Lia and Theodor Vasilescu
Romanian dance teachers and choreographers
Theodor Vasilescu is an independent choreographer, lecturer, folklore & traditional dance researcher, Romanian folklore and charactere dance teacher. He teaches Romanian folklore dances at courses / workshops / master classes organized by INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCE GROUPS, by DANCE ACADEMIES, by DANCE SCHOOLS. He taught such courses in Europe (The Nederlands, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, USA (Stockton Camp, Mainewoods Camp, Mendocino Camp, at different groups in North and South California, Alaska, New Mexico, Oregon, Minnesota, Texas, Maine, Massachusette, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Washington DC., New-York), Japan, Canada (Quebec, Ontario, Alberta,Saskatchewan),Hong-Kong,Taiwan. Theodor made choreographies for professional dance ensembles such as: "INTERNATIONAL DANSTHEATER" from AMSTERDAM - HOLLAND, L' Ensemble National de Folklore "LES SORTILEGES" from MONTREAL, ”VINOK” from EDMONTON - CANADA, "AMAN" from U.S.A., "BUDLET" Folk Dance Ensemble from Hong Kong, for several amateur dance ensembles in U.S.A. Norway, Holland, Germany, Spain as well as big international performances in open air such as” World Folklore Festival of C.I.O.F.F – FOLKLORIADA”in Brunssum and “International Folklore Festival” in Vierhouten - The Netherlands and the Festivities of Nile in Sudan.
In Romania, well-known folklore professional ensembles such as “Junii Sibiului”, “Doina Gorjului”, “Baladele Deltei”, “Mureºul”, “Transilvania” and numerous amateur dance ensembles have in their current repertoire performances and choreographies, which are the creation of Theodor Vasilescu.
He was the chief choreographer of the famous Romanian National Professional Ensemble "Rapsodia Românã" and he led for 43 years „Cununa Carpaþilor" Folklore Ensemble from Bucharest.
From 1964 to 1994 Theodor was the head of Choreographic Section at the National Center for the Preservation and Promotion of Folklore. In this important position he did many reaserches and collections of dances and traditions in villages. For several years he was teacher of Romanian folk and character dance at the Choreographic Department of the Theater and Film Academy from Bucharest.
He is President of the National Association of Folklore Choreographers of Romania.
Theodor is the author of a dance notation system currently used by professional choreographers and researchers throughout Romania. In this system were published over 60 volumes by different authors of folklore dance collections. Theodor’s dance notation system is also used in other countries like Holland, Japan, Sweden and Australia.
He is the author of "Folclor coregrafic românesc", an anthologic collection of dances from all ethnologic zones and counties of the country , based on several years of research throughout Romania, .
Theodor is the author of a system of Romanian character dance studies used in various dance ensembles from Romania and abroad.
Theodor and LiaVasilescu realised and recorded on DVD 11 programs of Romanian folk dances for recreational purposis. Each program contains between 18 up to 26 dances representing almost all the regions of Romania.
Theodor graduated as dipl. chemical engineer but decided in 1964 to follow folklore research and dance as a full time profession.
Lia Vasilescu - was born in Sibiu, an old town and important cultural center of Transylvania region. After high school in her birthplace she attended the University in Bucharest, Faculty of Philology which she graduated as an English teacher.
Even during school in Sibiu she was attracted by music and dance, studying classical music and taking ballet lessons at the local Art School. When Lia started her studies in Bucharest she began her approach towards the folk dance, becoming a dancer in the folklore dance ensemble "Cununa Carpaþilor". There she met Theodor Vasilescu, the choreographer and dance teacher of this ensemble. They married in 1959. They have a son, Florin, whose profession is dipl. engineer, and was a very good folk dancer, too. Now, they have two grand children boy of 18 and girl of 16.
Since Theodor met Lia, they worked together in the field of research, enriching their knowledge on the traditional life and creation of Romanian villages. She was of great help by her methodical spirit of organization. With "Cununa Carpaþilor", as a dancer, Lia made numerous tours in Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, China, Vietnam, Russia and many other countries. She danced in this group for 24 years.
Since 1990, together with Theodor, she started to teach workshops, week-ends, camps in USA (Stockton Camp, Mainewoods Camp, Mendocino Camp, at different groups in North and South California, Alaska, New Mexico, Oregon, Minnesota, Texas, Maine, Massachusette, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Washington DC, New York), Europe (The Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Spain, Italy), Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong.