Our Mission |
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The mission is to celebrate Atanas's life through events like presentations and parties. We would love Atanas's legacy to go forever.
Here is what the party organizer, Fusae Carroll says about Atanas and the party. "I first met Atanas in 1979 at IFC in upstate New York. In first sight, I invited him to Japan then rest is a history. He came to Japan 1980 for the first time. I was still living in Japan then and we had a group in Tokyo. Most of our members attended his camps in Iwai-near Tokyo and we would always go to our group after the camp to do all the dances we just learned from him. The place we had our group called “Sun Plaza” where I am organizing this special “Atanas Forever Party” to celebrate his love to Japan and Japanese dancers as well as everyone else he shared his culture and love with. Why does the "Atanas Forever" party has to be in May? It is because most of his Japan tours were in between end of April and early May, best time of the year in Japan. I would love to have anyone who learned dances, music, culture and anything else from him to join us to this special event. He touched so many people’s hearts through his dances and music. Now is the time to show him how much we appreciated, enjoyed and loved him through the things he left to us. I am sure he would be so happy and proud to see us doing this event. I would love to see us and younger generation to continue his legacy by keeping his dances alive, enjoy them, loving them so that when we meet again up there where ever he is now, we can all smile, hug and dance together !!!" *** *** *** Atanas Kolarovski was born in Dračevo (near Skopje), Macedonia, of a family of expert dancers and musicians. From his early youth, Atanas had the opportunity to observe and participate in the dances of Serbians, Albanians, and Romani who live in the Skopje area. He performed with the amateur group, Kočo Racin. After World War II, he danced for two years with the Yugoslavian Army Ensemble. With the ensemble he was able to travel all over Yugoslavia, studying and learning regional dances and dance styles of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, and the two atonomies, Banat and Kosmet, whose cultures are completely different from the other six republics. He was asked to help form Tanec, the Macedonian State Folk Ensemble, where he remained for 19 years as artistic director, choreographer, and lead solo dancer, traveling the world for 16 of those years. Atanas became a famed researcher, choreographer, consultant, and program director for many performing ensembles, such as Koko Racin, The Army Ensemble, Tanec, Ensemble Karpuc Pionerski, Blagoj Sosolcef, and Vlado Tasievski. He has researched and collected dances and folk music from the different areas of southern Yugoslavia, including Macedonia, south Serbia, and Shiptar-Albania. In 1964, Atanas made his first teaching tour of the United States, Belgium, Germany, Holland, and Switzerland, awakening interest in Macedonian dance and music around the country and becoming known as "the man with the golden legs." After the second tour, he was reviewed as "the untiring teacher, researcher, choreographer, consultant . . . a leading ambassador of Macedonia." Since then, besides having taught at all major folk dance camps throughout north America, he also taught extensively in Europe and east Asia. A great musician, Atanas played the accordion, the tupan, the kaval, the zurla, and drums. Since the 1970s, he, along with his wife, Ljupka (who was also a lead dancer with Tanec), and daughter made his home in Seattle, Washington, where, for a while, he operated a successful ethnic restaurant, "Yugoslavia," featuring old-country style cuisine. He tried to return to his home in Macedonia yearly and organized and conducted tours to his native country. Atanas passed away March 9, 2022 at his home in Macedonia with his family. Julianna Kolarovski (Atanas' doughter) Our father understood kindness and he knew love. What a testament to his life to have so many people loving him at 95! Our dad was a gentle and proud man with a heart of gold. He had greatness all over him. He created a movement with his amazing energy and willpower, teaching people all over the world to dance the historic musical traditions of Macedonia, which he loved and preserved. My parents loved and built our family and made it bigger by embracing the world.. For the rest of my life, I’ll be forever grateful to have been part of this amazing, worldwide dance community that he created and nurtured… There is so much love, laughter, music and dance to be had and I am ready to continue to dance forward with dad always in my heart! He leaves behind his wife of over 70 years, Ljupka. In all of those years together, they grew to be extensions of each other. She lost a large piece of herself upon his passing and she is hanging to her life as we speak…Although it has been just a few weeks since his death, our grief is still blinding…and our thoughts and prayers are with our mother.We try to eliminate the stress of his loss by staying busy, gathering pictures, or watching videos of my parents to keep them alive in our hearts. We all loved my dad dearly, my sister Liljana and her husband Salah, my husband Shahab and I, all share many fond memories. I will miss the sense of security being around him that he always created for me.My conversations with my father taught me to believe in myself and to love what I do. He supported me with my life passion and always emphasized the importance of having one. That will always stay with me. Atanas and Ljupka where blessed with four grandchildren, Tony, Fadi, Nenad, and Layla, all of whom remember their grandfather as being a caring, loving, and incredibly funny man who helped to shape their views of the world. Tony's wife Mirjana is involved with folk dancing and helps keep Atanas dances alife in Seattle. Ljupka and Atans were also blessed with five great - grandchildren. Khadyn, Delayni, Jordan, Amaya and Philip. Most young children don’t quickly warm to older people, but my dad had a special ability to quickly draw their attention, as he had a young heart and could entertain them for hours. Generally, my dad was in good health, and only began to decline during the month of December of last year.My dads last recorded conversation was just about a month ago and lasted about an hour.He was full of advice; he smiled a lot and wanted to have a party! His grandson,Tony, had just come to visit him. It was as if he was given strength from a Higher Power to come to life for his final words of wisdom….here are some of them from the recording; “ One who dances wishes no harm “ “Enjoy yourself, for there is nothing in the world we can call our own” “Think twice, say once; try to purchase not sell” meaning “say less - listen more” “Use your talents with passion and hard work and never give up” “ Watch for the wolves “ .. and “Let's have a party “ Always kind and thoughtful, he played a huge role in shaping my life, I am grateful for the opportunity to pass on his messages and his love of life to my children, family and friends. Remembering the life long impact he has had on my life and others, gives me something positive to focus on in times of grief.I know we can not bring him back among us… but he will never truly leave us. Celebrating his passing with music and dance almost feels like I am breaking some unwritten rule, that we should be happy at time of loss; however I would like to ask that everyone who attends this memorial, to wear something red,- for, as you all know, it was his favorite color and its the color of love! Someone as vibrant, passionate and fun … as my dad was… deserves a beautiful celebration of his life, with music, dance and most of all humor.. Because he was a person who loved a good party and loved to laugh… Though he had a large worldwide presence and legacy, his family is his greatest of all. He is so greatly missed by all of us, and we appreciate all of the pictures, memories, and support that have been shared with us thus far. Special thanks to Fusae Carrol, Ahmet Luleci and Yves Moreau. I am so grateful to the three of you for taking the time to research, organize, and create the -Atanas Forever Remembrance. Your energy, efforts, guidance and support through the last few weeks have been heartwarming and I appreciate you more than words can say. Our hearts are overwhelmed for each one of you incredible family and friends, your direct input and presence made this Remembrance of my dad so special with your messages of love, memories, videos, concerts, acknowledgements and dedications. Thank you all for coming together to celebrate Atanas' truly well-lived life. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Julianna, Lupka and Ljiljana |
