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Maneesh Bakshi
As a little girl, she used to dance to the songs of her father and often for everyone during a social gathering or party without the slightest hint of inhibition. Such was the passion and vigour of young Velislava Metodieva in her childhood days.
The Bulgarian national, a choreographer and dance teacher now, is equally at home in business attire, when she is the executive for ictQatar, as when she is dressed up in a traditional Bulgarian folk costume, and even more so when she dons her dancing shoes, tutoring students.
As an expatriate living in Doha, far from home, it is natural for someone to miss relations and other cultural elements that form an integral part of one’s own identity. To stay in touch with her roots in a foreign land, an idea germinated in Metodieva’s mind and she immediately started work on it.
“I must teach the classical Bulgarian dance to those who aspire to learn the technique of this old traditional folk dance, developed over centuries and still cherished in Bulgaria and its neighbouring countries,” she resolved.
It still took a year for this idea to take a concrete shape until she got a steady place to teach dance at Radisson Blu hotel.
It took years of hard work for Metodieva to master nuances of this old cultural dance form commonly called Bulgarian folk dance. Her official training started when she was six. A teacher who happened to come for inspection spotted her talent during her kindergarten days.
“I was too young to remember all this and my mother told me that during the inspection, the visiting teacher noticed me making some dance movements while playing at school and immediately asked the class teacher to inform my parents to put me in the dance class because I had ‘dance and music flowing in my blood’,” said Metodieva.
“As a young girl I was a very active student and was good in almost all disciplines of education including extra curricular activities and sports. I used to run so fast that my sports teacher had to make me compete with boys of my age. And I usually ran faster than most boys of my class,” she recalled with a smile.
She learned dance for 12 years and made it an integral part of her daily activity including studies. She was born during the time when the iron curtain of the Soviet era was at its lowest. Having experienced the bloodless transition of power, she admitted that her lifetime was far different from that of her parents.
Having been under the Ottoman Empire for 500 years, Russians finally liberated Bulgaria and that explained the old links of Bulgaria with Soviet Russia.
“Yet Bulgaria is a unique country having 1,300 years of history as a country and by virtue of its location on the Balkan Peninsula, the region which was a cross-way for so many empires, tribes and conquerors. All this vibrant history has influenced the Bulgarian dances and costumes to a large extent. There are around 6 to 7 different kind of dances and costumes, each different and bringing in richness to its dance form,” added Metodieva.
Explaining the nuances of Bulgarian dance, Metodieva said, “Bulgarian dances are traditionally performed in circles with dancers grabbing each others’ hand, forming circles with musicians – sometimes bagpipers – taking the position in the centre, basically representing a similar configuration of the sun and the planets. The dancers draw their energy from the musicians, thus, with vibrant movements so typical of our dances.” Bulgarian folk dance carries many influences, according to Metodieva. The dances that are popular in the North Western region of Bulgaria have similarities or bear influences of Romanian folk dresses and music. Similarly those from the Southern part of Bulgaria have strong influences of Greek and Turkish folk dances. But these differences have been incorporated over the years that make it the wonderful dance form.
“Staying for six years in Qatar has been a big learning experience. A high and tax-free salary was a small attraction compared with the adventure that I was looking forward to when this job offer came my way. My initial years were challenging but it also gave me an opportunity to push myself to the boundaries.
I had to train my mind to function in a different way than to expect the world around me to behave my way,” she said.
Metodieva said that she was almost on the verge of giving up so many times when somebody around her extended a hand to help her, and she found herself rejuvenated with a new energy. But her ultimate relief came when she wanted to pursue her childhood passion of dancing once again, while living far away from her home country.
“Reinventing my cultural roots through dance and music of my country was a huge solace and provided the drive to continue my life. I decided to teach traditional Bulgarian Folk Dance and started giving lessons to dance enthusiasts. It took me a year and a half to put things together and start a dance school, which slowly but steadily gained popularity and people from other nationalities such as Americans, Japanese and others showed eagerness to learn it, besides many Bulgarian nationals living in Qatar,” she said.
Her students are always in demand during the national day celebrations of Bulgaria for putting up a cultural dance show with the help of Bulgarian Embassy. Besides, there have been many other programmes at which Metodieva and her apprentices have received rounds of applauds. “I am far better integrated into Qatari society by virtue of pursuing something that flows in my blood in my after-work time. I have a satisfying job too. What more can I wish for,” she said happily.
Staying in touch with home through folk dances Velislava Metodieva dancing with her group during a public performance (Photographs: Ashraf Siddiqui) Slice of the West Thursday, May 26, 2016 07 Reports by Maneesh Bakshi For events and press releases email [email protected] or call (974) 44422077 “As a young girl I was a very active student and was good in almost all disciplines of education including extra curricular activities and sports. I used to run so fast that my sports teacher had to make me compete with boys of my age. And I usually ran faster than most boys of my class” Cuban Jazz group Salsa Y Punto during their performance in Doha Audience enjoying the unique Latin rhythms and sounds of the Cuban group – Velislava Metodieva V
As a little girl, she used to dance to the songs of her father and often for everyone during a social gathering or party without the slightest hint of inhibition. Such was the passion and vigour of young Velislava Metodieva in her childhood days.
The Bulgarian national, a choreographer and dance teacher now, is equally at home in business attire, when she is the executive for ictQatar, as when she is dressed up in a traditional Bulgarian folk costume, and even more so when she dons her dancing shoes, tutoring students.
As an expatriate living in Doha, far from home, it is natural for someone to miss relations and other cultural elements that form an integral part of one’s own identity. To stay in touch with her roots in a foreign land, an idea germinated in Metodieva’s mind and she immediately started work on it.
“I must teach the classical Bulgarian dance to those who aspire to learn the technique of this old traditional folk dance, developed over centuries and still cherished in Bulgaria and its neighbouring countries,” she resolved.
It still took a year for this idea to take a concrete shape until she got a steady place to teach dance at Radisson Blu hotel.
It took years of hard work for Metodieva to master nuances of this old cultural dance form commonly called Bulgarian folk dance. Her official training started when she was six. A teacher who happened to come for inspection spotted her talent during her kindergarten days.
“I was too young to remember all this and my mother told me that during the inspection, the visiting teacher noticed me making some dance movements while playing at school and immediately asked the class teacher to inform my parents to put me in the dance class because I had ‘dance and music flowing in my blood’,” said Metodieva.
“As a young girl I was a very active student and was good in almost all disciplines of education including extra curricular activities and sports. I used to run so fast that my sports teacher had to make me compete with boys of my age. And I usually ran faster than most boys of my class,” she recalled with a smile.
She learned dance for 12 years and made it an integral part of her daily activity including studies. She was born during the time when the iron curtain of the Soviet era was at its lowest. Having experienced the bloodless transition of power, she admitted that her lifetime was far different from that of her parents.
Having been under the Ottoman Empire for 500 years, Russians finally liberated Bulgaria and that explained the old links of Bulgaria with Soviet Russia.
“Yet Bulgaria is a unique country having 1,300 years of history as a country and by virtue of its location on the Balkan Peninsula, the region which was a cross-way for so many empires, tribes and conquerors. All this vibrant history has influenced the Bulgarian dances and costumes to a large extent. There are around 6 to 7 different kind of dances and costumes, each different and bringing in richness to its dance form,” added Metodieva.
Explaining the nuances of Bulgarian dance, Metodieva said, “Bulgarian dances are traditionally performed in circles with dancers grabbing each others’ hand, forming circles with musicians – sometimes bagpipers – taking the position in the centre, basically representing a similar configuration of the sun and the planets. The dancers draw their energy from the musicians, thus, with vibrant movements so typical of our dances.” Bulgarian folk dance carries many influences, according to Metodieva. The dances that are popular in the North Western region of Bulgaria have similarities or bear influences of Romanian folk dresses and music. Similarly those from the Southern part of Bulgaria have strong influences of Greek and Turkish folk dances. But these differences have been incorporated over the years that make it the wonderful dance form.
“Staying for six years in Qatar has been a big learning experience. A high and tax-free salary was a small attraction compared with the adventure that I was looking forward to when this job offer came my way. My initial years were challenging but it also gave me an opportunity to push myself to the boundaries.
I had to train my mind to function in a different way than to expect the world around me to behave my way,” she said.
Metodieva said that she was almost on the verge of giving up so many times when somebody around her extended a hand to help her, and she found herself rejuvenated with a new energy. But her ultimate relief came when she wanted to pursue her childhood passion of dancing once again, while living far away from her home country.
“Reinventing my cultural roots through dance and music of my country was a huge solace and provided the drive to continue my life. I decided to teach traditional Bulgarian Folk Dance and started giving lessons to dance enthusiasts. It took me a year and a half to put things together and start a dance school, which slowly but steadily gained popularity and people from other nationalities such as Americans, Japanese and others showed eagerness to learn it, besides many Bulgarian nationals living in Qatar,” she said.
Her students are always in demand during the national day celebrations of Bulgaria for putting up a cultural dance show with the help of Bulgarian Embassy. Besides, there have been many other programmes at which Metodieva and her apprentices have received rounds of applauds. “I am far better integrated into Qatari society by virtue of pursuing something that flows in my blood in my after-work time. I have a satisfying job too. What more can I wish for,” she said happily.
Staying in touch with home through folk dances Velislava Metodieva dancing with her group during a public performance (Photographs: Ashraf Siddiqui) Slice of the West Thursday, May 26, 2016 07 Reports by Maneesh Bakshi For events and press releases email [email protected] or call (974) 44422077 “As a young girl I was a very active student and was good in almost all disciplines of education including extra curricular activities and sports. I used to run so fast that my sports teacher had to make me compete with boys of my age. And I usually ran faster than most boys of my class” Cuban Jazz group Salsa Y Punto during their performance in Doha Audience enjoying the unique Latin rhythms and sounds of the Cuban group – Velislava Metodieva V
