Originally published on thinINKgDance.net on September 19th, 2019.
As I walk up to the newly rehabbed LOVE Park, I am greeted by nostalgia—the selfie sticks and posing tourists remind me of the time I first moved to Philadelphia. When did I forget to see my home city with the excitement of a tourist?
by Zornitsa Stoyanova. Spring Forward Festival After 16 years of living in the U.S., I returned to my hometown of Sofia, Bulgaria, for dance—something I’d never thought I’d do. Spring Forward festival, a competition-style dance festival was happening, and I had to see it. When I hear the word “competition” […]
BY ZORNITSA STOYANOVA | Feb. 12, 2018 | Written and published for thINKingDANCE.net A pair of dancers (Margot Electra Steinberg and Mary-Carmen Webb), anonymous and unmoving with foreheads on the wall and one hip relaxed, are positioned in the far-left corner. Across from them a black clad body (Celine McBride) […]
BY ZORNITSA STOYANOVA | MAY 8, 2018 | Written and published for thINKingDANCE.net Personal history and context I was born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria. In 2002, at age 20, I left everything I knew because of dance. Back then, there was no contemporary dance education or performance in my […]
by Zornitsa Stoyanova. About a year ago I interviewed Gus Gascheidle about his 1fiftyone gallery + art space in Old City. A promising new spot for experimental performance of any kind, the space was abruptly and permanently closed a month after our interview. It was a blow to Gus and […]
by Zornitsa Stoyanova. Zornitsa Stoyanova was a member of Mascher Space Cooperative from 2006 to 2010. She continued rehearsing in the space between 2010 and 2016 and in September 2016, re-joined Mascher as Programs Coordinator. She is one of the lead members, along with Christina Gesualdi, Loren Groenendaal and Ben […]
by Zornitsa Stoyanova. Just a month before seeing SaltSoul I finished my own evening-length work. Explicit Female explored ideas of femaleness and motherhood tied to my own narrative (growing up in Communist Bulgaria) and the stories of my ancestors (who suffered the brutality of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire*). […]
by Zornitsa Stoyanova. It is the rainiest of days. Gloomy and wet, I am at the Latvian Society to see RealLivePeople Presents , featuring choreographers from Australia, North Carolina, and Philadelphia. I am immediately greeted and directed to a large armchair containing all matter of colorful objects – some toys, […]
BY ZORNITSA STOYANOVA | MARCH 14, 2016 | Written and published for Kat Sullivan’s week on CurateThis. I have known Zornitsa Stoyanova for just a few months now, but I’ve been seeing her work in dance performance and film/media for much longer. Most recently. I was enraptured (“I saw” just […]
by Zornitsa Stoyanova. I am one of the first people to enter the theater. The stage is brightly lit and the black floor is covered with foot imprints of powdered chalk. Drone-like sound engulfs me. It is Saturday night and I am at Christ Church Neighborhood House to see Nora […]
by Zornitsa Stoyanova for thinkingdance.net 1fiftyone gallery + art space is raw. Situated on the fourth and fifth floor of an Old City building, it is a new home for the experimental—dance, theater, music and performance. Gus Gscheidle, a visual artist, graphic designer, and lover of dance and performance, runs […]
by Zornitsa Stoyanova | for thinkingdance.net In 2005, while attending ADF, I was assigned to be Miguel Gutierrez’s wardrobe assistant for his solo Retrospective Exhibitionist. For those three nights I embodied his mom—washing his underwear. Since then I’ve followed his work and taken his workshops any time I could. When I moved […]
