The Arabesque ballet – Trajectory of Desire, staged by Boyan Vodenicharov and Mila Iskrenova…This is the information you can find on any of the Bulgarian cultural events websites. Some even add: “Dress code: elegant.” The event is part of the Sofia Music Weeks international festival and the Art Salon.

But what does this title convey, what are the trajectories and the desires woven into the music and the dance – we shall find out tonight, in Hall No.11 of the National Palace of Culture. But before that, Radio Bulgaria’s Albena Bezovska talks to pianist Boyan Vodenicharov, who came up with the idea for the show. For more than 20 years he has been living in Belgium, a concert artist a professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. He lectures in classical piano, ancient instruments and improvisation.

“The suggestion came from the Festival de Wallonie,” Prof. Vodenicharov says. “It is the biggest forum in Wallonia – one of Belgium’s three regions. Some time ago the organizers asked me to suggest original music; alongside my other proposals I presented the idea of a ballet with my own original music. I didn’t even have the time to ask choreographer Mila Iskrenova for her permission. I had wanted to work with her for more than ten years; fortunately she agreed and we started work on the ballet’s structure. This year the festival is dedicated to the Danube – the river that symbolizes the diversity of cultural models. The source of the Danube is in Germany and it passes across Austria – two countries that carry the classical, traditional European culture. But the river also runs across Slovakia, Serbia, Bulgaria etc. And Eastern Europe is a most colourful and intriguing zone in terms of culture. My idea was to bring this diversity together by raising the question of identity: how much of it is nurtured? Or do we all carry our roots without even realizing it? I remember the conversations I had with my school friends – we were teenagers, young musicians nurtured on Bach’s fugues and Mozart’s sonatas. We had absolutely no experience with folklore but we kept asking ourselves – what power brings tears to our eyes when we hear the two-part singing from the Shoppe region, for example. That is one of the questions. And also: the journey to our own selves, the quest.

The ballet’s music is live with myself playing the piano which is on the stage. I will perform improvised pieces we constructed together with the choreographer. I have also included excerpts from classical Viennese composers – Haydn, Mozart; it has been our endeavour to convey the wealth of cultural diversity. The improvised pieces also feature Bulgarian folk rhythms and elements of Balkan folklore with the strong influence of 20^th century jazz composers. I hope the show will be an interesting one. We shall present it in Belgium at the end of September at the Festival de Wallonie.”

The book The taste of your body will be presented one hour before the Bulgarian premiere of the Trajectory of Desire with author Mila Iskrenova, Arabesque’s choreographer, critic and an artist with a marked taste for modern dance, author of the choreography of dozens of ballet shows.

English version: Milena Daynova