Babushki to be part at some of the festivals organized by Makfolk Association for 2012

Everybody know for MATRYOSHKA, a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside the other.

But what did you know about Buranovskiye Babushki before Eurovision Song Contest 2012 ?!? 

Matryoshka dolls

According to Wikipedia , Buranovskiye Babushki is band consists of eight "grandmothers", but only six were allowed to appear on the Eurovision stage due to contest rules. They are from the village of Buranovo, Udmurtia, halfway between the Volga and the Urals in Russia. The band performs most of their songs in the Udmurt language.

Matryoshka dolls in real-life

The Grannies [Babushki stands for grannies in Russian] is consists of eight grandmothers, eldest member of the group is 76 years old, 77 in the autumn. According to the BBC, the Buranovskiye Babushki have had success in the past with Udmurtian-language covers of Western hits such as Yesterday by the Beatles, or the Eagles' Hotel California. In 2010, they came close to winning the Eurovision nomination with their song "Long, long birch bark and how to make a hat of it." But in 2012 they succeeded.

Their song, reportedly penned by the grannies themselves, is called "Party for Everybody."
It begins folkily enough, in their native language of Udmurtian, before breaking into a Eurodisco-style chorus with the lyrics, in English: "Come on and dance, / Come on and dance, / Come on and dance, / Come on and boom boom." It's weirdly hypnotic by the 12th time round. Oh, and at one point it features a sort of spoken rap freestyle.

They're no wannabe starlets, though. The group's aim is to raise enough money from their performances to build a new church in Buranovo.

But this is not the end of the story  for Babushki...they were "robbed" just before their performance.

German journalists had asked the grandmothers about their national costumes and asked them to show their stage shoes. The grandmas took the shoes out of the bag, but, before the Germans could look at them, the elderly women were asked to sit in the sit in the bus, forgetting about the shoes. The Germans, on the other hand, thought the grandmothers had given the shoes to them as a gift. Learning about the loss of the Russian grandmas’ stage shoes, however, the Germans returned them.
But the grandmas decided not to be rude to the Germans, since one of their husband had made reserve shoes for the grandmothers.

They are enjoyable and if you meet them in meantime...feel free to ask Babushki  to be part at some of the festivals organized by  Makfolk Association for 2012.  If they are booked for 2012...try for 2013 :)

Impressions after International Children’s Folk Festival “ Hanioti 2012 ”

Another great story… Another great festival organized by Makfolk Association is behind us. It was five beautiful days for us full with dancing, socializing, meeting new people and most important of all, having fun. In Hanioti we meet folk groups from all around the world like Ukraine, Venezuela, Russia, Moldova, Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey. They have their own performances almost every day dancing and presenting the folk culture of their countries.

You can visit Festival Fun Page to see more pictures. 

In these five days we have time to go on beach, take a swim and enjoy in the beautiful sea. Actually at this part of the year Greece is so beautiful with all the colorfulness of nature.

Aegean see view from Hanioti 

Final day of the festival was the most interesting; we have the final concert in Hanioti and it was great. All the groups have their final performance, but at the end we was surprised when all the audience, including Makfolk Team, came down on the stage and dance together on traditional Greek music ☺

Spontaneous finish of the festival :)

In the end of the day, all group leaders have dinner together, sharing impressions of the festival and receiving certificates for their participation on this festival. Finally we take some photos together, to remember this beautiful five days, share our contacts and scheduled a meeting next year.

 

Greece, Turkey, Venezuela, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova,Bulgaria...Great !!!

We are sending greetings and appreciations to all the participants, people and municipality of Hanioti and Talija Art Co. for great festival it was. Hope to meet you again at festival in Hanioti which will be held in September 25 – 30, 2012. For more info about the festival in September you can get more information at our web site www.makfolk.com.mk

See ya,
Makfolk Association Team.

One week till start of the VII International Folk Dance Festival "Hanioti 2012" 15 - 20 May, Greece

Only one week till start of the VII INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCE FESTIVAL "HANIOTI"-GREECE 15 - 20 MAY 2012.

It is our honor and pleasure to announce that this festival will be biggest and most attended then previous festivals in Hanioti in past 6 years.

Already 543 participants from India, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Serbia, Greece, Russia, Turkey, Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine confirmed their participation.

Makfolk Association, Talija Art Co. and Municipality of Pallini are already prepared for great fiesta and various of worlds folk dances, music and cultures.

You will be updated about the festival at our Facebook fun page where you can comment, share and be part of the festival. Do not forget to pres Like   ;)

See you there,
Makfolk Association Team