Balgarianovinite.com SamoDivi, the Bulgarian folk dance group from Nuremberg, Germany, will take part in the 11th edition of the travelling festival Expats Join Hands in Worldwide Dance, to be held from May 15 to 17 at BMW Park in Munich.
SamoDivi will perform Severnyashki Dance, choreographed by Marin Marinov, a long-time head of the Sredets Ensemble in Sofia, the group’s leader, Tanya Makarova, told BTA. Through the performance, the group aims to showcase the beauty of Northern Bulgarian folklore and recreate the playful courtship between young men and women in the village square. The folklore of the regions of Pleven, Lovech, Vidin, Vratsa and Ruse is lively, flirtatious and cheerful, reflecting the spirit of young lovers dancing the horo, Makarova said.
In line with the festival’s theme, “Libe Le, Libe Hubavo” (My Love, My Beautiful Love), Iva Tarneva, head of the Sredets Ensemble, has created an additional playful introduction to the choreography, depicting the interaction between two young lovers. The roles will be performed by the group’s youngest dancers, 15-year-old Slaveya Mihaylova and 12-year-old Dani Makarov.
Makarova said the group’s message to the audience in Munich is one of continuity. “Our children are our pride and our future. We want to pass on our love for Bulgaria and everything Bulgarian, so that this love lives on in their hearts even far from home and is passed on to the next generations,” she said.
Preparations for the festival are in full swing. The group rehearses once a week for three hours, balancing work, studies and family commitments, and plans a three-day dance camp in mid-April to refine the performance. “We leave rehearsals tired, but smiling, filled with positive energy that keeps us going throughout the week,” Makarova said. She expressed gratitude to the Sredets Ensemble and its leaders Iva Tarneva and Nikolay Iliev for their continued support.
Founded in 2004 by Makarova with enthusiastic Bulgarian students, SamoDivi was initially a choreography-based group. It aims to preserve and promote Bulgarian folklore abroad.
In its early years, the dancers in the ensemble were exclusively Bulgarian students, most of whom were learning folk dance for the first time in Germany. Today, the group numbers over 80 dancers aged between 3 and 63, and includes participants of other nationalities: Germans, Russians and children from mixed marriages (German, Chinese and Croatian, among others). In addition to the choreography group, the ensemble now has two horo groups and two children’s groups, for ages 3-8 and 9-14.
The travelling festival, Expats Join Hands in Worldwide Dance, is organized by and for amateur folklore ensembles performing outside Bulgaria. The initiative was launched by the Ot Izvora group in Lyon, France, which hosted the first edition in 2015 and the tenth edition in 2025. More than 100 dance ensembles and over 4,000 guests are expected at the 11th edition in Munich in May. The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) is the official media partner of the event and will present all participants. SamoDivi Group from Nuremberg to Perform Severnyashki Dance at Munich Festival 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-03-30 06:34:05 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law