DOR TRANSILVAN

About us

Founded 29 years ago, the Dor Transilvan ensemble of the Cluj-Napoca Public Transport Company is one of the most valuable folklore ensembles operating in Cluj County and the only enterprise ensemble founded after 1989 in Romania.

Founded in 1994, the ensemble made its national and international debut at the “Cerbul de Aur” festival in Braşov and in 1995 began its mission as a representative of traditional Romanian culture in prestigious international festivals organized in Europe. (Middlesbrough, England)

With an annual average of 4 participations in international festivals, the DorTransilvan folk ensemble is one of the most active promoters of traditional Romanian culture abroad, receiving the title of “European ensemble” from the Cluj-Napoca City Hall. Winner of the “Oscar for Folklore” award at the “Castello di Gorizia” world festival, Italy, the Dor Transilvan ensemble is considered a true “cultural ambassador of Cluj”. Over the years, the Dor Transilvan ensemble has represented Romanian folklore with honor and success in 94 international festivals organized on three continents: in England, France, the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Greece, Turkey, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, South Korea, the United States of America and China.

The ensemble is composed of young dancers (students, students or employees), instrumentalists and folk song performers. The age of the dancers in the ensemble is between 14 and 34 years old and that of the instrumentalists between 15 and 80 years old.

The repertoire of the Dor Transilvan folklore ensemble is composed of 20 popular games or suites of games from the most beautiful and representative folklore areas of Transylvania: Oaş, Codru, Bihor, the Transylvanian Plain, Sibiu, Braşov, etc. Along with these, the ensemble’s repertoire also includes the „Moldovan game suite” and the famous game „Caluşul Oltenesc” – a game included in the UNESCO heritage list.

The ensemble’s orchestra is composed of a stable group of 10 musicians who play both in the traditional Transylvanian trio formula and in the taraf or small orchestra. Depending on the complexity of the performances, the orchestra can reach 15-20 instrumentalists. Most of the instrumentalists are musicians with higher education, which makes it easy to collaborate with the great performers of folk songs. Over the years, the DorTransilvan ensemble has collaborated with and accompanied almost all of today’s great performers of Romania, starting with Achim Nica and Dumitru Fărcaş to the famous Gheorghe Zamfir.

The artistic quality of the games or game suites in the ensemble’s repertoire is ensured by the professional experience of over 50 years of choreographer Florin Ciobanu. The density of performances held by the Dor Transilvan ensemble, approximately 80 performances per year, brings the artistic performances of the ensemble closer to those of professional ensembles in the country. This means that every year the DorTransilvan ensemble is invited to the largest folklore events such as the international festival “Cintecele munţilor” (Sibiu), the Transylvanian Celebrations (Cluj), the international festival “Hercules” (Herculane), the Festival of Hearts (Timisoara), the Festival of the Maiden Game in Transylvania (Cluj). The same special value of the artistic performances of the Dor Transilvan folk ensemble has facilitated artistic collaborations with TVR (with Florentina Satmari, Elise Stan and Mărioara Murărescu) and with the Romanian Cultural Institute in Madrid, Prague or Warsaw.
The choreography of the dances forever bears the mark of the valuable choreographer Florin Ciobanu and the mastery of the artistic interpretation that of the instructor Radu Rus.
Artistic Director Tiberiu Groza, General Director eng. Liviu Neag