I spent the month of May at Derida Dance Centre in Sofia working on my latest piece “Slipstream”. It was an intense period working with dancers Vera Molova, Elena Angelova, Kristina Veselinova, Stephanie Handjiiska and musicians Andrey Velkov and Stoil Ivanov.
It was much more challenging than I had expected balancing the various roles a contemporary choreographer must take on to produce work with a very limited budget. Producer, marketing manager, lighting designer, costume designer and more. It makes us more diverse as professionals but at the same time it brings a new question. Does it take away from our focus and creative input? Times change and our approach to making art does too. We all face the challenges of the day and I think the more we search for solutions the more we invent the future.
Slipstream was performed at the The Black Box International Theatre And Dance Festival. The work takes inspiration from the physical qualities of a slipstream. The region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid is moving at velocities comparable to the moving object. I had the dancers investigate these dynamics to shape a choreography exploring aspects of human relationships. This placed the dancers in a world of new dimensions and sensitivity where different pulses created constantly shifting patterns and hierarchy.
The live music added a new dimension to the performance. The music and dance include both set material and instant composition. I find that challenging and satisfying as a choreographer and observer. It always excites me when I see a piece being developed live on stage by the dancers after it has been choreographed in the main.
I’m looking forward continuing my work on the project and developing it into a longer piece.
Photographer: Radostina Stankova