In one of those twists typical of the global village, it was a French Canadian who helped attract Australian Anna Travali to the idea of learning about Bulgarian folk dancing.

The world wide web played its part, too.

Travali, who comes from Brisbane, last July found an offer on the internet to take part in a folk dance workshop. The two-week event introduced her to a sample of Bulgarian culture, and she said she was impressed with what she saw and heard.

Led by a French Canadian who had lived in Bulgaria, the workshop introduced a group of women to folk dances from around the world.

Travali found herself particularly entranced by the Macedonian, Greek and Bulgarian dances.

"We Australians do not have a rich variety of dances. We just perform line dances, square ones and other American types of movement but we have none like yours," Travali said.

"One day was enough for me to be so impressed and to decide to come and learn about the people and culture."

With little information about this country available to her before she arrived, she was more impressed than she expected to be. Up to that point, all she had heard about were the "pecularities" of Eastern European countries.

Instead, she found herself taken by the warmth of Bulgaria's people, and enchanted by its old buildings and other "differences".

She had always had an interest in different countries and cultures "and I might not be taken as a very patriotic Australian," she said with a smile.

Travali has become the only foreigner in the Zornitsa Ensemble, and will join them in their tour of France and Spain this summer. Before the tour, she will attend a dance seminar in Pamporovo in July.

"All the dancers from the troupe are friendly and helpful to me and I find the job intricate and interesting," she said.

Describing herself as a not a professional dancer, she said her background was in the travel business.

Another point of comparision between life in Bulgaria and in Australia was that this country did not have the diversity of nationalities of her own.

Travali said she found Europe culturally a more interesting place because of the way that long-standing heritages were preserved.

Even on public buses, Bulgarian music was to be heard.

"Bulgaria has preserved its place and has not integrated so much with Europe," she said.

Travali loves writing for her own enjoyment and does articles for a small dance magazine in Australia about international folk dances.

She also likes writing about places she has visited.

"I already contributed to next month's issue with a story about my experience in Bulgaria with its people," she said.

One thing Travali lacks is a grasp of the Bulgarian language, saying she had not bothered to learn any languages from the European Continent, because of the distance between here and Australia.

She spends much time on her own and finds it extremely relaxing to get around and absorb the way of life.

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On June 2, the Zornitsa Ensemble is celebrating its 20th anniversary at the Sofia Opera House with a big folklore concert with dance and live music. The ensemble consists of a group of young people devoted to Bulgarian folk dancing. Zornitsa's repertoire is a kaleidoscope of the best examples of choreography from every region of Bulgaria, with a professional orchestra playing rich and varied music to accompany the dances. The ensemble has taken part in International Folk dance festivals in several countries, including Italy, France, Germany and Israel, and has given many concerts in Bulgaria. In July, they are to tour Spain and France.