Relaunch of Barnet’s Folk Dancing Club to focus on widening interest and appeal of Balkan folk dance culture
26 Jun 2025
Written by Nick Jones
Barnet’s long-established international folk dance club is being relaunched to take advantage of the growing popularity of the traditional folk music and dancing of the Balkans with the hope of attracting a wider membership.
Their experience in recent years – despite having built up a repertoire of hundreds of folk dances from around the world – is that Balkan dancing continues to attract by far the greatest interest.
In future the club will be known as Dunav: Barnet Dances Balkan and a revamped programme kicks off with their annual summer party at 7.30pm on Friday 25 July at Church House, High Barnet.
Two long-standing members, Margaret Luck (above left) and Irene Nichols have been helping to organise and promote the event – an evening of live Balkan music and buffet to which all are welcome. (Entrance fee £10).
​Barnet International Folk Dance Club was established in 1962, initially meeting in Hendon, before moving to High Barnet, and from the start the founder members were fascinated by the intriguing rhythms of Balkan dances.
With the gradual opening up of travel to Eastern Europe, and with the freedom of movement following the enlargement of the EU, group members began visiting countries in the Balkans and became even greater admirers of their folk-dance culture.
Such was the club’s interest that their sessions at Church House regularly featured an appearance by leaders of a Bulgarian ensemble — artistic director and dance teacher Iliana Bozhanova and music director and accordion player Tudor Yankov (see right).
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Brian Dowsett, who led the Barnet group for many years, helped to establish a flourishing Balkan dance scene in London which now features a monthly Balkanplus event at Cecil Sharp House in Camden, home of the International Folk Dancing Society.
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Charlotte Clare, a member of the Barnet club, teaches simplified versions of Balkan dances with live music from the band Ygra.
