See the music, hear the dance

Antistatic Festival continues with some inspiring performances

Interviewed by Scott Green and Andrea Vushkova, photos by Antistatic, Paul MacGee, Orlin Ognyanov
Published 11 May, 2022

The 15th edition of the Antistatic Festival began on Monday with an enthusiastic crowd awaiting Duets with abstraction at the National Gallery. A member of the Open Bulgaria team attended the opening show and noted how many people were awaiting the performance. As for the performance, she was enraptured by the way sound was used in certain parts, also making it more dramatic. The entire experience she notes as abstract and intriguing.

If you were unable to get tickets to the shows since Monday, you can read our article where we interviewed some of the performers and choreographers. We do hope you will get to see some of the performances in the coming days, if not we again interviewed some of them which you can read below.

PURE /youth/  will be at Krasno Selo Cultural Center, starting at midday on 13 May. You can view the Facebook event here.  When asked about what inspires his performances Christian Bakalov revealed that it’s a famous quote by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze who was referencing the Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza, and is about what the human body is capable of.

Christian noted that his greatest achievement was “The fact that I found my personal artistic language to communicate with the audience. Of course, there is lots of inspiration from the people I have been working with for the last 25 years but the core of my work represents my inner world and my essence as a human being. In times when most of the things are a copy of the copy of the copy, to be able to communicate my ideas in a uniquely personal way, it's a privilege that I can consider an achievement.”


When asked about what he hopes to achieve by performing, he revealed “Every single day I'm trying to become a better version of myself and create art that inspires other people to become better versions of themselves. It’s the way that we can hope one day the World will be a better version of the World than before. Only by becoming a better humanity every single day.” 

Two of the creators of the Antistatic Festival, Iva Sveshtarova and Willy Prager, are set to perform “Before the End … (of the World)” at Toplocentrala also on 13 May. “Through my performances, whether in collaboration with Willy Parger or my own work, I try to expose issues that excite me, and I think the audience as well. Such as the theme of happiness and its transformation into a product for sale (Made for Happiness); imposed stereotypes about the understanding of the female body and femininity (Perfectly Pink) or what would be the end, globally and/ or personal aspect (Before the End...(of the World). The choice of these topics is not random, they are part of our time. Topics that excite us, worry us, open questions, and problematize the time in which we live” said Iva 

When asked what the end of the world would involve, Iva said “The last hug of your loved one. The last sunset. Last bite of your favorite chocolate. Last drink. Chaos. Roughness. Tears. Hysteria. Something sinister, but also very beautiful.” She ended with “With this performance, we would like to invite the audience to think about those moments before the end of the world. What would this end be?  And would there be an end to the world at all, other than our end of life?”

Marion Darova’s performance WO MAN, is taking the stage at Toplocentrala on 14 May. “Imagine watching Mоеbius strip - at first you see a strip with two sides, but when you look more closely and try to trace the surface of the strip, you will notice that it has no two sides, only one. The duality of things is only in our thoughts” was the answer we got when we asked what the “Plural One” meant in reference to the performance.

Marion said her greatest achievement was daring to enter contemporary dance at the age of 30, “My goal with every project is to express something personal, honest and not distorted by commercial factors [...] For me, art is a kind of religion. In this sense practicing art, especially with other people, is a religious experience. I feel like I'm part of something bigger.” She finished by noting that philosophy and the performing arts are inseparable.

Performances showing in the coming days:
12 May, 17:00 - 18:00, Rituals of Soul. Toplocentrala "South Park - II"
12 May, 19:00 - 20:00, Temel. Derida Stage "Tsar Samuil"
12 May, 21:00, dragON aka PHOENIX. Toplocentrala "South Park - II"
13 May, 12:00 - 17:00, PURE /youth/. Krasno Selo Cultural Center
13 May, 17:00 - 18:00, Impossible Actions. Invitation Only
13 May, 19:00 - 20:00, Certified Copy. SAMCA, 2 "Cherni Vrah" blv.
13 May, 21:00 - 22:00, Before the End … (of the World). Toplocentrala "South Park - II"
13 May, 22:00, DJ IrmenaC. Toplocentrala "South Park - II"
14 May, 12:00 - 17:00, PURE /youth/. Krasno Selo Cultural Center
14 May, 17:00 - 18:00, Differsonalities. Derida Stage "Tsar Samuil"
14 May, 19:00 - 20:00, Initial Boost. Toplocentrala "South Park - II"
14 May, 21:00 - 22:00, WO MAN. Toplocentrala "South Park - II"
The full schedule can be viewed here. Tickets can be booked here.


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