Kukli

Radost Folk Ensemble Choreography
Kukli

(Dolls)

Bulgaria
Choreography Margarita Dikova (Koutev Ensemble)
Music Zhivka Klinkova - Played on solo gadulka or violin
Costumes Jamia Hansen-Murray
For many generations simple dolls, usually made from sticks wrapped in rags, have been a favorite toy of Bulgarian village children. They would be given names and personalities, and the children would act out stories, drawing their inspiration from everyday village life, folk tales, and even Bulgarian history. A dance group from the village of Kozicheno performed a dance at several festivals in the 1930's where the dancers moved stiffly, like dolls. Choreographer Margarita Dikova has taken this primitive dance and used it to enact a story of Bulgarian village life: an arrogant beauty, her dowdy neighbor, the sly sergeant major who can't choose between them, and the kaval player who sets them all to dancing.


Photo: Sarah Templeton