Balkan Music & Dance Workshops
Mendocino Woodlands, 440 Alger Street, Fort Bragg, CA 95437
About
Balkan Music & Dance Workshops offers instrumental classes, vocal classes, ensemble classes, and dance classes, along with kids’ dance and kids’ singing classes and a youth band. Participants take part in folklore presentations, panel discussions, group sings with musical accompaniment, live-music dance parties, late-night cafe-bar (kafana) musical sets, and an evening dance party. The program also includes hiking in the forest, swimming in a swimming hole in a nearby river, a student concert, a Balkan-style lamb roast, late-night Kafana activities, and an auction.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: Two week-long workshops are presented every summer; the Mendocino Workshop runs from Saturday evening to the next Saturday morning, June 27 – July 4, 2026
• Price: Evening parties cost $70 per person; admission includes the evening dance party and late-night Kafana activities until 2:30 a.m. (no overnight accommodations)
The Mendocino Workshop runs from Saturday evening to the next Saturday morning, with classes beginning Sunday morning and held each day through Friday, followed by a review session Friday morning and an optional student concert. Evening parties usually begin at 9 p.m., and late-night Kafana activities continue until 2:30 a.m. An instrument-lending program is available for harder-to-find village instruments, and there are plenty of tenting sites. Three meals a day and an evening snack are provided, with selections for omnivores and vegetarians.
Staff and teachers include Angel Dobrev, who plays the gadulka; Valeri Georgiev, who studied kaval in Kotel and graduated from the Plovdiv Academy of Arts with a BA degree; and percussionist Bobby Govetas, who performs on daouli and drum kit. Other staff include Christos Govetas, who joined the Rebetiko band Taxími as a bouzouki and baglama player in 1978; Eleni Govetas, who began performing with her family at age nine; and Greg Masaki Jenkins, a second-generation American Balkan folk dancer who grew up at the Balkan Music & Dance Workshops and performs regularly in the San Francisco Bay Area. Additional instructors include tapan/daouli player and longtime EEFC teacher Jerry Kisslinger; Bulgarian tambura player Stoyan Kostov, who graduated from the folk music school in Kotel and the Plovdiv Academy of Music and Dance; violinist Ari Langer, who studied classical violin and performed in solo competitions and with local string quartets and orchestras; and Mark Levy, who created the first week-long Balkan Music & Dance Workshop in 1974.
The West Coast edition of the Balkan Music & Dance Workshop has been gathering since 1977, and the East European Folklife Center (EEFC), which runs the workshops, was established in 1982. The EEFC states that it brings together an inclusive, celebratory, and welcoming global community of passionate amateurs and professionals to respectfully share the richness and complexity of Balkan music, dance, and cultures. The EEFC Board of Directors is seeking new Board members and encourages interested community members to apply or submit a nomination, and the organization depends on its community for contributions. Work exchange campers help the Mendocino camp run smoothly in exchange for partial or full tuition waivers.
Last updated June 22, 2026.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: Two week-long workshops are presented every summer; the Mendocino Workshop runs from Saturday evening to the next Saturday morning, June 27 – July 4, 2026
• Price: Evening parties cost $70 per person; admission includes the evening dance party and late-night Kafana activities until 2:30 a.m. (no overnight accommodations)
The Mendocino Workshop runs from Saturday evening to the next Saturday morning, with classes beginning Sunday morning and held each day through Friday, followed by a review session Friday morning and an optional student concert. Evening parties usually begin at 9 p.m., and late-night Kafana activities continue until 2:30 a.m. An instrument-lending program is available for harder-to-find village instruments, and there are plenty of tenting sites. Three meals a day and an evening snack are provided, with selections for omnivores and vegetarians.
Staff and teachers include Angel Dobrev, who plays the gadulka; Valeri Georgiev, who studied kaval in Kotel and graduated from the Plovdiv Academy of Arts with a BA degree; and percussionist Bobby Govetas, who performs on daouli and drum kit. Other staff include Christos Govetas, who joined the Rebetiko band Taxími as a bouzouki and baglama player in 1978; Eleni Govetas, who began performing with her family at age nine; and Greg Masaki Jenkins, a second-generation American Balkan folk dancer who grew up at the Balkan Music & Dance Workshops and performs regularly in the San Francisco Bay Area. Additional instructors include tapan/daouli player and longtime EEFC teacher Jerry Kisslinger; Bulgarian tambura player Stoyan Kostov, who graduated from the folk music school in Kotel and the Plovdiv Academy of Music and Dance; violinist Ari Langer, who studied classical violin and performed in solo competitions and with local string quartets and orchestras; and Mark Levy, who created the first week-long Balkan Music & Dance Workshop in 1974.
The West Coast edition of the Balkan Music & Dance Workshop has been gathering since 1977, and the East European Folklife Center (EEFC), which runs the workshops, was established in 1982. The EEFC states that it brings together an inclusive, celebratory, and welcoming global community of passionate amateurs and professionals to respectfully share the richness and complexity of Balkan music, dance, and cultures. The EEFC Board of Directors is seeking new Board members and encourages interested community members to apply or submit a nomination, and the organization depends on its community for contributions. Work exchange campers help the Mendocino camp run smoothly in exchange for partial or full tuition waivers.
Last updated June 22, 2026.
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