Our tenth Lyrids Folk Dance Festival will happen April 19-21, 2024 at Pitt Meadows Heritage Hall an hour drive east of Vancouver, BC, Canada. Our guest teachers are Cristian Florescu & Sonia Dion presenting Romanian dances and Tom Bozigian & Sheree King presenting Armenian dances. We hope you’ll join us for any part of the festival that suits your schedule. The dances taught will be engaging and accessible. The parties will have familiar dances. Note registration that includes meals is no longer available. But you can still come for a teaching session or a party on Friday or Saturday nights. 

The Saturday night party with band Zakuska from Seattle, WA will be broadcasted on Zoom starting at 6:45 pm. Zoom attendees will be able to order Tom Bozigian’s music and/or review videos if you first donate at least $50 to the festival. Fees collected for music and videos will go to Tom Bozigian. 

To register for either in person session or online for the Saturday evening party via Zoom go to https://lyridsfolkdancefestival.org/register/. We hope you will donate to support the festival and the presenters! https://lyridsfolkdancefestival.org/donate

LYRIDS SHOP: Check your closet! We are taking donations for selling at the shop – any ethnic or ethnic-style clothing, cool souvenirs etc. We would be grateful.  Consignment: if you wish to sell any special costumes by consignment please also bring them on hangers with a written description and the price you wish to receive. The shop will display and sell them while retaining a 15% commission. You can go to Lyrids website for more shop info and forms at https://lyridsfolkdancefestival.org/shop/.

An interview with Tom Bozigian  March 13, 2024

Tom was interviewed and the article below was written by Bev Neilson.

Tom is looking forward to returning to see the dancers he met at Salt Spring Festival in  2008. “It’s been a long time”. 

Some of his popular dances have been loved around the world for many years: Sweet Girl and Garoon were created for contests in the Armenian Church Youth Organization, in California, where he won ‘the trophy’ for his ‘Armenian’ dance creations. They have remained in many folk dance repertoires. Teen (Khumkhuma) was a traditional dance revived by Tom in his youth, by using Turkish music, and since done to traditional Armenian music. 

But that was from his youth; now Tom is focused on featuring dances brought by his grandparents’ generation when they escaped Armenia to settle elsewhere. “These dances need to be preserved. They are hundreds of years old.” Passing on what his research has shown him, he will present dances from different areas of Armenia to Lyrids Festival goers. He will be able to show us on the map, and tell the lore that brings meaning to these very old dances.

At the Salt Spring Island Folk Dance Festival, in 2008, he taught Garoon, Hayr oo Mamoogner and Lorge, Khumkhuma (Teen), Kocharee, Loorke, Sev Acherov Aghcheek and the long celebrated Sweet Girl (Sirun Aghcheek). You may find these in your club’s collection of favourite dances.

Come to the Festival this year to learn from this energetic 86 year old!! He started dancing at Armenian day school at 5 years old. The dances done then were ‘village dances’ presented at his school concerts from 1943 to 1949. Tom’s passion is passing on and preserving dances from his heritage. The dance material Tom presents is exciting and applicable to all levels of dancers.

Tom relates that his great grandfather danced the dances, Agar Magar, Kochari, Pompouri, and Tamzara in Armenia, dances Tom has proudly taught to the folk-dance communities of today.  For many years, Tom has represented Armenia and her people through his music, language, and dance. Teaching tours have taken him to several parts of the world where he has been very well received.

Tom is especially pleased to be connecting with the Vancouver area Armenian community, at a workshop to be held during the week before the Festival.

Tom and his wife, Sheree King, also a dancer and choreographer and director of the dance department at Long Beach City College, live in the Los Angeles, California, area, where now the largest concentration of Armenians reside outside of Armenia.

Lyrids Folk Dance Festival is a project of Burnaby International Folk Dancers.