Traditional Thracian dances are usually swift in tempo and are mostly circle dances in which the men dance at the front of the line. In the socialist period, this genre was held in disfavor by the establishment for many reasons. Such a dissipated, oriental, low class music had no place in a forward-looking, modern socialist state. Underground it kept on developing though into Chalga (Чалга) or Pop folk, incorporating a blend of Arabic, Turkish, Greek, and Roma (Gypsy) influences, as well as motifs from even flamenco and klezmer music. It is known for repeating musical themes and dance rhythms and its style of dancing called kyuchek in Bulgarian. You could say it’s the Bulgarian variety of the Greek laïkó. Many Bulgarian artists adapted Greek music into Bulgarian songs such as the Kristal Orchestra and others. Traditional Bulgarian music has had more international success than its neighbors due to the breakout international success of Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, a woman's choir that has topped world music charts across Europe and even farther abroad. True popmusic took a long time to get picked up in Bulgaria. A first attempt by singers Pasha Hristova and Mariya Neykova met an untimely end due to a plane crash in 1971. In the seventies an act like Tonika (with slick Italian-styled pop) had some succes. A pop singer starting live career in the sixties is Lili Ivanova who is considered a pop-icon in Bulgaria. In the underground prog-rock was made by bands like Shturtzite and FSB (or Formation Studio Balkantone). This underground scene evolved in the eighties in a punkscene starting with Novi Cvetya (”New Flowers”) performing punk rock as early as 1979. Punk rock didn’t have it easy in communist Bulgaria, a country in which all aggressive rock music was officially banned. Most punk recorded their music in neighbouring Yugoslavia. It wasn't untill the end of the eighties and start of the nineties that popular music really picked up and then especially the heavy metal side of it. This probably due to the fall of the Iron Curtain. Heavy acts like Epizod, Hipodil and Pantommind originated. Nova Generacia makes more dark new wave. In the new millenium more less-heavy acts like Balkandji (mixing Bulgarian folk with rock), Stratia and 032 appeared. One of the more popular pop-artists in the new millenium is Maria Ilieva. Coming from the succesfull band Kaffe who made more jazz like music she now combines urban music with local elements. Since the new millennium Bulgaria also sees a rice of artist in the Chalga genre, mixing Turkish, Bulgarian, Arabic and Romani ("Gypsy") influences with modern electronics and housemusic. The result has connections with the ‘Turbo-folk’ genre in Serbia and is not without artistic controversy. The purists find it an insult to the original folklore. However , the performers, usually busty ladies, are wildly popular. Alisia, Teodora and Emanuela are the best known representatives of the genre. Meanwhile more sophisticated soft-pop comes from singer Miro. Thanks to Vall from Bulgaria for his additions. Zuris wordpress also released a very interesting background story on the Bulgarian punkscene from 1978: read here
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