{"id":781,"date":"2024-06-03T09:11:28","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T09:11:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/?p=781"},"modified":"2024-06-17T18:56:46","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T18:56:46","slug":"more-than-classical-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/more-than-classical-dance\/","title":{"rendered":"More than (Classical) Dance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Penelope Chatzidimitriou<\/strong><a href=\"#end\" name=\"back\">*<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"background-color:#e3c7ca\">Bulgarian Dance Platform, May 15\u201319, 2024, Sofia, Bulgaria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 4th edition of the Bulgarian Dance Platform in Sofia is a part of the larger 17th Antistatic International Festival for Contemporary Dance and Performance. For five days in May, it confirmed that \u201cstasis\u201d\u2014a Greek word for stagnation\u2014is not an option when it comes to contemporary dance and performance in Bulgaria.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"389\" src=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-782\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-1.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-1-300x146.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-1-768x373.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bulgarian Dance Platform\u2019s flyer welcomes the public. Photo: Florian Krau\u1e9e. Graphic design: Teodora Simova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Antistatic Festival, unique of its kind, began in 2008. Its founders are performer Iva Sveshtarova, choreographer Willy Prager and actor Stephan Shtereff. After studies and work experience outside their home country, they finally decided to stay and systematically bring the new international trends to Bulgaria. Their goal in this year\u2019s Bulgarian Dance Platform has been to inspire local artists, provide us with opportunities to get to know the current scene and encourage international collaboration, while trying to shake off the internationally derogatory vision of the country, and of the Balkans as Europe\u2019s dark \u201cother\u201d (see Maria Todorova, <em>Imagining the Balkans<\/em>, 2009).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In Dialogue with the Past<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A representative example of this mindset in the Platform was <em>Virtual Bodies<\/em>, directed by Rossen Mihailov (dance company Heteropods). Twenty Bulgarian choreographers created mini performances, inspired by twenty Bulgarian paintings and sculptures from the permanent exhibition of Kvadrat 500 National Gallery. Every day, museum visitors can see these by scanning their QR Codes on their mobiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u0412\u0438\u0440\u0442\u0443\u0430\u043b\u043d\u0438 \u0442\u0435\u043b\u0430| \u0411\u044a\u043b\u0433\u0430\u0440\u0441\u043a\u0430 \u0442\u0430\u043d\u0446\u043e\u0432\u0430 \u043f\u043b\u0430\u0442\u0444\u043e\u0440\u043c\u0430 #4 | 17. Antistatic\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kh8iLFbE1K4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Shooting <em>Virtual Bodies<\/em> in Kvadrat 500 National Gallery. Video: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@antistaticfestival\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">www.youtube.com\/@antistaticfestival<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A similar revisit of the past, the communist one this time, was attempted in <em>Nonument <\/em>2.<em>0 in the zone of contradictory desires<\/em> by Stephan Shtereff, in the hills of Varna, at the Monument to Bulgarian-Soviet Friendship, once the scene of bloody battles. With the German group LIGNA, they created a radio ballet, which we saw in a film presentation. In the \u201cpostsocialist contemporary\u201d (see Octavian Esanu, <em>The Postsocialist Contemporary: The Institutionalization of Artistic Practice in Eastern Europe After 1989<\/em>, 2021), <em>Nonument<\/em> promotes artists as mediators who help postsocialist societies process changes, without demolishing their past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u041d\u043e\u043d\u0443\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0442 2.0 | \u0411\u044a\u043b\u0433\u0430\u0440\u0441\u043a\u0430 \u0442\u0430\u043d\u0446\u043e\u0432\u0430 \u043f\u043b\u0430\u0442\u0444\u043e\u0440\u043c\u0430 #4 | 17. Antistatic\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dtutT75K7w0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In <em>Nonument 2.0<\/em>, participants visited the concrete monument which was built during the Cold War. Video: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@antistaticfestival\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">www.youtube.com\/@antistaticfestival<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, in <em>Esmeralda and Raymonda<\/em> by Galina Borissova and Teodora Popova, the past of classical and modern dance was revisited (often with bitter sarcasm) through fragments, in a performance that was much appreciated by those spectators literate in classical dance.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-2-Esmeralda-and-Raymonda.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-783\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-2-Esmeralda-and-Raymonda.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-2-Esmeralda-and-Raymonda-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-2-Esmeralda-and-Raymonda-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In <em>Esmeralda and Raymoda<\/em>, roleplaying is central. Performers: Galina Borissova, Teodora Popova. Photo: Teodora Simova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other performances also examined the transition of Bulgaria from an Eastern European country to capitalism. <em>84 Dials<\/em>\u2019 dramaturgy, by Stephanie Handiiska, explored everyday embodied practices and the commodification of the (dancing) body in neoliberal urban spaces. The outcome was playful, especially in its interplay with spectators, and thought-provoking, as it touched upon hot issues, like the financial difficulties of dancers in modern Bulgaria and the fetishization of the postsocialist female body. Still, it could go deeper.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-3_-84-dials.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-784\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-3_-84-dials.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-3_-84-dials-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-3_-84-dials-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>84 Dials<\/em>: The empty baskets would be filled with candies each spectator was given to \u201cinvest\u201d in brief performances of fantasies and personal stories. The rest were asked to cover their eyes as they had not \u201cbought\u201d the shows. Performers: Stephanie Handiiska, Nelly Georgieva. Photo: Teodora Simova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Together We Stand<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the first day of the Platform, <em>Critical Mass <\/em>and <em>Oratoria<\/em> explored more transhistorically the condition of being together. <em>Critical Mass<\/em>, by Silvia Cherneva, was beautiful \u201cpoetry in motion,\u201d using aerial acrobatics and contact improvisation. We marveled at the performers\u2019 bird-like existence in the air. Aesthetically pleasing, this performance touched upon human co-existence as delicate, difficult, yet necessary.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-5-critical-mass.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-785\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-5-critical-mass.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-5-critical-mass-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-5-critical-mass-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Critical Mass<\/em> used the simplest means (a suspended table and the play of light and shadows) to create visual poetry. Performers: Silvia Cherneva, Lou Couton, Danny Kearns. Photo: Teodora Simova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Oratoria<\/em>, by Anna Dankova, attempted to construct a universal protolanguage. Apparently, any such utopian vision implies a criticism of a dystopian present which blocks non-discriminatory human coexistence. From its other-than-human viewpoint, human communication seemed absurdist and funnily strange. However, <em>Oratoria<\/em> had a skin-penetrating melancholy that undermined the utopia of merry togetherness. Personally, I was left longing for what language allows to surface: deep feelings and thoughts, our biopolitical speaking soma.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-6-Oratoria.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-786\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-6-Oratoria.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-6-Oratoria-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-6-Oratoria-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Oratoria<\/em> was an organic polyphony, symphony and cacophony, which, even though meaningless, was tenderly human. Performers: Galya Kostadinova,Vasilia Drebova, Aleksander Gochev, Georgi Naldzhiev. Photo: Teodora Simova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u0391 similar attempt at the precultural could be seen in <em>One Two<\/em> by Christian Bakalov. Equipped with night vision cameras, we entered a pitch-black space to witness the five performers\u2019 effort at trance. Yet, I think that Dionysus in 2024 (unlike Dionysus in 69) calls for a complex agenda of Artaudian aesthetics, of a Dionysian politics of life and neotribalism today (see Michel Maffesoli, <em>The Time of Tribes<\/em>, 1996). There are leading figures in this field, like Theodoros Terzopoulos or Jan Fabre (with whom Bakalov has worked), if one wants inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"one two| \u0411\u044a\u043b\u0433\u0430\u0440\u0441\u043a\u0430 \u0442\u0430\u043d\u0446\u043e\u0432\u0430 \u043f\u043b\u0430\u0442\u0444\u043e\u0440\u043c\u0430 #4 | 17. Antistatic\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jpZiZJqn34E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The immersive performance <em>One Two<\/em> tried to create a collective ritual. Performers: Nikolay Barzakov, Demir Berisha, Aleksander Gochev, Daniel Denev, Mario Tomchev. Video: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@antistaticfestival\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">www.youtube.com\/@antistaticfestival<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More genuinely \u201corgiastic\u201d was the uncanny final scene in <em>Code Red<\/em> by Marion Darova. Rhythmically intense, physically exhaustive, intensely repetitive, that scene was bacchanalian in its frenzied bodily exploration. The girlie unicorns hanging under the female performers\u2019 bellies sabotaged the princess culture, turning bodies into subtle hermaphrodites, not objects of male desire but subjects that feel and think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u041a\u043e\u0434 \u0427\u0435\u0440\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043e | \u0411\u044a\u043b\u0433\u0430\u0440\u0441\u043a\u0430 \u0442\u0430\u043d\u0446\u043e\u0432\u0430 \u043f\u043b\u0430\u0442\u0444\u043e\u0440\u043c\u0430 #4| 17. Antistatic\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ngFwyBrBC2w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Code Red<\/em> negotiated the gaze as cultural construct, in its social and psychoanalytic implications. Performers: Ana Petkova, Vasilia Drebova, Martina Apostolova, Marion Darova. Video: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@antistaticfestival\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">www.youtube.com\/@antistaticfestival<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Pas Bouger<\/em> by Jivko Jeliazkov, based on the French play of the same title by Emmanuel Darley (2002), also explored the question of \u201chow to live.\u201d Characters A and B were caught in a strongly visual, virtual, ever-flowing \u201criver of time.\u201d A shorter version would have allowed us to appreciate more the performance of these prosthetic bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-7-Pas-Bouger.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-787\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-7-Pas-Bouger.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-7-Pas-Bouger-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-7-Pas-Bouger-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In <em>Pas Bouger<\/em>, the extended body alludes to Louise Bourgeois\u2019 sculpture spider and Rebecca Horn\u2019s <em>Finger Gloves<\/em> (1972), hinting at the (im)possibilities of human intimacy. Performers: Mihail Bonev, Filip Milanov. Photo: Teodora Simova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Monster in Us<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One way to understand cultures is through its monsters (see J.J. Cohen\u2019s essay \u201cMonster Culture (Seven Theses),\u201d 2008). In our post-pandemic era, <em>Euphoria of Sickness<\/em> by Iva Sveshtarova and Willy Prager, cofounders of the Antistatic Festival, touched upon our symbiosis with the virus. The virus is a monstrous, yet seductive Other that violates boundaries to unify us all in our common human condition. Or does it invade bodies like a dictator? One of the merits of this performance was that it did not seek firm answers.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" src=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-8-Euphoria-of-Sickness.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-788\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-8-Euphoria-of-Sickness.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-8-Euphoria-of-Sickness-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-8-Euphoria-of-Sickness-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Euphoria of Sickness, <\/em>a post-pandemic performance from the perspective of the virus. Performers: Anna Petkova, Zornitsa Stoyanova, Daniel Denev, Iva Sveshtarova, Willy Prager.<em> <\/em>Photo: Teodora Simova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Saline Nebula<\/em>, by Violeta Vitanova and Stanislav Genadiev, invited an encounter with a more archetypal monster. In a memorable visual and sound environment in the bowels of Club Dom, this solo depicted the liberation of a monstrous figure that echoes Joseph Campbell\u2019s \u201cinmost cave\u201d (see his book <em>The Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/em>, 2008) and invites our descent into the Jungian subconscious. I would love to see this otherworldly piece as part of a complex dramaturgy.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-9-Saline-Nebula.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-789\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-9-Saline-Nebula.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-9-Saline-Nebula-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-9-Saline-Nebula-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lying on coarse salt,<em> Saline Nebula<\/em>\u2019suncanny creature made her milky way. Performer: El Vasileva. Photo: Teodora Simova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have left for the end the highlight of the Platform, Ivo Dimtchev\u2019s <em>METCH<\/em>. After its premiere at La Mama in New York, the queer performer returned home to captivate us. He transformed the audience into his interviewers, students, curators, buyers, enthusiastic and\/or dismissive art critics. He turned passive spectators into a Chorus. His brio, satire and (self) sarcasm got richer when he went political: in his art brut style, he painted a screaming figure holding a swaddled infant, and at the last moment he wrote GAZA. Magically, the audience became an assembly of citizens (<em>Ecclesia<\/em>). Dimtchev surely knows how to play with surfaces only to take you to the depths.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-10-METCH.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-790\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-10-METCH.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-10-METCH-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-10-METCH-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">With this painting, Ivo Dimtchev turned his Andy Warhol-like, provocative, queer style into an anti-war stance. Photo: Teodora Simova<a name=\"end\">&nbsp;<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-thumbnail alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/Penelope-Chatzidimitriou-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-791\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/Penelope-Chatzidimitriou-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/Penelope-Chatzidimitriou.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a name=\"end\" href=\"#back\">*<\/a>Dr <strong>Penelope Chatzidimitriou<\/strong> (Greece) is currently affiliated theatre lecturer at the Open University of Cyprus and in acting schools, holding a PhD in Theatre Studies, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and an MA in Theatre Studies and Directing, Royal Holloway. As a scholar, she has collaborated with director Theodoros Terzopoulous since 2000 and has published a monograph on his work. She has also published articles in Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, Peter Lang, Theater der Zeit and so on, and reviews internationally and in Greece, specializing in director\u2019s theatre and performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Copyright <strong>\u00a9<\/strong> 2024 Penelope Chatzidimitriou<br><em>Critical Stages\/Sc\u00e8nes critiques<\/em> e-ISSN:2409-7411<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/88x31.png\" alt=\"Creative Commons Attribution International License\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">This work is licensed under the<br>Creative Commons Attribution International License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":789,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performance-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2024\/06\/PER-sofia-Photo-9-Saline-Nebula.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=781"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":905,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781\/revisions\/905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/29\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}