Pece Atanasovski

Petre Vasilev "Pece" Atanasovski was born on October 25, 1927, in the village of Dolneni (near Prilep), Macedonia, the son of Vasile Atanasov Todorovski. It was the tradition until World War II for a male child to have his second name his father's, and his last name his grandfather's. Thus Pece is "Petre, son of Vasile, son of Atanas." Since the war, however, custom has changed and everyone in a family has the same last name.

Pece grew up in Dolnani, in a household with nine other children, and lived there until 1944. As a child, he was a shepherd and attended school only through the fourth grade. After that, he would have had to go to Prilep to continue his schooling and his parents would have had to pay. Even so, he was probably more fortunate than many other boys his age, who never learned to read and write.

He began playing instruments at the age of 5 or 6. Many of the men in his family were good musicians on the gajde, kaval or šupelka, and Pece learned to play all of these instruments, although at first he only played the surla (chanter) part of the gajda.

In 1950, Pece joined the then-forming state dance ensemble "Tanec" as well. He traveled throughout the world with the group, including a trip to the United States, and remained with the ensemble until 1959. Pece, who died in 1996, is survived by his wife Cena and two daughters, Vesna and Suzana.

Dances Pece taught include Baba Džurdža, Beranče, Berovka, Buvčansko, Crnogorka, Čučuk oro, Čupurlika, Dolgoto oro, Kavardaka, Kopačka, Maškoto oro, Nevestinsko oro, Odeno oro, Ovčepolsko oro, Ratevka, Sitna Lisa, Skudrinka, Staro oro, Teškoto, Topansko oro, Toska/Memede, Tropnalo oro, Žensko Beranče and many more.