Who Are the Choreographers and Teachers Behind Westwind International Folk Ensemble's Repertoire?

Westwind International Folk Ensemble credits its repertoire to a mix of named choreographers, teachers, and stagers, and the site records those contributions dance by dance. If you want to know who shaped a specific suite — Bulgarian, Canadian, Hungarian, or Macedonian — the company's own descriptions are the most direct source, because they name the person or ensemble behind each piece and, in several cases, note how the material and costumes were acquired.

How the Site Documents Contributions

The Westwind site does not present a single artistic director or a general history of the company's repertoire. Instead, it attaches credits to individual dances and suites. The pattern is consistent:

• A teacher or source is named for the steps or the choreography.
• A stager is named when someone other than the teacher set the work on the company.
• Costumes and suites are sometimes described as purchased together, which shows the material came as a package rather than being reconstructed piece by piece.
• Musical arrangement is credited separately when it is not the work of the choreographer.

This means the answer to "who is behind the repertoire" is not one person but a network of teachers, choreographers, and stagers, each tied to particular regional material.

Bulgarian Repertoire

The Bulgarian section is the most detailed on the site and names several contributors.

Women's Cetvorno and the Sop Suite

Both the Women's Cetvorno and the Sop Suite are linked to Dennis Boxell. The Cetvorno comes from the Sop region of Western Bulgaria, where the description highlights quick, intricate steps in a complex rhythm. The site states that the Cetvorno suite was purchased along with the Sop costumes from Dennis Boxell, and the Sop Suite was likewise purchased with its costumes from him.

КУКЛИ (Doll Dance)

The Doll Dance was taught by Dennis Boxell. The site describes it as based on the Margarita Dikova choreography "Kukli" (dolls) as performed by the Philip Koutev Bulgarian National Folk Ensemble. The danced story involves four dolls — two female dolls who quarrel over a Major Domo, and a shepherd doll who enters to calm them with his kaval, with a gadulka player bringing the story to life.

Thracian Suite

The Thracian Suite credits Dick Crum as the teacher of the dances, with staging by Marcus Moskoff and Allen Nixon and musical arrangement by Marcus Moskoff. The suite draws on the Stara Zagora region of Thrace, and the description notes its variety of rhythms and complex steps and figures. It opens with women's songs as families gather in the village square, followed by the men dancing the Cestoto, then a Rucenitsa — described as one of the few dances that allowed men and women to dance together.

Canadian Repertoire

The French Canadian Suite is credited as presented to Westwind by Dennis Boxell. The music borrows from Irish, Scottish, English, and French traditions as well as from Native Canadians. The suite includes material from the Montreal and Saint Lawrence regions: a solemn Native Canadian clog dance, lively French children's game dances, a broom dance, and a waltz clog described as the predecessor to the "time-step" in American tap dance.

Hungarian Repertoire

The Hungarian Suite combines women's material collected from the Palóc and Szatmár regions. Credits are split:

• Szatmár material choreographed by Csaba Pálfi.
• Palóc karikázó collected from Andor Czompo.
• Staged by Marianne Blackshere.

The site describes the suite as haunting folk melodies combined with spirited dances.

Macedonian Repertoire

The Macedonian section begins with Rugovo, described as a dance of the Albanian minority living in Macedonia, who retain many national customs and folk traditions. The excerpt provided cuts off before naming a teacher or choreographer for this piece, so the site's full entry would need to be checked for that credit.

What This Tells You About the Repertoire

If you are trying to trace a specific dance back to its source, the site's structure gives you a practical way to do it:

Two names recur across regions: Dennis Boxell appears in the Bulgarian and Canadian material, and Marcus Moskoff appears in the Thracian Suite as both stager and musical arranger. The Hungarian material shows a different pattern, with separate people credited for choreography, collection, and staging.

How to Use This

If your goal is to attribute a dance correctly, cite the credit exactly as the site records it — for example, "taught by Dennis Boxell" or "choreographed by Csaba Pálfi" — rather than assuming a single company-wide choreographer. If you need the Macedonian credit or any detail beyond the excerpt, consult the full Westwind site, since the available text stops mid-entry for Rugovo.