Balkan Fascination

Divi Zheni identifies itself as a Bulgarian women's chorus and band but it is located in Boston and none of its members come from Bulgaria. Zlatne Uste is one of the most popular purveyors of Balkan music in America yet the name of the band is grammatically incorrect. The members of Sviraci hail from western Massachusetts upstate New York and southern Vermont but play tamburica music on traditional instruments. Curiously thousands of Americans not only participate in traditional music and dance from the Balkans but in fact structure their social practices around it without having any other ties to the region.