“A Fence” is a dance film by the distinguished Bulgarian choreographer Mila Iskrenova, directed by Yordan Dzhumaliev and cinematographed by Krasimir Mihailov. It was created originally for camera and produced by the Bulgarian National Television in 1990. Through their movements, the dancers unfold the dynamics of couple’s relationship, transforming their bodies into an instrument of emotional exploration and an abstract narrative about the connectedness and alienation between genders.

At the heart of Iskrenova’s work are two concepts developed by the French philosopher and pathopsychologist Henri Wallon, author of a theory of emotions. “We have been born separated, but we have not been born lonely,” writes Wallon. And adds, “Our lot will be to search for our soul, to grope about looking for the Other – that ghost of the Other, which everyone of us carries within his inner self  throughout his life.”

The original choreography is performed by Galina Borissova, Alexandra Shopova, Desislav Stoyanov and Lyudmil Georgiev, with Stoyanov and Georgiev at that time still students at the Karl Marx Higher Economic Institute (known now as UNWE). 

For the reconstruction Mila Iskrenova invites young dancers Tanya Katsarova, Neli Georgieva, Anatoly Lazarov, Valeri Milenkov to take on the roles of the original composition and recreate the choreography live.

The audience will be additionally introduced to the original version of “A Fence” with the accompanying exhibition of the archive of the production, tracing back the creation and development of the dance film. 

The reconstruction of “A Fence” is part of “DanceMap: Innovation pathways and policies to promote European dance heritage at home and abroad”, a research project, which is an intersection between research, artistic practice, educational work, data science and cultural policy. It is funded by Horizon Europe programme of the European Union, and aims to create sustainable strategies to preserve and promote contemporary dance as an intangible cultural heritage.

With this reconstruction and the accompanying exhibition, Antistatic Festival brings into focus the importance of dance memory and the need for its activation in contemporary context.

The international program of Antistatic Festival for Contemporary Dance and Performance is organized is organized by the Brain Store Project Foundation and the Nomad Dance Association, with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture, Sofia Municipality – Calendar of Cultural Events, Goethe-Institut Bulgarien, the research project “DanceMap”, funded by “Horizon Europe” Programme of the European Union, and in partnership with RCSI Toplocentrala, and “Academia” Gallery of the National Academy of Art.