“Mirror of Illusions” is a contemporary dance performance that explores the relationship between our true selves and the image formed by our personal projections. In their quest to be accepted and liked, people constantly control how they are perceived. On social media, this ability reaches new dimensions – curated shots, meticulously edited photos, filters, and carefully composed digital images.

Technological development expands virtual spaces for communication, but also intensifies the feeling of inadequacy, prompting the construction of increasingly idealized versions of ourselves.

The performance unfolds this process in a dramatic stage environment, where the ideal virtual image and the real body come into tension. Gradually, the apparent harmony cracks, and the clash between expectations and reality leads to a painful but liberating revelation of the true “self”. Through the power of movement, visual projections, and the sound environment, the performance transforms the stage into a laboratory of identity – a place where digital masks fall apart so that humanity can reappear in its imperfect authenticity.

The project is implemented with the financial support of The National Culture Fund of Bulgaria and Sofia Municipality through the Sofia Culture Program.

Jivko Jelyazkov specializes in contemporary choreography at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Australia. He is the co-founder of the first center for contemporary dance in Bulgaria, Derida Dance Center, Vice-Chairman and co-founder of the Art Link Foundation, and Artistic Director of Derida Stage and Derida Company. In 2018, he was selected as one of the Top 20 choreographers in Europe by the largest platform for contemporary dance in Europe, Aerowaves – Dance Across Europe. 

His performances have been featured in Canada, Israel, China, Malta, and other countries. In 2017, he won the IKAR Award for the contemporary dance performance “S INNER”. 

Together with Atanas Maev, he developed the year-long training program Dance PORT Derida, an alternative to state dance education, as well as an international residency program.

He has choreographed and directed over 40 productions in the field of contemporary dance and theater and is the artistic director of numerous European projects.

Jivko is a jury member for several major national and international festivals and competitions, including the Spring Forward platform Aerowaves (for selecting the Top 20 young choreographers in Europe for 2024), Moving Balkans Top 10 for 2025, ACT – Festival for Free Theater, the International Choreographic Competition Linkage, Derida Dance Fest / Aerowaves in Sofia Festival (2022, 2023, and 2024 editions), Korea Dance Festival, Reedans in Romania, and others.

Among his recent projects are: “Scent of Violets” (in partnership with the Kazanlak Art Gallery); “Mirror of Illusions”; ECHO – “Cry of the Waves” (a site-specific visual dance performance by Derida Company, specially created for the Roman Baths in Varna within the European project Dancing Histor(y)ies); “SHELL OF SILENCE” (a site-specific visual dance performance by Derida Company, created for the Nora Archaeological Park, Sardinia, Italy, within Dancing Histor(y)ies); “The Exit Is a Myth” (a site-specific visual dance performance by Derida Company, created for the Temple of Diana in Mérida, Spain, within Histor(y)ies); “(IN)VISIBLE” (a site-specific visual dance performance by Derida Company, created for the Viminacium Archaeological Park, Serbia, within Dancing Histor(y)ies); and “SCREAM” (a site-specific visual dance performance by Derida Company, created for Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome, Italy, within Dancing Histor(y)ies).