Thistles and Sunflowers Dance Fusion
Part of Thistles and Sunflowers Festival 2022
Once upon a time, Edinburgh was struck by an awful pandemic and all theatres lay empty. Two dancers, Alexis and Ariana, had a dream. On 4 August 2021 their dream came true when Alexis met Ariana, when they were finally able to dance for an audience, with a piper, for the first time since lockdown.
Grateful for the opportunities that dance keeps giving, Scottish Highland dancer Alexis Street and Bulgarian folk dancer and choreographer Ariana Stoyanova kept returning to the Netherbow Theatre as part of their Thistles and Sunflowers residency at the Bulgarian Cultural and Education Centre Scotland. From January to May 2022, Alexis and Ariana were able to build on their first momentous encounter and worked towards Thistles and Sunflowers Dance Fusion – a series of newly choreographed solos, duets and ensemble pieces drawing on the parallels between Scottish and Bulgarian folk dance traditions, stories, dancers and musicians.
With a welcome by Bulgarian Ambassado H.E. Mr Marin Raykov in the Storytelling Court.
Find out more about the origins of Thistles and Sunflowers Dance Fusion by tuning into these two interviews with Alexis, Ariana and curator Iliyana Nedkova conducted by Wendy Timmons, Chair of Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland. Watch the interviews here.
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Thistles and Sunflowers Dance Fusion is commissioned by the Bulgarian Cultural and Educational Centre Scotland and curated by Iliyana Nedkova and Daniela Dimova-Yaneva in a partnership with Scottish Storytelling Centre, Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland, New Bulgarian Cultural Platform, Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in the UK and DannsEd.
Part of Year of Stories 2022 and Thistles and Sunflowers festival running 18 May - 5 June 2022 at Scottish Storytelling Centre – a spotlight on stories and artists from the lands of thistles and sunflowers. Festival initiative of the Bulgarian Cultural and Educational Centre Scotland, Thistles and Sunflowers, curated by Iliyana Nedkova and Daniela Dimova-Yaneva and supported by the City of Edinburgh Council Flexible Fund, as well as Tasgadh Fund for Traditional Arts devolved from Creative Scotland and managed by Fèisean nan Gàidheal.
Tickets are on a Pay What You Can scale (suggested amount is £5). This event is being sold at full capacity without social distancing. Audiences are kindly requested to wear masks at all times, unless exempt.
