Bulgarian "Christmas Mysteries" captivate the heart of Prague

The sound of bells, the songs of carollers and the rhythm of the Bulgarian folklore dances will float in the air under the lights of winter Prague. Days before Christmas, the Old Town Square will become a stage for Bulgarian folklore and the spectacle "Christmas Mysteries", which will be presented by the "Rose Valley" ensemble from Karlovo.

At the invitation of the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in the Czech capital, the event will bring together the Bulgarian community and guests of the city in a celebration of tradition, music and shared memory, Radio Bulgaria learned from the leader and choreographer of the ensemble, Miroslav Vassilev, who sent a special invitation:

"On Friday, December 12, at 4:00 p.m. at one of the most emblematic places in the city - the Old Town Square, we will have a dance performance among the Bulgarian community and foreign guests. We invite all Bulgarians and friends of Bulgaria to be with us, to sing some of the most popular Bulgarian folk songs and to make a big Bulgarian horo dance!"

The program will present Christmas traditions from the Thracian folklore region and the Srednogorie region, as well as dances and melodies from other folklore regions of Bulgaria. Miroslav Vassilev told us more about the power of tradition and the meeting with Bulgarians abroad:

"Days before Christmas the carollers will sing and dance. That is why the program will begin with a dance that represents the traditional carolling, the so-called carolling games. This entire musical and dance ritual is part of our old folklore culture, just as the carollers also announce the birth of the Young God. We will present a Christmas buenek dance from Yambol, but in the program we have interwoven music and dances from other folklore areas - Thrace, the Shopluk region, the Rhodopes. Singer Velina Ivanova will be together with us, who will present several songs for horo dances, so that everyone can join in the dance. I know that the Czechs love the sound of the Bulgarian bagpipe, so young bagpiper Genko Slavchev will be a guest. He is part of the emblematic bagpipe ensemble of the town of Kalofer, which was included in the Bulgarian program for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage ‘Living Human Treasures’ a few years ago."

The Bulgarian bagpipe "enchants" the listener, so this tradition is now also part of the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO. The decision to include the Bulgarian bagpipe and bagpipe playing into the prestigious world register was made during the 20th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which took place in Delhi, India (December 8-13). Now this magic will be transferred to the Old Town Square in Prague, where the Rose Valley Ensemble will be a guest not for the first time.

The event in Prague will be followed by a performance of "Christmas Mysteries" in Karlovo on December 18.

"Our Christmas concert in the community center ‘Vasil Levski-1861’ in Karlovo will take place then. The community center is one of the oldest cultural institutions in Bulgaria, because it was founded five years after the first Bulgarian community center was established - a fact that we are very proud of," the choreographer says.

The "Rose Valley" folklore ensemble has a lot to be proud of. In 2019 the troupe of the community center "V. Levski-1861" was awarded the Grand Prix of the Municipality of Karlovo for contribution to the cultural development of the region, as an important part of the work is aimed at adolescents:

"The ensemble has four age groups of dancers - over 120 performers from 1st grade to over 50-year-old dancers. This is very important, because in this way we maintain continuity between generations,” the head of the ensemble says.
In 2026, Miroslav Vassilev and the dancers from his troupe will also have to prepare the celebration of two important events - 165 years since the founding of the community center, which is their creative home, and 55 years since the creation of the dance ensemble.

Interview: Vesela Krasteva

Text: E. Karkalanova

Photos: Provided by Miroslav Vassilev