This year the Rozova Dolina Ensemble ("Rose Valley") from Bulgaria’s Karlovo has contributed to the successes of Bulgarian folk ensembles around the world at a prestigious festival. The Bulgarians returned with two awards from the 6^th International Folklore Music and Dance Festival “Belgrade Award” /04 -08.07.2018/. The forum took place in the Serbian capital city and attracted talents from distant countries such as Mexico, Tunisia, Indonesia and many others. Miroslav Vassilev - artistic director and choreographer of the ensemble told us more about the experience:

“It is true that our ensemble has achieved a huge success and this is due to the dedication of all performers. The festival took place in the Serbian capital for the sixth time, but in the past two years it has had competitive character. The challenge was great because all the ensembles passed pre-selection and the event was held under the auspices of the FIDAF (International Dance Festivals Federation. Its headquarters are located in South Korea, and in Belgrade organizer is the local cultural community of ‘St. Sava’. Competition was really great, as countries from five continents took part in the forum this year. Our ensemble grabbed the Grand Prix for its performance and a special prize at the choreography festival. We have experienced emotionally the privilege of dancing in the oldest concert hall in Belgrade - Kolarac. Its incredible acoustics is of interest to experts from around the world. The organizers told us that the last team of experts came from Japan.”

Miroslav Vassilev told us about the repertoire presented at the prestigious forum:

“During the festival we presented dance performances from several regions of the country - Shopluka, western Bulgaria, Thrace and others. Their authors are distinguished choreographers, but in fact the jury was most impressed by the music-dance composition entitled ‘Feast in the Rose Valley’. It is the emblem of our group and thanks to it we won the awards. The high rating came from a jury composed of a wide range of professionals in music-performing arts - a fact that adds even more value to these awards.”