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Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc.
Women Instrumentalists |
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Men comprise the vast majority of musicians in Bulgaria. Even the advent of Socialist-inspired state-run folk music schools promoting equality among the sexes has not erased entirely the social stigma among women musicians as competitive in a man's world and somewhat less desirable as wives. This prejudice takes humorous overtones as Bulgarian men try to justify it: "She plays gaida (bagpipes). Do you know what else she would put in her mouth?" They ignore the reflection thus cast on male gaida players.
The two State-run folk music schools, Kotel and Shiroka Lûka, accepted singers and required them to learn an instrument.
Among Bulgarian musicians we find:
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Gûdulka player |
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Pena Grozvena |
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Maria Stoyanova |
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Didi Kušleva |
Used with permission of the author.