Bulgarian Adventures

I know its been quite a while since my last entry, but there hasn't been very much to write about, other than a lot of work in the theater, and many dance parties afterward! I finished my performance creating workshop with Jed Allen Harris last week with a 20 minute performance that I created with three other participants. It was such a fun process because we chose to play with a lot of new elements like puppetry and site-specific performance spaces, and we chose not to use any language. It was really fun! I uploaded a few pictures of our performace... Ivo (the boy in the striped shirt) and I performed as puppets created by John's character. It was really difficult, because we completely conceptualized and created the piece in less than 10 hours.

This week I started training in the traditional Indian dance theater of Khatakali with this amazing instructor Piyal. Its so difficult because Khatakali's type of dance and movement is opposite of what we do in the states in many ways, and when you walk you must turn your feet so that all your weight is on the outside of your feet... agh! At the end of the collective we will give an hour and a half performance of what we've learned in the form of a story from Indian mythology. It should be very interesting...

On a sadder note, yesterday I made the brilliant move of trying to walk through the theater in the dark, which resulted in me falling into the lowered orchestra pit... I think I broke my toe! Agh!

Despite my stupid injury, today was one of my favorite days in Bulgaria. We spent the morning in a workshop entitled "Bogomil" which is a very old religion that seems to have originated in the Bulgaria area, but what we learned are the traditional dances. It was so fun! Afterward, we traveled to a small village where Teodora's (a Bulgarian participant) family has a villa. We had a lamb roast and ate a lot of really delicious food, and then we sang and visited as the sun went down on the mountains... and when the stars came out, I could see the Milky Way! It blew my mind... the people here this year are so amazing and talented, and I will miss them very much when we must part ways on the 10th!

However, the exciting thing is that on the 10th, I will begin my European traveling, which will continue until September 3, when I must report to London. Edward, Emily and I are going to Istanbul with our great friend and teacher Sasha Iliev, and afterward we are traveling to the Black Sea Coast! From there, I believe I will see Greece and hopefully take a boat to Italy... what amazing things I hope to see!

Bulgarian Adventures

Smolyan, Bulgaria