Bar Harbor’s Kotwica Turns Global Traditions into Local Celebrations
Decades of Dance Continue as Bar Harbor’s International Folk Traditions Live On
by Carrie Jones with Carolyn Rapkievian.
BAR HARBOR—Do you remember the international folk dances that were held in the Bar Harbor Municipal Building back in the 1970s? The dances were led by MDI architect Patrick Chassé.
Initially, 45 records and cassette tapes provided the music at the dances. In the 1990s, the Bar Harbor Folk Orchestra played music for the dances with Tom Crikelair on accordion, Jon Archer, on kaval and tapan (a Balkan flute and drum), Carl Karush on guitar, Joe Niemczura on trumpet, and Ruth Grierson on fiddle, and soon after, the Maine Balkan Choir was formed by Kristen Stockman and Anne Tatgenhorst who sang with the band.
The tradition, love, and celebration continues with the Kotwica Band, which plays "music from the Baltic to the Black Sea and beyond."
Directed by David Rapkievian, Kotwica was formed in the spring of 2023, initially to play Polish music for fun.
Kotwica ("Kot-veets-ah") means "anchor" in Polish and the anchor was the symbol of the resistance against tyranny in Poland during WWII.
David Rapkievian said, "I chose this name because we live near the water and because resisting tyranny is part of the band's philosophy."
Anne Tatgenhorst heard about the band and brought two other Balkan singers with her to the group and the repertoire expanded to include Bulgarian songs. After the invasion of Ukraine, the band added Ukrainian songs, and at the invitation of the new annual Armenian Picnic in Searsport, the band learned Armenian songs and dances.
After a successful first season of concerts, audience members often asked if they could dance to the music, so the band began to include dance instruction as part of their programs.
In addition to David Rapkievian who plays violin, balalaika, and oud (the middle eastern predecessor of the lute), and Anne on vocals, the band includes Kevin Stone on button accordion, Carolyn Rapkievian on guitar and leading dances, David Quinby on double-bass, and vocalists Eloise Schultz, and Frances Stockman.
Just over a year ago, dance enthusiast Deborah Page along with the leader of the former folk dance group in Ellsworth, and members of the former orchestra, asked if Kotwica would be the house band if a monthly dance was organized. The dances have been going strong each month for the past year, Carolyn Rapkievian said.
THE EVENTS AND THE COMMUNITY
On the first Saturday of the month at the YWCA in Bar Harbor, the band plays and Carolyn leads dances from Armenia, Brittany, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Serbia, Sweden, Ukraine, and more. The band performs at festivals through the region, at COA, for private parties, and will perform as part of the Bar Harbor Music Festival at the Jesup Library on October 4.
The band is known for its unique music in concerts and also its teaching ability at dances.
"It's really rewarding to see everyone dancing—from children to elders, from beginners to experienced dancers and help make dances enjoyable for everyone all at once,” Carolyn Rapkievian said.
Band members say they enjoy the challenge of learning the unusual rhythms particularly of the Bulgarian and Armenian music they play. In addition to 3/4 and 4/4 time signatures, you'll hear the uneven rhythms of 5/4, 7/8, 9/8 and even 11/16, 18/16, and 25/16.
Why did these rhythms evolve in certain places?
Some researchers hypothesize that the terrain where people walked in the villages each day inspired the patterns of the music. Others suggest that the language and lyrics dictated the patterns.
And in middle eastern music, instead of western eight-note scales, there are more tones in-between the notes in the western scale.
"If you listen closely, you can hear us play those tones in the Armenian, Greek, and even one of the Swedish tunes because the violin and the oud do not have frets which limit the notes to certain pitches, " David Rapkievian explained.
To expand the band's repertoire, Swedish fiddler Goran Olson provided a master class in Swedish music last year. Following his instruction, the band began a series of themed dances monthly. They celebrated Swedish Santa Lucia Day at the dance in December, "a trip to the Greek islands" in January, "campfire dances" celebrating the February holiday in Armenia of jumping over the fire for rejuvenation, the Bulgarian Baba Marta holiday in March, and a Polish May Day with dances from each of these cultures.
"We want to share our love for other cultures and the joy of dancing," Carolyn Rapkievian said. "Dance and music cross linguistic and cultural boundaries."
Many of the group members are also involved in "contra dancing" but "that's a different tradition," Carolyn Rapkievian explained.
Contra dancing is a New England dance form rooted in Scottish and Irish music and dance. It's usually performed by couples in lines facing each other.
"In international folk dancing we mostly dance in a circle holding hands. These are generally village dances designed so that everyone in the village could do them. If new dancers are worried about learning the dances, they shouldn't be. The dances are easily learned just by watching the leader—often as simple as walking. We also explain the history of each dance we learn but it's not like a class—it's more like a party with a host getting those who want to dance up on the dance floor. But some folks come just to listen to the music and that's ok too!" Carolyn Rapkievian said.
TOMORROW’S EVENT
Dance to the intricate rhythms and beautiful harmonies of international folk music with the Downeast Folkdancers, September 6, 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the YWCA 36, Mt. Desert Street, Bar Harbor. Music and dance teaching by the Kotwica Band. No experience and no partner is needed. Admission is $10 at the door.
For more information visit
https://www.kotwicaband.org/
and https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553848505788
MORE ABOUT THE MEMBERS
David Chrapkiewicz Rapkievian of Bar Harbor has been a professional award-winning violin maker for almost five decades. In his younger years, he was a choreographer, director, and dancer in multiple dance groups. He has danced in Polish, Hungarian, Ukrainian, and Armenian dance groups. Musical interests led him to study balalaika in Kiev, Armenian oud with John Vartan, Arabic oud at the Arabic Music Retreat, and fiddle with teachers from Scotland to Cape Breton.
While in the NYC area, he regularly performed solo balalaika at the Russian Tea Room, formed the very popular "Icebreakers Folk Balalaika", and was the balalaika soloist with Russian Carnival Ensemble. David also plays fiddle with the Big Moose Band. His grandparents on his father's side were Polish immigrants. As a child, David learned Polish music from the bands in the Polish/Ukrainian neighborhood in Detroit. David is the musical director of the Kotwica Band.
Carolyn Okoomian Rapkievian has researched, taught, directed, and performed dance in a professional capacity for more than 30 years. Carolyn grew up dancing at Armenian family and social functions. She has studied and performed Armenian, Greek, Russian, Polish, and Hungarian dancing and ballet. In addition to Armenian dance, she has taught international folk dancing, character ballet, and ballroom dancing for dance companies, universities, and public folk festivals. Carolyn has been performing guitar with David since they married in 1991 and also plays in the Big Moose Band. She recently retired from a 50-year career in museums and serves on two museum boards in Bar Harbor.
Anne Stancioff Tatgenhorst, inspired by her Bulgarian roots, began performing songs from Eastern Europe with Kirsten Stockman, Kim Reiss, and the original Maine Women's Balkan Choir in the 1990's. For several years, she studied Bulgarian folk singing with Elitsa Stoyneva of Turgovishte, Bulgaria. In addition to the choir, she has sung with various trio ensembles including Sviata Duma, Trio Elitsa, and Rucheya in New England, DC, Toronto, and Bulgaria. Currently, she is directing the Maine Balkan Choir in two locations- Belfast and Ellsworth. Anne is a kindergarten teacher and lives in Winterport Maine.
Kevin Stone is one of the very finest accordion players in the area. He hails from the beautiful and bucolic Benton, Maine. As a software engineer, coming from a non-musical family and upbringing, he loves the challenge of learning music as an adult, as well as the interesting patterns and rhythms of different musical traditions. For several years he has played the chromatic button accordion, and participated in local jam sessions with friends. While initially self taught, he has received ample training from Swedish accordionist Sunniva Brynnel. He enjoys playing a variety of traditional music styles, from Celtic, Quebecois, and New England contra dance styles, to Swedish, Polish, Ukrainian, and Balkan music.
Eloise Schultz of Bar Harbor grew up in New York City where she studied classical voice and performed with ensembles around the city. Her interest in folk traditions was shaped by klezmer and shape note singing. In Maine, she has toured with the indie-soul-folk group GoldenOak and performs with the Maine Balkan Choir. She is a teacher and poet and works at the Jesup Library. She sings and play percussion in the Kotwica Band.
David Quinby of Sedgwick is an enthusiastic double-bass player with many local orchestras, with the Big Moose Contra Dance Band, and with smaller ensembles. Dave runs a successful business of supplying educational and scientific aquatic specimens which requires regular attendance on his boat.
Frances Stockman of Bar Harbor is a vocalist in the Kotwica Band and assists Carolyn with demonstrating some of the band's dances. She is a student at MDI High School and she performs in plays and musical productions locally. Her interest as a vocalist is rooted in her Aunt Kirsten Stockman's legacy in Balkan music.
UPDATES AND CORRECTION: We’ve updated Frances’ bio, added a T in Kevin Stone’s name and added that Nikolai Fox took those great photos that came courtesy of Kotwica. Those updates occurred at 5:20 p.m., September 5
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