Body Text Voice / Тяло текст глас пърформанс и среща със Софи Вераест и Зорница Стоянова

Присъединете се към нас на 9-и юни от 18:00 часа в галерия “Топлоцентрала” за специално събитие – закриването на изложбата “En-trance: Женски тела в дигитални пейзажи” , с финална презентация от писателката и пърформанс артист Софи Врест и хореографът и визуален артист Зорница Стоянова. Това събитие е кулминацията на тяхната артистична резиденция заедно.  Общият им интерес и приятелство започва след първата им среща през 2022 г. по време на фестивала “Leap Off Page”, организиран от Фондацията Елизабет Костова във Велико Търново. 

Софи Вераест и Зорница Стоянова са дълбоко заинтересовани от социалната политикa на женското тяло, както и собствените си преживявания като жени.  По време на резиденцията ще изследват теми свързани с понятието за женственост както в реалния така и дигиталния свят, както и търсенето на чувство на принадлежност към собствените си тела. Чрез техните артистични форми Софи и Зорница имат за цел да дадат глас на реалностите от женското преживяване.

Двете признават, че изпитват дълбока отчужденост в телата, в които се намират, и изследват различни начини за адресиране и справяне с това усещане.  Този финален пърформанс/срещa обещава да бъде представяне на тези теми, като Софи и Зорница ще споделят своите виждания и артистични процес с публиката.

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June 9th 18:00 at Toplocentrala Gallery
FREE
with Sofie Verraest (Belgum) and Zornitsa Stoyanova (Bulgaria/USA)  

Join us on June 9th at 18:00 at the Toplocentrala Gallery for a special free event, the closing of the exhibit “En-trance: Female Bodies in Digitalscapes,”  featuring a final presentation by author and performance artists Sofie Vеrraest and Zornitsa Stoyanova. This event marks the culmination of their week-long residency, which began after their initial meeting in 2022 during the Leap Off Page festival organized by the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation. 

Sofie Vеrraest and Zornitsa Stoyanova, are both deeply interested in the agency of the female body. They share an interest with the concept of femininity, the experience of being female, and the quest for a sense of belonging in their own bodies. Through their respective art forms, Sofie and Zornitsa aim to give voice to the cultural constructs of the female experience. 

Both artists have acknowledged experiencing a profound alienation within the bodies they inhabit, and explore various ways of addressing and confronting this sensation. 

—-BIOGRAPHIES—–
 Sofie Verraest writes and performs in English, Dutch, and West-Flemish. Her poetry, fiction, and non-fiction are published in magazines and journals across Europe, the US, and Australia. 

 In 2019, Ninth Letter (US) selected her as one of its New Voices in International Writing. In 2020, she made the pre-selection of the Iowa International Writing Program (US). In 2022, she was chosen as up-and-coming talent of Dutch-language writing by the literary review Deus Ex Machina.

 She won fellowships and residencies from prestigious organizations like the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation (2018), Akademie Schloss Solitude Stuttgart (2020), Pogon Zagreb (2021), Het Huis van Herman Teirlinck (2022), and Literatuur Vlaanderen (2023), among others.

 Most recently, European poetry platform Versopolis showcased her poetry cycle @wakingupgoingtosleep (176 poems) in its 2023 Poetry Expo. She published the novella “She Kong” (Failbetter Magazine US, 2023) and its translation “Sji Kong” (Deus Ex Machina 2022), an experiment in multilingual writing.

 In 2022, she was invited as one of the authors in the Leap Off Page festival in dance and word in Veliko Tarnovo, where Verraest and Stoyanova met.

 Currently, she is working on her first novel and a narrative poetry collection.

 She teaches literature and creative writing at Ghent University and KASK School of Arts.

 She lives in Brussels.
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Zornitsa Stoyanova (USA/BUL) is an award-winning performance artist, curator, writer, lighting, and video designer.  Based between Sofia, Bulgaria and Philadelphia, US, she directs her company BodyMeld which, along with presenting her work, focuses on creating programs in support of independent choreographers in both her locales. 

Her stage, video, and photographic work uses the female body as an abstract object revealing ideas of strength in female sensuality and emotionality. On stage, she explores feminist ideas, the power dynamics between dancers and audiences, and personal stories revealing vulnerability and strength.

Her group performance, AndroMeda, was commissioned and presented by The Philadelphia Museum of Art (2020), and her solo performance Explicit Female (2016) was awarded a “Rocky” – the Philadelphia contemporary dance award. She is the creator of BodyMeld Performance Research Academy, an international professional delevopment academy in Sofia and Alternative Stage Festival. Her choreographic work has been shown in festivals around the U.S. as well and Bulgaria, as well as France.

As a dancer, she has performed for Eiko & Koma, Boris Charmatz, Cie. Willy Dorner, Group Motion, and improvisation companies Emergent Improvisation Ensemble and Graffito Works.  Her work with Emergent Improvisation brought her on the cover of “Composing While Dancing” book by Melinda Buckwalter. 

Her screendance films have been shown in festivals across the U.S. and in Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Bulgaria, Ireland, Germany, and Bangladesh. En-Trance: Female Bodies in Digitalscales is her first solo exhibit in Bulgaria, previously she’s shown her visual art only in the US.  Among her most influential teachers are Deborah Hay, Danny Lepkoff, Meg Stuart, Susan Rethorst, Eva Karczag, and others. 

Zornitsa is also a supporter of a sustainable dance community and is deeply invested in helping further conversation and collaboration. Through BodyMeld, she has created workshops, residencies, and showcases – most notably her partnership with Movement Research (NYC) and Stary Browar Novie Taniec (Poland) in bringing Polish artists to Philadelphia. She created and continues to run Get What You Need residency in Philadelphia and in 2023/24 will start a new choreographic international residency between Sofia, Budapest and Philadelphia.

She teaches improvisation techniques for performance, dance on camera, and composition and has done so in Philadelphia, France, Hungary, her native Bulgaria, and online.  Zornitsa is also a published writer and editor for thINKingDANCE.net and a mother of two boys.