An evening of Albanian dancing. The scenario was a wedding. They said that the bride emerging wearing a red veil is a tradition dating back to pre-Ottoman times; it’s to ward off the evil eye. The first thing she sees when she lifts her veil is her husband’s eyes — a sign of good fortune in their lives together.
Below are some still pictures and two videos. The first video shows the wedding dance. The second video shows the audience (we all dressed up in Albanian costumes) learning to do a traditional circle dance.
Pre-wedding dancing to set the mood.
The bride emerges in her red veil.
The groom’s friends serenade the couple.
The wedding couple dance, and then their friends join in.
The audience learns how to do a traditional Albanian dance.
Another view of the audience members learning how to dance.
This is how they dressed me up to look Albanian.
The venue, Albanian Nights, holds performances every evening. Admission for just the performance is 3,800 Albanian lei (ALL), roughly 38€. A photoshoot of you in Albanian costume is 1,500 ALL (I just took a selfie). I couldn’t find the price with dinner unless I booked another ticket, but I strongly recommend doing the dinner. If you are a dinner guest, you’ll have seats on the ground floor, near the performers. You’ll also be sitting comfortably in chairs, not sitting on the floor along the staircase, as I did (believe me, it gets mighty uncomfortable sitting on a hard wooden floor and twisting your body to look down below for a couple of hours). Your dinner will include a “traditional Albanian tasting menu” with items from multiple regions of Albania and one drink (which can be alcoholic or non-alcoholic, but try the rakia if you want the full Balkan experience).
Please note that wheelchair users can access the performance area by elevator but the dinner area is on a platform which is not wheelchair-accessible. Also note that the performance area is in a basement with lots of wood and limited ingress/egress, making me concerned about fire safety.
Albanian Nights is located in the Millenium Business Center on Rruga e Kavajës Street (also spelled Kavaja Street) in Tirana. It is about a 10 minute walk from Skanderbeg Square.