site.btaPhoenix Balkan Dance Ensemble from Basel to Perform Dance about Love, Choice in Munich

The Phoenix Balkan dance ensemble in Basel, Switzerland, will perform I Chose You during the 11th Expats Join Hands in Worldwide Dance travelling folklore festival, which will take place from May 15 to 17 at BMW Park in Munich, Germany.

Nadezhda Georgieva-Delizhov, head of the dance formation, emphasized that this is a dance born of love and conscious choice. "The idea was born in December 2025 at a time when we were talking about the distances that separate us and the strength that brings us together shortly before the brightest holidays", she recalled.

“Love is a choice and belonging is a state of mind. You can live in Austria, Spain, France, Germany or Switzerland, be born in Slovakia and speak Bulgarian with love and feel the Bulgarian rhythm in your heart," Georgieva said, adding that the Phoenix dance ensemble will be a bridge between countries and screens in Munich.

"In the dance, we tell the story of a girl from Bulgaria and a boy from Switzerland, a meeting of worlds, languages, traditions and hearts. We chose this dance because it is about ourselves as people who have chosen to carry Bulgaria in their souls, no matter where we live,” Georgieva pointed out. She noted that none of the ensemble members are professional dancers or choreographers. "But when we take up the dance, we stand shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart", she stressed. 

The 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 Expats Join Hands in Worldwide Dance in Munich in May. The Bulgarian News Agency is the official media partner of the event and will present all participants.