Dancehouse: Derida Stage, DNA, Etude Gallery and Toplocentrala
Over the years, a number of spaces (some more sustainable than others) have provided a space for contemporary dance, although the ones entirely dedicated to this form can be counted on the fingers of one hand – which creates the impression that modern dance is everywhere and almost nowhere all at once.
In the beginning, there was the Red House Andrey Nikolov center for culture and debate. Probably no other space in Bulgaria has played a greater part in the development of the independent culture scene, the contemporary arts and in particular dance. It opened in 2004 and officially ceased to exist in 2020. Over the years, a number of spaces (some more sustainable than others) have provided a space for contemporary dance, although the ones entirely dedicated to this form can be counted on the fingers of one hand – which creates the impression that modern dance is everywhere and almost nowhere all at once. Then again, it seems that the time of narrowly specialized spaces is mostly over. The upcoming opening of the Center for Contemporary Arts Toplocentrala inspires optimism – it's an ambitious project for which everyone has their own expectations. But let's stop for a moment and take a look at a few different places where dance finds a home.
DNA – A SPACE FOR CONTEMPORARY DANCE AND PERFORMANCE
In 2015, Miroslav Borsos, then director of the National Palace of Culture, invited the freelance theater and dance critic Mira Todorova for a chat. He showed her a nightclub that had just shut down and asked if she could turn it into an art space, and what that space would look like. This led to the opening of DNA, a space for contemporary dance and performance.
"This met the needs of the dance scene for a workspace where longer rehearsal processes could take place, things could be presented regularly, and various educational and training formats could be organized, like workshops, lectures, discussions, etc." says Mira, who became the artistic director of DNA. A key focus of the space is to provide regular meetings with international artists and practitioners.
Mira Todorova | Photographer: Orlin Ognyanov
According to her, DNA gives greater visibility to a very niche, boutique art that needs to build up its profile, achieve stability, attract audiences, build certain needs and expectations among them, as well as understanding and criteria for its appreciation; the space also fills out the highly porous infrastructure of the genre, which rests on no more than two or three spaces. As part of the National Palace of Culture, the space has the status of a commercial company – it is under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, but does not receive direct subsidies from the state or municipality.
"The salaries of the team and the maintenance of the space are covered by the National Palace of Culture, while the programming and ensuring its realization are my concern. In order do the foreign program, like the so-called Migrating Bodyor our project with children and high school students Excused Presences, I apply for funding from various programs and institutions in Bulgaria and abroad," Mira explains. And the independent artists working in DNA come with projects that have already won funding.
Still from IFEEL2 by Marco Beretini | DNA | Photographer: Orlin Ognyanov
Over the years, many Bulgarian and foreign performances, workshops, festivals and various projects have taken place in DNA. As part of the foreign series Migrating Body, the space has hosted leading names from Australia, Asia, Europe, USA, Canada, South America, who also give workshops for the local community. Theorists and playwrights such as Noemi Solomon and Ivana Ivkovic have visited, and almost all independent Bulgarian artists have worked in space.
The pandemic affects DNA badly with its constraints, requiring a reorganizations of the program and making it difficult to plan how it would work. The shakeup in the NDK leadership also had an impact. "In the summer of 2020, the entire DNA team was laid off, except for me – so I was forced to reduce the program, especially the foreign entries," says Mira. However, the new season is already coming together with plans for the premieres of many Bulgarian and foreign performances, as well as workshops with international guests. However, going into more detail is difficult given the pandemic situation.
Derida Stage
DERIDA STAGE
In 2010, Atanas Maev and Zhivko Zhelyazkov founded Derida Dance Center – the first center for contemporary dance in Sofia. Their dance company Derrida needed a new home for its activities, after being a permanent resident of Cadiz, Spain between 2004 and 2008. In 2012, the center became a Bulgarian representative of the most active and large-scale organization in the field of contemporary dance Aerowaves – Dance across Europe, through which forty-four members from all European countries exchange experiences. In the meantime, they developed a one-year training program in the field of contemporary dance Dance PORT Derida, thanks to which they have discovered more than eighty talented performers. The need for something new arose naturally...
"Opening my own stage for dance performances is a dream come true with many risky elements. We took this step because, in addition to the productions of the Derida Company, many others arose carrying their own spark, but their authors had very few opportunities to present them and find access to a stage,” says Atanas Maev, who has been involved in art management, cultural diplomacy and production since 2003. Derida Stage has been active since 2019 and is already a member of the European Dancehouse Network platform for dance stages in Europe, which provides the opportunity for invaluable exchanges of experience and practices at the international level. In addition to its rich program, the space maintains an open line of communication with its audiences – Atanas describes it as a kind of society, which is also an ideas incubator.
Atanas Maev | Photographer: Violeta Apostolova
"We have two sources of financing, projects and commercial activity, as part of our business plan," Atanas says. "Our collaboration with European, American and Israeli partners helps us implement many small-scale projects which are the reason for the diversity of our program and the growth of the team." A breakthrough, albeit achieved with great compromise, is the new funding for one-year programs by the National Culture Fund, and the stage's long-term partnership with Sofia Municipality makes its residency program possible. The venue also features a cocktail bar, which audience members can take advantage of before or after the show.
Photographer: Adriana Yankulova
The pandemic is the reason why the company lost three studios, where it worked with professionals to implement projects and trainings in the field of contemporary dance during the day, and offered dance courses in the evenings. However, the upcoming season is quite ambitious. Between September 10-12 the international festival "Theater of Miracles" by Arte Urbana Collective will take place, and on September 15 the French dance company Dans6t will visit the space. The performances Teleport, Fractusand Syntheticsare forthcoming, as well as Status, a debut performance by Elitsa Popova, Maria Tabakova, Mihaela Zaimova and Radina Harizanova, and a musical-visual performance by Miryan Kolev called Ghost Villages.
Etude Gallery | Photographer: Vladislav Iliev
ETUDE GALLERY
The idea for Etude Gallery came from choreographer, dancer and producer Annie Collier, who lives in the United States but has been supporting the independent dance scene in Bulgaria for years through her foundation. "Annie very spontaneously organized the purchase of the gallery and I started organizing events myself. Then the team grew to include another professional in the field, Ventsislava Stoyanova, who is in charge of exhibitions, while I am responsible for the other performance initiatives," explains Galina Borisova, who likes to describe herself as a mutant choreographer. "This started almost as a joke in 2015, but then we became very active. We also organized the Etudes and Friendsfestival (which ran for six consecutive years) – it had an international platform, but it prioritized Bulgarian productions and Bulgarian choreographers and dancers living abroad."
For her, the fact that the space does not have a narrow profile is an advantage. Forms that exist on the boundary between different arts can help artists express themselves better, because they are not limited to their own field. "This space challenged me to realize projects that I would not be able to do within a state institution with a dance or ballet troupe. The people we worked with were very brave and interested in exploration.”
Galina Borisova | Photographer: Boryana Dzhivdzhanova
In addition to applying for projects, Etude Gallery relies on the annual support of the foundation of the same name, organized by Annie and Nathan Collier. They help support the upkeep of the space and its dynamic annual program. A positive thing about the pandemic is that it provided an opportunity to create an archive of the activities that the foundation has developed over the years, and the festival could still be held online.
Galina believes that in Bulgaria the spaces for contemporary dance are a problem. Etude Gallery not only provides a stage for chamber performances, but also a rehearsal space. "We need the younger generation to be more active – to make demands, not to give up. As well as more dialogue with the Ministry of Culture and the Sofia Culture Program. The budget will not be burdened at all if they provide us with a space where you can rehearse for free.”
A rethinking of the development of the gallery is currently underway. The number of exhibitions will likely be reduced and the space will be used more for rehearsals and performances. "We have an idea for a biennial. Annie Collier and I are trying to archive and document information by filming video interviews with our teachers, who are already old and whose stories must be told. We met with Vera Kirova, Margarita Gradechlieva, Elisaveta Marinova, Varbinka Zhekova, Kalina Bogoeva. Making documentaries about these ballerinas is my most important mission at the moment, so that their history does not end up tossed in the trash.
Digital model "Toplocentrala"
TOPLOCENTRALA - CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Could Sofia have a contemporary arts center with several large stages? Until a few years ago, this seemed like a mirage, but not anymore. The regional center for contemporary arts Toplocentrala will open its doors in a few months. But how did this happen? "There was a fortuitous meeting of two interests: on the one hand, the independent scene had already gained momentum and had made several unsuccessful attempts to infiltrate state and municipal institutions, as a quota or as events. So we had already started thinking about creating our own space," says Veselin Dimov. He is a theater director, one of the founders of the Free Theater Association and the ACT Free Theater Festival, as well as the founder and chairman of the Toplocentrala Association. He will also serve as the interim director of the center. "The other interested party was Sofia Municipality, which was in the process of applying to be the European Capital of Culture and was open to the independent scene and the idea of creating such a space, especially given the current trend of transforming industrial architectural heritage into modern cultural centers.”
Digital model "Toplocentrala"
The chosen site was the former thermal power plant of the National Palace of Culture, which operated between 1981 and 1983 in South Park 2, next to the garrison shooting range, where Nikola Vaptsarov was executed, and behind the Hilton Hotel. The process took seven years, during which numerous options for the functioning of the space we proposed. “We ended up with something that can be done within the Bulgarian legal framework, which is the creation of a regional cultural institute in which there is a shared responsibility between the municipality, the Ministry of Culture and the people who fill this space with content and maintain it" explains Veselin.
How will Toplocentrala contribute to the cultural scene with its material base? With a large 360 sqm hall with 250 electronically operated telescopic seats, as well as two smaller stages. One has around seventy seats and will be used as a black box for more experimental dance and theater performances, as well as workshops. The other, which is designed like a white cube, is dedicated to the visual and digital arts. There is a multifunctional studio for rehearsals and two outdoor spaces – an amphitheater stage and a 400 sqm terrace, which is attached to a bar and will host jam sessions, readings, discussions, stand-up performances... "What is new for the Bulgarian arts is that for the first time there will be a center with a residential part attached to it – four double rooms where foreign artists can stay while developing or presenting projects," says Veselin.
Veselin Dimov
In the beginning, Toplocentrala will co-produce projects in order to enable more artists to perform, but he does not rule out the possibility of one day switching to a mixed or production-only model. The most urgent task is to lay out the internal rules for how the space will function. It will be municipal property, but as a regional center with the participation of the Ministry of Culture, its task will be to serve the entire Sofia region. And the opening is coming soon.
"We have set up events with six foreign cultural institutes. They will take place in the period between November 7 and Christmas and will give an initial boost to the center. They are all very impressive," says Veselin, who prefers not to reveal too many details. "The only thing I will say is that we are expecting Sasha Waltz & Guests – I would say that this is among the top five dance companies in the world." Events from Austria, Hungary and France are also in the works. Foreign artists will not just come and go, the goal will always be to have added value such as workshops and master classes. "Of course, the center will be open for all kinds of events such as festivals of various artforms. It will be open to serve, how should I say it, as their homebase," Veselin adds. And how is modern dance developing in his view? As one of the organizers of the ACT festival for the ten years of its existence, Veselin has only one thing to say about it: "It used to be that around 30% of the proposals we received were for contemporary dance. Now it's just the other way around."
The Center for Contemporary Arts Toplocentrala will open in November.
Toplo Fest will take place on September 4 and 5.