site.bta Dunav Folk Dance Ensemble from Dusseldorf to Perform Orisia Dance in Munich

The Dunav Folk Dance Ensemble in Dusseldorf will perform Orisia at the 11th Expats Join Hands in Worldwide Dance travelling Bulgarian folklore festival, which will take place from May 15 to 17 at BMW Park in Munich, Germany. “Orisia is about the fate of a people with life stories, combining the wisdom of the past with the magic of folklore and overwhelming love," Irina Stefanova, head of the dance ensemble, told BTA.

She noted that in Bulgarian folk beliefs, the people from Orisia are the ones who predetermine the fate of a person at his birth as they carry the thread of life and weave into it joy, trials and love, which is the strongest feeling.

“When I came to Germany to study at the Academy of Sports and Gymnastics, I knew that I would create a folk dance group for Bulgarians living in Dusseldorf and the surrounding area. The group is affiliated with our Dunav German-Bulgarian Society, which is why the name of the dance group is called the same," she pointed out, adding that she established the ensemble in 2012. 

"We have dance groups for children aged 4 to 15, a group for beginners-advanced and of course, a dance ensemble that performs on stage. Each dancer who has joined the group from different parts of Bulgaria brings the spirit of Bulgarian folk dance with their temperament, vitality, playfulness, agility and mood," Stefanova said.

The Expats Join Hands in Worldwide Dance travelling festival is organized by and for amateur folklore ensembles performing outside Bulgaria. The initiative was launched by the Ot Izvora group in Lyon, France, which hosted both the first edition in 2015 and the tenth edition in 2025. More than 100 dance ensembles and over 4,000 guests are expected at the 11th edition in Munich in May. The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) is the official media partner of the event and will present all participants.