Choreography Students Explore the Folk Traditions of the Village of Blaskovo
28 october 2026
Second-, third- and fourth-year students in the Choreography degree programme at Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar” conducted field research in the village of Blaskovo, Provadia Municipality. The group was led by Prof. Maria Kardzhieva, who directed the future choreographers’ attention towards researching, preserving and creatively reinterpreting folk heritage.
At the “Razvitie - 1903” Community Cultural Centre, the students met with the women of the authentic folklore group and learned about the songs, dance forms and festive rituals of the Sart region. Sart is an ethnographic area whose population is known as the Sart ethnographic group. The villages across the Provadia Plateau preserve their own local folklore, songs and dance traditions, which the students had the opportunity to experience first-hand. The cultural centre is also home to Valentin Mihaylov, a graduate of Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar,” who teaches the local children’s dance groups.
During the visit, Prof. Kardzhieva explained that the restoration of folk traditions is a complex research process. It combines the study of written sources with fieldwork, where information is verified, supplemented and collected. This process is essential both for preserving tradition and for the creative work of a choreographer.
In the cultural centre’s ethnographic corner, the hosts shared memories and stories about life in the local community. At the initiative of the centre’s secretary, Nedyalka Ivanova, the students sampled plateka, banitsa, banitsa with Turkish delight, sweets and mamaliga. These local culinary specialities enriched their understanding of everyday life and the traditions of Blaskovo.
The villagers invited the students to return for celebrations recreating traditional customs, including Babinden, Lazaruvane and Koledovane. In turn, the students and their supervisor invited the villagers to attend a concert at Varna Free University. The women from the folklore group are already familiar with the university’s student stage, having visited earlier this year to watch a performance by the future choreographers.
The visit gave the students an opportunity to learn directly from the people who preserve and pass on the community’s folk heritage. The fieldwork enriched their professional training.
