. Strength in vulnerability when we leave the success on a side
The trilogy is made by three Bulgarian creatives,
Dancers, choreographers, editors, camera operators, idea generators, content creators and more. Stephanie was the one who initiated the idea and offered Kosta and Silvia to join forces and do the project together.
The House of Cinema was full. I don’t think I have seen this cinema having so many people come in for a premier. This can only speak that the marketing was nicely done and the people came to see something different. I really hope that the desire and intentions of the public were not only on the surface, but also had a deep meaning.
And so, let me begin…
INNER BLOOM
The first part of the trilogy is the short film Inner Bloom. Here what I experienced as I was watching the film from the 3rd row of seats in the cinema just behind the directors and producers was strange. The film tells a story of what it is like to be woman in today’s world or here in Bulgaria as Stephanie pointed out after the projection.
The emotions it evolved in me were mixed. A bit of aggression, anxiety and somehow it waved the feeling of heaviness. Considering that recently I am drawn to understanding my feminine nature and what makes me a woman, watching this part of the trilogy confused me a bit. This might be a good thing. Don’t know yet...
This should sink in for some time and see. The film shows the sense of being superficial. Half-naked, being in the spotlight, cleaning the dirt from yourself that has been dropped upon us from society, friends, culture, family, traditions and what not. And suddenly we had this 3D representation of the blooming woman. Great in terms of the using technology, and yet it led me again to feeling superficial, not real. It didn’t make me feel like this is the natural process of blooming. And that is just my take from the film.
Pretty clear on the fact that it is different for every woman.
Other take out for me was that Stephanie has managed to present those coupes of topics in her own way. In Bulgaria, this is a good way to open a conversation about the topics of femininity, that we should be able to express ourselves and not be intimidated when we do that.
Trust that this is a bit hard in a country that still lives with the mindset of the communist regime and pop-folk big boobies / massive lips culture. The story and the movement in the story made me feel raw and hard on myself. The gentleness and the power came from the last projection, Surrender by Kosta. But I can share thoughts on that one in a bit.
To finish this I would say that we all know the harsh and shadow side of being a women and I would love it if we can see the modern ''normal'' side, like talking to your girlfriends about your hormonal breakdowns and emotional outbursts and what we are changing in order to get back into our power.
The smart conversations we have and how brave and absolutely limitless we are as creatures.
Note that when I say it:
Stephanie in my eyes at least has the power and the influence to bring people together, inspire them and herself to work on an idea, giving them freedom of expression and making something bigger happening for those around her.
And probably she knows it already since she is the head of two big dance projects here in the motherland Bulgaria. Thank you for the efforts and for the bravery to show yourself Steph!
BREAK OFF
Now I would share some inspirations about the second short film by Silvia Cherneva.
Great title! Loved it! And I love that this film was placed in between the other two films.
F – BREAK OFF – M.
Makes sense, right?
The film has an original incitement and like Silvia mentioned after the projections, the idea came randomly and spontaneously. I think this approach was a better fit for me. Plus, the purpose and the intention behind the idea it, at least in my reading of the film was to show the different and distinctive story.
Not a city type of a young person, a social media savage or egocentric youngster, but rather what I saw was beautiful, engaged and curious approach towards a young man who had a very particular story and environment. Must watch this one, because again it doesn’t share the stigma around a topic, but a story around a great and unique school for stonemasonry in the middle of Bulgaria and one boy that exists in that habitat.
This one was a heartfelt storytelling. The best bit about it was that the boy asked a very good question at the end of the film, event thought the audience laughed at some of the things he was sharing whilst the credits were going on. The question was as it follows: And you? What did you graduate?
Kind of sending you straight back to yourself and asking you the same question you are asking other people. But this time the answer that you got wasn’t the usual. The was no answer. The topic was left open for the people watching and what they have decided to say in their minds. It made me have a think before answering straight away. Because maybe this is how and what we can learn from the youth nowadays.
Can we have some time to think? And would you let us do that without putting us in a frameable box of a sort?
I really loved the film as well for its distinctiveness from the other two films. There was movement involved, but it wasn’t obvious. The movement was shown in the hands of the boy.
For me it represented that special something everyone has in them. Because to be fair this is what we need in the current days and age. Not to compare ourselves to others, but to get to know our own motives and individuality.
So, Silvia Cherneva thank you for this beautifully seen moment of life, which you have gently edited together for us to see!
And here comes the…
… SURRENDER.
Kosta is like a wizard when putting things together. In this case he has put together the stories of four of the great and well know dance artists in Bulgaria.
Here I cried, because I saw more femininity in the manhood, then the other way around.
What got to me was...
The meta star boy in a body of a human.
He shared that in order to move forward and be the best of what he wants, he has a goal.
A clear goal he follows and it doesn’t matter what happens along the way he is there and doing it and putting the effort, believing in it. And the results are clear – one of the best and most wanted dancers and teachers in the country. If you have not seen him dance and talk about dancing, please go and that! Remi also mentioned details around why he is dancing.
To show and provoke an emotion, sensation, thought or anything else. As long it is done for the public and the public is effected then the results are satisfactory.
Svetoslav Saroyan
The story of the boy on the heels. Here I felt the feminine energy and the gentle yet sassy pride he carries and feels while he is dancing. The face he shows and the way he loves that face. I asked myself if the heels didn’t add up to the picture, what would he be able to say about dancing?
But the important take out for me was that he wants and does is to make people happy with his movement. To make himself feel good and star like on stage and those who are watching him to feel and see the power of breaking your limits, trying out whatever there you want to try. This for Bulgaria is big, because of the social stigma around what is like to be man or a woman and of course being loud and proud from it.
Nikola Hadjitanev
The ballet and the sensitivity. The work behind all that grace and beauty in this dance is like the concept of struggling to craft something and the short moment filled with the massive sense and feeling of enormous satisfaction. The gentility behind the gracefulness and its expression in ballet showcased by a man, honestly made me feel my sensitive nature deeper then everything else. It is to say that the IN and the YAN are both within, constantly moving around in the frames of the body.
How great and what of feeling of freedom and liberation that is to know. Thank you Nikola!
The smile of the story. He didn’t talk about the philosophy of dance or for the professional side of the style he practices. He just shared what it is like to go for something you know you want to do. Something that your body wants to do. This should speak to the rest of us who know that the body is a compass with a great skill to navigate ourselves in life. Sounds spiritual, right? Well, sometimes life gives you a trilogy of short films to watch and you are just writing what you took out of them.
So, Krastyo you gave me that – a short showcase of what it like to LISTEN to my body, not only when dancing.
. In a few words
. I am not a dancer, but my body is
. I am a dancer, but my body is creativity
. I am neither, but I am all
. I can speak with no words, and my body can translate the whole world
To Kosta, Stephanie and Silvia...
Thank you for spending the time and effort to build this trilogy, to promote it, to share it and hopefully next time when we see another production of yours we will be able to take other valuable insights.
. Because we can move backwards, we can also more forwards and that is only a tiny bit of what is possible to be done with a moment of movement