Summer is coming, our dear little ants, is there any hope of you turning into crickets? Body music from the Balkans travels to Europe big time, coming to Poland, Germany, Finland (!), Belgium, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Switzerland.
For everyone who is interested in diving deeper into odd Balkan rhythms, getting to know their body and the rhythm in it better, combining it with movement and voice we have prepared a workshop in Krakow. The workshop lasts ten hours over two days, June 1 and 2, in the wonderful space of the Kontakt dance center in the old town. We accept applications through this form.
After the premiere of the music video for the song Ko peva zlo ne misli, we will perform with the duo CISI in Krakow at Kontakt on June 1.
Read the interview with Ana and Marko for the Czech magazine Harmonie, by Daniel Sywala. Buy the e-magazine here.
We are happy to return to Bytom, where we attended a residency in March with the support of the Culture moves Europe program. We will perform a Balkan body music concert in the Rozbark Theater on May 28.
On June 15, we are performing a concert in Germany as part of the Summer in Rosenheim program organized by Soulkino.
And after that? To the sea, we hope! To swim and sunbathe, during breaks from body music rehearsals. Which is what we want for you, in all the different ways you can make it happen.
Balkan body music in July
Festival season is upon us! We end our summer vacation on July 6 with a performance at the Folkest World Music Showcase in Italy in San Daniele del Friuli. This is the first showcase festival we are performing at this year. We will perform part of the Balkan musical repertoire and have the opportunity to participate in meetings with delegates and in a lecture on the music industry. With this event, in a way, we remain in the MOST Music family, because the festival is part of the UpBeat platform. Find out more here, if you’re into music, you might find it interesting – and useful.
See you this summer in Sremski Karlovci at the New Balkan Rhythm festival?
In July, we travel to the Trefpunt festival in Ghent, which is part of the Gentsee Festen, and then to participate in the Music Picnic concert series in Trenčín, Slovakia.
Then we fly to Helsinki and travel to the far north, to the Kaustinen Folklore Music Festival. This is the oldest and largest festival dealing with traditional music and dances in Finland and the Nordic countries, and this year it was declared the Festival of the Year. As many as 45,000 people of all ages visit it every year, and over 600 Finnish and foreign artists perform.
What makes us especially happy is that we will have the pleasure of returning to the collaboration with Vilma Talvitie, our dear colleague who deals with piano percussion. We collaborated with her on a short residency in November last year and recorded three songs, which you can see on our YouTube channel.
Our trip to Kaustinen is supported by the City of Novi Sad through the Artist Mobility Fund. We sincerely thank you.
Photo: Eric van Nieuwland, Fran van Raaij
Alice in WonderBand’s May
We were in the Netherlands for the first time at the Music Meeting festival. We performed there on May 18 at the Mini Meeting, a program for the youngest, with an interactive concert and workshop in one. Parents and children enjoyed the rhythms from the Balkans, learned with us to clap in seven-eighths and to sing the (spring) folk song Kiša pada, trava raste (The rain is falling, the grass is growing).
On May 19, we were supposed to participate in the All Ears program, which presents artists through interviews in a concert sandwich. Our hostess supposed to be the charming singer Monica Akihary.
But, then, the storm intervened! We postponed the performance one day and get to play in the beautiful venue of Lindenberg Cultuurhuis.
Many thanks to Martyna van Neiuwland, artistic director of the festival, for the invitation and this wonderful experience. More photos coming soon!
Ko peva zlo ne misli – CISI & AWb
The first collaboration has dropped! And that as a result of our residency in Poland, where we met two talented artists, Julia Lewandowska and Łukasz Malok. The song Ko peva zlo ne misli and the music video that premiered on May 22 are the fruit of this new artistic love.
Ana sings in harmony with Julia. Marko creates body percussion with the characteristic odd Balkan rhythm of seven eighths. Composer and creator of multi-instrumental arrangement Łukasz builds a rich tapestry of sounds, exploring the combination of the guitar’s younger cousin, the guitarlele, double bass and harmonica, merging them into a dreamy dance track. Support us and share this video with someone you wish well. Because who sings #zlonemisli.