The Koleda Ensemble of Balkan Dance grew out of the Koleda Ensemble of Ethnic Dance, a student organization at the University of Washington. In 1967 Dennis Boxell, a folklorist specializing in Balkan culture, became its chief choreographer and artistic director. The Seattle-based touring company was dedicated to fostering interest and research in the folklore, music and dance of the Balkan region and its people. Koleda played a significant role in popularizing Balkan music and dance in Seattle during the 1960s and 1970s, performing with a full troupe of dancers, singers and musicians in the Pacific Northwest, Canada, and Europe. Also referred to as the Koleda Ensemble of South Slavic and Traditional American Dance, Koleda Folk Ensemble, or simply Koleda, the Koleda Ensemble was headquartered at Kafana, a studio dedicated to Balkan folk dance and music, on Roosevelt Way, Seattle. Koleda folded in 1974.

Sources: https://www.academia.edu/34868118/_There_Will_Not_Be_Another_Koleda_Folk_Dance_Narratives_and_the_Study_of_Dance, Box 1, folder 6 in collection