Born in Krakow, she collects in her travels a vast rhythmic and sung repertoire, from her native Poland to various regions of the Balkans, a
repertoire mostly based on odd or irregular bars, characteristic of the regions she has traveled.
She debuts in music with the trio “Porembisko”, formed in Krakow, of polyphony from Slavic countries such as Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Serbia. She is the singer of the trio “As Três Irmãs” that explores polyphonic chants from various countries. She is also part of the DJ duo “Balskandal”, a project based in Porto with the goal of Balkan musical and cultural education for the local community.
BALKLAVALHAU
Project formed in Porto in September 2020, as a result of the passion for Balkan and Middle Eastern music, which brought together musicians from Portugal, Chile, Brasil and Poland who currently live and create in the City of Invicta. Since the beginning, the band’s objective has been not only to reproduce traditional themes, but also to enrich tradition with their own experiences and with the sound heritage that each one brought from their environment.
The artists believe that music is one of the best ways to cross borders and find similarities in differences – and the intense musical coexistence quickly led to the conclusion that although so different and distant, all traditions share the same beating heart.
Balklavalhau’s concert is a sonic voyage through Eastern European countries, but on board we will also find Latin, Arab, Slavic, and Portuguese influences. The band brings to the audience music from minorities, such as the Roma, often marginalized in their own environment. Among several languages and sounds, we find a message that brings them all together – that since the dawn of humanity, music knows no boundaries, social classes or inequalities.
BALSKANDAL
Balskandal was created in 2016 by Ivana (Serbia) and Greta (Poland), both living in Porto, as an alternative offer of dancing nights in the city. At the moment it is being continued by Greta. Joining traditional Balkan music, full of good energy and craziness, with modern tunes inspired by the Balkan tradition, Balskandal embraced the mission of moving all feet in the city of Porto in a dancing rhythm. Soon, the project started promoting not only music but also movies and the culture of the Balkan region in general, organizing a festival of Balkan culture and several small events.
traditional singing workshops “open voice”
Traditional singing allows us to reconnect with our natural voice, learn to listen to others and feel part of a group. As Svetlana Spajić, a singer and
researcher of traditional singing from Serbia, says, “an important characteristic of traditional singing is the awareness of the other. Until there is no other, there is no me, there is no my voice. The double voice here is one voice, agreement, common movement, common aspiration, without the other I do not exist, nor can my sound exist.” (www.vreme.com/kultura/teznja-ka-savrsenoj-harmoniji). Singing can be a means of communication, a way to heal the soul, relax, get to know the other and get to know yourself.
Since 2019 I facilitate traditional Eastern European and Balkan singing workshops in places like BOTA (Lisbon), Cozy Yoga and Yantra (Porto), Quintandona Festival, Balleteatro.
Bombalkanica Festival
Being a music festival, the main effect of Bombalkanica is the promotion and dissemination of Balkan culture and music through concerts,
workshops and jam sessions. The goal is to leave the Porto audience with a certain idea, but also with curiosity to search and listen to more music from the Balkan region. The festival also brings the initiative of creating new ways of socializing for the inhabitants and beautify the city withmusic, as much as promoting the city of Porto. Bombalkanica has an enormous potential to gather even more public and artists both from Portugal and abroad and enrich the city of Porto with musical events, showing its diversity and conviviality among the people from Porto and the people who came to Porto to call it home.
event production
As Balskandal, I produce regularly concerts, singing workshops and various cultural events connected to the
Balkan and Slavic culture in Porto.