Kryva Kosa is a Toronto-based folk band formed by members of the Kosa Folk Arts community. We play music from Ukraine, Finland, Lithuania and Rezija, creating a unique blend of sound and song that reflects our diverse musical traditions. In Ukrainian, Kryva Kosa means “crooked scythe”. In many places the scythe brings the harvest and, across cultures, expressive folk music also helps nourish and connect us and sustain our survival. But folk music is not just performed- it’s a community affair that is meant to be experienced! We invite you to participate in some lively dancing- we'll teach you. Join us as we carry the timeless melodies and movements of European folk music into the present day. Together we’ll create a space where music, culture and community come together.
Balfolk dancing is popular social dancing from Western Europe, a recent revival of traditional, mostly French, folk dances.
Bourrées, jigues, gavotte, mazurkas, waltzes, scottishes: some partner dances, some group dances, some snakey chain dances.
They are all fun and easy to learn, you don’t need any partners or prior experience. We’ll show you how!
We always dance to live music: fiddles, accordions, clarinets and more…
Balfolk is a term used in the last 50 years to describe popular social folk dancing in Western Europe. It includes old traditional dances from a variety of French and western European regions, as well as modern tunes influenced by many styles composed for people to dance to. Balfolk is not definable as ONE style, but rather an umbrella term for many ways of dancing and playing for a huge repertoire of dances.
Balfolk Toronto was started by Tangi Ropars and Emilyn Stam in the spring of 2013, with our first big bal in March of 2014 and weekly dances on Mondays almost every Monday since 2013. Since then many people have contributed to the development of our community!
7pm: Tune Learning Session AKA Slow Jam with Cassie Norton
8pm: Dance! With live music
The Tune Learning Session AKA Slow Jam is a pay what you can weekly workshop open to all people who are interested in playing balfolk music, but are either completely new to it, or find our dance jams a little too fast to pick up the tunes. We will learn a couple of tunes per week (maximum 2) and review tunes from previous weeks at each session. We will learn all tunes by ear, very slowly, first singing and then playing. ALL instruments are welcome, including the voice! Hope to see you at the session soon.
Pay What You Can! Suggested $10.
