THIS is the story of two foreigners, passionate lovers of Bulgarian folklore, who have spent the past nine years regularly going on tour to present, through their performances, the country's myths and tales.

Half-Bulgarian Moni Sheehan, storyteller, and musician Ivor Davies started a Spell In Time, the only Bulgarian myth and folklore performing arts group in the UK, as an expression of their genuine fondness for Bulgarian folklore.

At the outset, says Sheehan, abroad "nobody knew anything about Bulgaria and there were no stories or folklore books available"

The twosome's sources are texts collected and transcribed by Bulgarian folklorists from songs and narratives handed down over generations through oral tradition in Bulgarian villages. This extraordinary material has ancient origins, going back to Proto-Bulgarian, Slavic and Thracian roots, and is largely unknown outside Bulgaria.

Davis and Sheehan describe their performances as a blend of storytelling, ritual and music combined with divine Bulgarian singing.

Some of the symbolism in the stories relate to folk rituals.

For example, in their most recent production, they portrayed the ritual of the shaving of a groom before a wedding.

"Before marriage the groom has to be cleanly shaven and the girl has to be braided," Davis and Sheehan's explained.

This year, their productions have become much larger-scale. They refer to this as "the Bulgarian Project".

Davies explained that story telling could be simply a person sitting on a chair and talking. However, for them, ritual and folk dances are an integral part of the imagery and outline of a story.

"We integrate the music and the story telling together with a folk ritual and dance, to create a whole experience for the audience, giving them a taste of Bulgarian traditional folk culture," Davis said.

They thus create an environment in which the stories take on more life than they would through simple oral story-telling.

"We create music which allows the audience to experience some of the emotions and influences that go on in stories," Davis said.

A Spell in Time was joined by Dessislava Stefanova, former singer with the Philip Koutev Bulgarian folk music and dance ensemble and founder of the London Bulgarian Choir, and Bulgarian-trained kaval player Angel Karaivanov, adding more authenticity to the presentation of the stories.

The foursome has been performing the five main shows in the Tales of Hidden Bulgaria series, touring in a range of venues from London to Shropshire, Midlands, Sheffield, Hastings, Oxford and Wales.

What their audiences share with them is the magnificent Bulgarian singing.

"Bulgarian singing is powerful, expressive and full of vitality and beauty," Moni said, while Ivor added that it has a unique style, which gives power to the voice, and voice to the heart.

It is included in all their performances, Breathing The Dawn, The Dragon Lover, The Dark-Eyed Warrior, The Red Blood Rose, and Beyond Nine Forests.

They base their shows on heroic epics, folk ballads, ritual songs, legends and traditional tales translated by Sheehan and her mother Paraskeva Armstrong.

Their performance Breathing the Dawn: Tales of Hidden Bulgaria, an exciting new show about the horse in Bulgarian mythology, was presented at the magical international festival of storytelling and music entitled Beyond the Border - the Wales International Storytelling Fest-ival. This was the first time when a Bulgarian performance was staged and we are proud of it, Sheehan said.

"I don't know how many Bulgarians realise what a rich and wonderful story tradition they have," Sheehan said.

Davies added that they had done their bit for the Bulgarian tourist industry, because, after seeing their shows, people are interested in exploring the country.

"It is good for British people to see that Bulgaria has such a rich culture, and that there is more to Bulgaria than the rather negative press that the country has in England," Sheehan said.

Every year, they try to visit the country at least once, either to charge their batteries or just to experience the Black Sea, mountains and Koprivshtitsa area.

"It is inspiring because this is the landscape in which the stories were created, and you cannot really understand them unless you are here in the landscape," Sheehan said.

They share a conclusion: that Bulgaria is a beautiful and spiritual place.