Jeroen started folk dancing at the age of 10. At the age of 14
(being the youngest dancer ever) he joined the Yugoslav Dance
theatre ORO (later known as KOLO) in Amsterdam. ORO was the high
end amateur performance group from famous Yugoslav dance teacher
Ciga Despotovic

At 18  Jeroen started to focus more and more on the folkmusic from
the Balkans. He took lessons from a number of well known masters
and learned to play the several native
percussion instruments such as Darbuka (Tarabuka), Tapan (Tupan/Davul),
Def (Deire) and Dohol.

Especially the emotional and turbulent music from the gypsies from all
over the Balkan, the Albanian folkmusic and the Greek music with it’s
complex rhythms have his special interest

Besides playing in different formations (such as Kaleb and Raromski)  Jeroen builds new
and restores old tapans

The accompanying of dance lessons with live music, giving the vital rhythmic support is Jeroen’s speciality,.
He has over 10 years of experience doing this. Due to his dance background he has the capability to help
danceteachers point out the accents and explain the nature of complex rhythms. Jeroen has frequently
worked together with dance teachers such as Jaap Leegwater, Dick van der Zwan, Eddy Tyssen,
Martin Ihns and Yves Moreau.

The last couple of years  Jeroen has been travelling a lot all over the world to accompany
these teachers and to play together with both local musicians as well as with other musicians
travelling with him from the Netherlands.