes with afternoon folk dance classes by teachers such as Eser Ayanolgu, Roberto Bagnoli, Irvin and Beverly Barr, Jimmy Drury, Richard Duree, Al Gladstone, Denise Heenan, Ercüment Kılıç, Dean and Nancy Linscott, Mars & Sanna Longdon, Dick Oakes, Lee Otterholt, Pat and Hugo Presnall, Mikki Revenaugh, Olga Sandolowich, Burt Scholin, Sheila Sharpe, Alex and Edie Spear, Sandy Starkman, and Marianne Taylor. Some cruises have lectures by professional naturalists, professors, historians, oceanographers, geologists, and anthropologists, as well as dancing with native groups and local folk dance groups in port. Of course, there's always the cruise food that is worth going for in the first place! Destinations have included Alaska and Galapagos / Ecuador.
Mel Mann
Berkeley Travel Company
1301 California St.
Berkeley, CA 94703-1061
Tel: (510) 526-4033
Fax: (510) 524-9906
< MelDancing (at) aol (dot) com >
www.folkdanceonthewater.org
- FOLKLORE SEMINARS AND CRUISES
Rickey Holden through Folkraft-Europe has, since 1975, cooperated in the organization of international folk dance and folk arts seminars throughout Europe -- from Scandinavia to Iberia and Anatolia. Much more than an academic study tour, each program provides a real folklore "experience."
Rickey Holden
Folkraft-Europe
Rue Saint-Norbert
BE-1090 BRUSSELS
B e l g i u m
Tel: (+32 2) 478 3648
< rhfe (at) usa (dot) net >
www.phantomranch.net/folkraft/seminars.htm
- FOLKLORE TREASURES OF SERBIA
Cheryl Spasojevic leads a two-week tour of adventure in August to the heart of Serbia that includes a three-day folk dance camp, folk festivals, music, ethnographics, folk art, village museums, traditional crafts, village life, celebrations, monasteries, and historical sites.
Folklore Treasures of Serbia
c/o Spasojevic
17626 68th Ave. West
Edmonds, WA 98026-5636
After March 2:
Cheryl Spasojevic
Selo Vuckovica
34240 Z.P. Knic
Serbia, YUGOSLAVIA
< cspaso (at) eunet (dot) yu >
(No website)
- FOLKTOURS
Tayaar Akdeniz, choreographer, performer, musician, and teacher, was born in Kars, Turkey, and raised in Ankara where he began performing as a child, touring with Romany (Gypsy) ensembles. Tayyar learned, performed, and taught hundreds of Turkish folk dances for National folk dance associations in Turkey. His fifth hat is that as a promoter, which he does through Folktours, a corporation that offers educational and entertaining music and dance events in the United States and in Turkey. Their goal is to use music and dance to build bridges between countries and cultures. They want to educate, enlighten and inspire students of all ages, genders, creeds, and ethnic backgrounds. They also provide tours of Turkey with a special emphasis on seeing the sights, learning the history, and experiencing the culture.
M.E.D. Folk Tours Inc.
45-54 39th Place Suite 2 C
Sunnyside, NY 11104
< info (at) folktours (dot) com >
www.folktours.com
Or contact
Artemis
Tel: (301) 565-8891 Ext. 3
- JIM GOLD FOLK TOURS
Jim Gold brings his love of people, music, languages, humor, literature, old cultures, and new discoveries to his tours to Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Czech Republic, Sicily, Israel, Slovakia, and Tunisia. You'll enjoy his small groups, personal attention, visits to villages, festivals, museums, concerts, and folkloric performances. You'll meet people, and dance, sing, dine, and converse with them. And, as you explore their history, art and culture, your perspective will expand.
Jim Gold Folk Tours
497 Cumberland Ave.
Teaneck, NJ 07666-2650
Tel: (201) 836-0362
Fax: (201) 836-8307
< jimgold (at) jimgold (dot) com >
www.jimgold.com
- TURKISH MYSTIC CULTURAL TOURS
Latif Bolat knows that the Middle East (and especially Turkey) has been the cradle of many wonderful civilizations over the past the thousand years. From Urartus to Hittites, from Lydians to Ottomans, the land of Anatolia has been hosting wonderful treasures and they are waiting to be discovered. In his tours, Latif gives you a little taste of each culture by visiting monuments, cities, and places that once hosted very elaborate societies.
Latif Bolat
Turkish Mystic Cultural Tours
28 Camino Tetzcoco
Santa Fe, NM 87508-8913
Tel: (505) 995-1904
< lbolat (at) aol (dot) com >
www.latifbolat.com