GREEN SPACE STUDIO & TAKE ROOT SERIES
PRESENTS
“WHO IS GOING TO BLINK?’
(premiere)
Choreography, Text and Performance: Elissaveta Iordanova and Susan Thomasson
Original Music Score: Ted Piltzecker
Date – April 28, 2012 @ 8:30 pm
Place – Take Root series at Green Space Studio 37-24, 24th Street, #301
Long Island City, NY 11101
Tickets $15
Available online – www.GreenSpaceStudio.org or at the door
(the play is in English)
The piece evokes the atmosphere of the Cold War years, the arms race and the tension between West and East. Choreographers Iordanova (BG/US) and Thomasson (US) draw on their memories of the era when fear and suspicion dominated the world stage. From their perspectives on both sides of the Wall, “Who is Going to Blink?” weaves together espionage, propaganda and political paranoia. Taught to view each other as enemies, the choreographers discover the common humanity between East and West through text and movement. From the personal to the political, “Who is Going to Blink?” is a cautionary tale for our times – a call for mutually assured understanding between countries.
The program also includes “Lemon Meringue Go” (2009), a whimsical treatise on the techniques and pitfalls of pie-baking. Imagine Julia Childs teaching baking through dance. The solo is an homage to Thomasson’s grandmother and her legendary baking skills.
Iordanova will also present “Volition,” (2009-2012), in which 3 women, through the character of 3 dresses, reveal their inner and outer experiences of accepting, emerging and evolving. The work is inspired in part by the power of women involved in the Arab Spring and their search for freedom.
“Volition” involves the following artsits :
Dancers: Albena Kervanbashieva, Dawn DiPasquale and Elissaveta Iordanova
Music: Rozanna Winberger (viola), Georgi Arnaudov and Near Eastern Traditional music
Costumes: Krissi Veleva and Margarita Gavrilova
THE EVENT IS PART of the FIRST BULGARIAN TREATRE FESTIVAL
SEE THE FESTIVAL PROGRAM HERE >>>
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BIOS
Elissaveta Iordanova (Dancer/choreographer), native Bulgarian is a performer and educator. Elissaveta earned her MFA degree from Sarah lawrence college, NY as a Fulbright scholar. She is a recipient of the Bulgarian National Center for Music and Dance Award for her choreography. Recently, she received a grant from LMCC (MCAF) for a new multidisciplinary project. She has been presented at Green Space Blooms Festival, Movement Research, DanSpace Project, FringeNY Festival, Dumbo Festival, MMAC, Merce Cunningham studio and others in New York. Her international credentials include performances in Austria, France, Germany, Netherlands, Malta and Romania.
Elissaveta’s long lasting interest and specialty in Bulgarian Folk dance as well as contemporary dance and theater gives an interesting look of her creative work. Her dance is as theatrical as dance can be, often rooted or originated from her multilayered background. Elissaveta is a founder and artistic director of ELEA GORANA DANCE COLLECTIVE and Gorana Jr. at the Bulgarian School in NY, where she teaches 40 children in Bulgarian folk dance and rituals. Elissaveta is also a teaching artist for the Joyce Theater for the last 6 years. www.elissaveta.com
Susan Thomasson (Dancer/choreographer) holds a BFA degree from the University of Utah, where she served an apprenticeship with Repertory Dance Theatre. She has performed a wide variety of modern dance styles, dancing and touring with the companies of Kathryn Posin, Raymond Johnson, Bill T. Jones, Bill Evans, and Rosalind Newman. Since 1983 she has been a soloist with Anna Sokolow’s Players’ Project, performing nationally and internationally with the company, and assisting in reconstruction of Ms. Sokolow’s repertory. Susan also tours a solo/duet concert of Pilobolus Dance Theatre’s work, originally created for Lincoln Center Institute.In addition to her own work, she performs with Claire Porter, Elissaveta Iordanova and Mark DeGarmo.
Susan’s choreography ranges from work incorporating live percussion to literature-based dance/theatre pieces to work blending movement with poetry and text. She received a Choreography Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for 2011. Her work has been presented at DanceNow, NY’s 40Up Series, Dance Theater Workshop, the 92nd Street Y’s Harkness Dance Series, the American Dance Guild, NY International Fringe Festival, Flea Theater, New York’s Riverside Dance Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, Hopkins Theatre at Dartmouth College, and Iowa’s Cedar Arts Forum. Recent projects include a commission from the University of Nebraska's Lied Center for an evening-length dance/theatre/music work.
Vibraphonist/composer Ted Piltzecker has performed with many of the great names in jazz, including the famed George Shearing Quintet. His compositions have received awards from the NEA, New York and New Jersey state arts councils, Lincoln Center Institute and the ASCAP Foundation. His work has been heard on NPR, the Canadian Broadcasting Company, and performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Aspen Festival Orchestra. Ted directs the studio composition department in the music conservatory at Purchase College..He is also a licensed pilot and unicyclist. More information, reviews, photos and video available at: TedVibes.com
Rozanna Weinberger, Julliard trained violist, is a multi-faceted musician and entrepreneur. Recent activities include performance with Madeleine Peyroux at Carnegie Hall, world premiere for viola and chorus by Clare Shore at Spoleto Festival, a solo appearance at the Rainbow Room, concert at Worldwide Plaza accompanied by the Indie band SEER. In addition to recording the solo viola part by Christopher Mangum for the King Tut Exhibition, the artist gave a special performance alongside the exhibition at the Field Museum in Chicago. She has performed original music on the runway for Fashion Week and a video featuring Marianne Pearl. Whether performing and producing the music videos Chromatic Fantasy and Sweet Thunder, premiering a Concerto by Tania Leon, performing at Jazz Au Bar with Kim Garfunkel or improvising with Nigel Kennedy, this unique violist of the 21st century, wins high acclaim.Her own music can be heard on Arabesque Recordings and her Designer Violins are available at Sam Ash and other fine stores.
Dawn DiPasquale (dancer) holds MA Dance Education from NYU and she is a former Assistant Professor of Dance/Musical Theatre at Wichita State University. Currently she is dancing with Elea Gorana Dance Collective and working as a teaching artist in several NYC public schools. As a choreographer: Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, North Shore Music Theatre, Santa Barbara CLO, Folly Theatre, Lyric Theatre of OK. As a performer: DTW, PS 122, Riverside Church, Gowanus, Circum-Arts and the Strada Facenda (Italy) working with choreographers Deborah Damast, Trish Doherty, Carl Paris and Douglas Dunn.
A native from Bulgaria, Albena Kervanbashieva (dancer) received her early ballet training in her hometown, where she performed with Pavel Stoitev's Youth Ballet and also toured the country with various dance troupes.
After moving to NYC she completed the trainee program at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and danced with Doris Humphrey Dance Company, Rahway Dance Theater, The Ballade Ballet Company, Contemporary Ballet Theater and numerous independent Choreographers. Albena is currently dancing with Les Ballets du Monde, with Artistic Director Ken Ludden.
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