Miscellaneous

This is the catch-all page for things such as dance house calendars, downloadable music sites and other specific type sites. Some do have general information, but it is less comprehensive. This page is also biased toward Hungary. Also check the Local Resources section for links of varied subjects.

Balkan, Greek and West Asian mp3s
This site has several mp3s for legal download. The sound quality is often 64 kbps, but they still sound pretty good and the selection of songs is great. Countries include Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Albania (among several others).

Ethnic Dance House Lover's Association (in Budapest)
"The Ethnic Dance House Lover's Association was established in the Dance House of the Falkafolk Ensemble . The members of the group as well as the dancers would like to make use of their knowledge acquired during the last years and would like to propagate the folk traditions, music and dances of the Hungarian nationalities and the Balkan nations. The Association undertakes the organizing of Greek, Bulgarian or Southern Slav Dance Houses, which includes all the above. The Association is ready to organize and arrange folk festivals."

where to find a dance house in Budapest
This list, with events for every day of the week, was put up in 2000, but there are phone numbers and addresses to contact for current information. Most of the listed houses are still hosting events. The main page, Hungarian Heritage, also has background articles on the táncház scene and others of general interest.

Fono Records' schedule of dance houses and performances
Fono is the heart of the Hungarian folk music scene, though they carry other artists and host other events as well. Their site is up to date, though the táncház season begins in late September, so summer visitors will not find much going on.

Cocek = Balkan Brass
Cocek is a gypsy brass style that was spawned from military bands and is popular at gypsy weddings. From the site: "This website is not related to Pop-Folk music i.e. Bulgarian Chalga, Serbian folk or Balkan national folklore. It is about hardcore instrumental cocek. No vocals, no crap, just raw Gypsy cocek."

Bulgarian Regions and Folk History (UCLA Bulgarian Women's Choir)
This site has a few pages of history on the musics of regions in Buglaria (Pirin, Thrace, etc), as well as some information on Bulgarian folk choirs.

Croatian Klape songs (download mp3s)
This site is all about Dalmatian music and includes several beautiful photographs and a link to information on the Klape Festival (in Croatian). Songs themselves, with mpeg, real audio, and text in both Croatian and English, are here.

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