Hello VG/DE Blog Readers as I report on my latest overseas dance adventure...
I am writing on the plane, returning from representing Dance Entropy in Eastern Europe, where I enthusiastically joined over 400 international arts leaders in the 2024 IETM Plenary meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria!
The journey kicked off with an intimate 30 person, pre-conference excursion to Veliko Turnovo and Gabrovo with an immersion into grassroots cultural performance spaces. We then joined the other attendees in Sofia, which included performing artists, producers, managers, and presenters from across the globe. This important meeting is held in a different European country annually and focuses on the hosts arts scene while highlighting the local performers.
This year's event was headquartered at one of Sofia's newest and most exciting multi-stage arts center Toplocentrala. The Bulgarian talent presented included an exciting mix of dance, drama and physical theater, puppetry, circus, interactive, and multi-disciplinary performing arts. Besides the main venue the performances were taking place in diverse venues throughout the city and outside, it was exciting to traverse Sofia on the hunt for these obscure spaces, while breathing in the city streets and atmosphere (thank god for google maps:).
In addition to an offering of 6 one of kind performances per day, I think I saw a total of 12 on this trip. There were panels, meetings, and talks on a variety of subjects relevant to the field. This year's focus/theme was BURN IN, BURN OUT. What is it we burn for? What is it we are burned out from? Generally, we found that everyone is burned out from something, alongside being "burned in" or excited about something else in the meantime. There was a lot of connection and understanding as we all resonated with each other and the sentiments shared.
All in all, it was a great experience, meeting local arts makers, their unique venues, the work, and how it differs from what is presented in NYC and the US. It was exciting and refreshing for me to witness so much diverse art making, and return to the Balkans, where I have spent much time in the past. Besides picking what shows I wanted to see, or talks, as many overlapped, was the ongoing meeting and connecting with the other attendees from around the world. There was much to talk about, network and connect on, as we shared food, drinks and local sites together.
It was a jammed packed week, I leave feeling inspired by the work I witnessed, by the people I met, conversations, and hopefully potential future collaborations!