Žofka Kašparová

Czech Republic | Flute

A versatile flute player from Czech Republic, living and playing between Prague and Gothenburg (Sweden). Žofka started as a classical flute player, but found her passion in folk music and improvisation. She moved to Sweden in 2014 and graduated there in “World Music Performance” at Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg.

Žofka loves odd meters, experiments and fusions. She's been a part of the Ethno Germany team since 2019.  Amongst other ethno-related projects she's done are Etno Histeria Umeuropa Caravan 2014, Ethno Histeria and Rila Music Exchange in Bulgaria several times. She also organized Prague Folk Marathon in 2013/14 together with Kieren Alexander. Currently she’s a part of various projects of various genres in both Sweden and Czech republic (arabic, jazz, balfolk, experimental,...), composing her own music and teaching.

Mouloud Mammeri

Algeria | Guitar

Originally from Sahara in the Algerian side, he is a self-taught musician since he was 13 years old, playing Punk, Metal, Reggae, African and World Music, with an intense experience and performances in many concerts and events inside and outside Algeria. Mouloud has been playing traditional and North African folk (Gnawa, Chaabi and Raï music) as session musician in weddings and traditional occasions.

He discovered the ETHNO movement through an international exchange musical project. He has been now a participant in five ETHNO Camps (Ethno France?, Ethno Catalonia?, Ethno Estonia?, Ethno Flanders? and ETHNO Germany Music Camp?).

Mouloud? is based in Tübingen (Germany) since two and a half years, where he plays in different bands. He plays Desert Blues with Bazaar, Cumbia from Latin America with Combo Cumbiale?, Balkan with Bayram Agusevi Band? and ETHNO music with DieVagari?.

Nemat Battah

Jordan/Palestine | Voice and Oud

Nemat Battah is a singer and oud player from Jordan with Palestinian origins.

She finished her bachelor’s degree of music in Jordan, her first Master’s degree in Gothenburg-Sweden, where she studied world music interpretation performance. At the moment, she is attending the Nordic master of global music program at Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Nemat started singing traditional Arabic music at the age of eight, and since then she has participated in many concerts inside and outside Jordan. Nemat has been participating in Ethnos since 2014 (Sweden, Germany and Flanders), and she has been participating and teaching in folk marathons since 2016/2017 (Germany, Czech Republic, and Portugal). She has been an Artistic Leader in Mini Ethno Ludwigshafen 2017 and 2018 and Ethno Germany 2019. She is also involved in organizing the upcoming Ethno Jordan. Nemat is now based in Helsinki-Finland where she is taking part in several musical projects as a composer and as a performer, as well as teaching several courses about Arabic music and singing at Sibelius Academy and other music centers in Helsinki.

Sami Karkar

France/Tunesia | Percussion

After 25 years of intense music experience of all kinds, Sami finally discovered folk and traditional music through the Ethno movement. He has now been a participant to more than 20 Ethno music camps and related events - a true Ethno veteran! Sami has lately been based mostly in France, spending some time in Finland, and traveling a lot in Europe and the Mediterranean, and he recently moved to Tübingen (Germany). His most recent projects are the ethno music duo Vilma&Sami, and the Ethno Tunisia music camp.

Catarina Ascensão

Portugal | Dance

Graduated in Contemporary Dance and Choreography (2006), in Portugal, attended a master in Education through Art – Theater. Catarina develops her work between teaching, creating/performing and a path in holistic therapies. Until 2011 Catarina worked as a full time freelancer, mainly in Portugal, combining her artistic work as a dancer in different dance/theater companies and as a teacher in several schools. In 2012, she left this path, started to travel and deepen her holistic research, mainly in India, France and Portugal, with different approaches, discovering bridges between her background and the connection between movement / life / healing. Also in 2012, she started to deepen her knowledge in traditional dances and world music, discovering a new passion. Since then, she has been leading workshops and intensive courses over Europe.

Since 2016 she is Dance Mentor in Ethno Portugal, and since 2018, co-coordinating the project with Juanra Campos. Since 2019, Ethno Germany has featured Catarina as a dance mentor.

www.catarinaascensao.weebly.com

Rafaela Alface

Portugal | Dance

Rafaela Alface is originally from Portugal, is living in Belgium for three years and is now working in the social sector. Although she's not a professional dancer nor teacher, she believes to have quite some interesting material in her luggage that would make her able to, alongside Angélica, be a mentor for dance in Ethno Germany.

Rafaela graduated in Portugal in 2021 in community development and sociocultural intervention/animation. Her focus lies on creative and artistic skills such as movement, dance and music. In Portugal she discovered Folk Dance, which has been part of her life for 8 years now. She has participated in Ethno as a dancer in Portugal and Germany. Rafaela worked for one year with a circus school in Belgium, where she acquired a lot of skills within the circus techniques that include juggling, body awareness and expression, acrobatics, pedagogics and performing arts.

On various occasions Rafaela has developed own projects, sessions and creative movement performances. 

When she is not dancing, she is a singer/songwriter and really passionate about music in general.