AG: When I went to school, there was no formal contemporary dance training anywhere in Bulgaria. But I think that a foundation in classical ballet is extremely important for a child entering dance. It teaches discipline. In the ballet studio, one must stop being a child and learn to behave like an adult. That extreme discipline and concentration was very important to me. So, I'm glad I started with classical dance. I had dreams there, but I realized they weren't going to happen.

 

ICONS: How did you shift from ballet to modern and contemporary dance?

 

AG: Accidentally or not, I came across a seminar on Graham technique and realized that this was my thing. In the city of Varna, every two years there was the International Ballet Competition and its annual International Ballet Academy. From school we went there every summer for workshops. We were trained in different styles, not only classical ballet but also jazz and modern techniques.

 

I first encountered the Graham technique in the early 1990s, and I instantly liked it – physically and mentally. Moving barefoot was awesome! The primal moves, the breathing, and the syncopations were greatly appealing to me. I could sense my body from the inside out, the separate muscles and organs. Most of all, I was hooked by the feeling of freedom.

 

 

ICONS: As a soloist of Ballet Arabesque you have worked with many different choreographers. What did you learn about responding to choreographers’ ideas?

 

AG: For a dancer, one of the biggest challenges is the ability to work with choreographers who have different creative styles. Some choreographers prefer not to talk and explain. They show the movement that could be interpreted in various ways. The ways these choreographers move make the dancers understand their creative thinking.

 

Other choreographers explain each movement methodically and in great detail. They expect the dancers to strictly follow the predetermined movement material that must be executed with no creative contributions or modifications by the dancers.

 

There are also choreographers who communicate eloquently, and those who are hard to understand. Then as a dancer, I begin to wrestle with myself. This is the moment where professionalism kicks in, and I have to put aside my personal preferences.

 

 

ICONS: What choreographers, styles, and ideas have influenced you the most and shaped your individual choreographic identity?

 

AG: Every choreographer I have worked with has given me something. It was very inspiring to work with Wayne McGregor in 2003 when he choreographed Aeon for Ballet Arabesque. For me it was cathartic and an encounter of a very high level.

 

My introduction to Forsythe's technique through a collaboration with Maurice Causey and his Tortured Melodies, 2012, for Ballet Arabesque was also provocative.I was very impressed with Angelin Preljocaj and the way he worked when he staged a movement from his production Les Nuits for Ballet Arabesque, with the extreme musicality of the movements and their sequencing in a rather complex rhythmic pattern.

 

I have had the pleasure to work also with many talented Bulgarian choreographers, who have helped my professional development as a performer by challenging me with unconventional thinking, unique movement vocabulary, and radical ideas.

ICONS: How do you work as a choreographer?

 

AG: It is different every time. Often, I take on projects with particular parameters, and these could be dances for operas or musicals. I immediately engage in research and coordination with the creative team before I sketch my own ideas.

 

I also improvise and I'm always able to latch onto something and make the process mine. Creating my own interpretation and developing my artistic treatment of the assigned idea is what makes me excited. The motivation to create and contribute unique moves is what guides and energizes me.

 

                                                      

 

ICONS: Do you also consider a visual idea or the performers as a starting point?

 

AG: Yes. Often random movement images emerge in my mind. I always see human motion as if it is happening on stage, with bodies going through certain formations. Later, I start looking for music that would fit these visions. Other times, I hear random music and movement images spontaneously flock into my mind, based on the musical ideas. I also imagine creating and working with particular performers. When I watch the way certain dancers move, I become super excited. I cannot wait to create on them and let them "speak" through motion freely.

 

 

ICONS: You have been creating both plotless and narrative dance works. Do you enjoy navigating in these opposite approaches?

 

AG: I'm hungry to create and I work on what I am tasked to create. The current Artistic Director of the Ballet Arabesque, Boryana Sechanova, commissioned The Snow Queen, which means that I had to deal with an exciting plot and dramaturgy. I loved working on it. For my one-act dance piece entitled Infinity, a part of the triple-bill production Triptych showcasing works by three different choreographers, I decided to create a plotless dance using only men. I was eager to choreograph a work that wasn't about telling a story, but rather reveals physical and movement interactions between four male dancers.

 

On other occasions, I have created several short duets which contain my own personal semi- narrative “messages” which the audience can interpret as they wish.

 

 

ICONS: How do you work with the dancers, and do they participate creatively in your choreographic process?

AG:  I like to work with the dancers individually in the studio, try various ideas with them, find what I'm looking for, and then invite an outside eye in. It's an intimate process. I usually begin my work with a visual idea or a movement sequence and then we try it out.

 

I build the movements together with the dancers. No matter what starting ideas I may have, in the studio I always feel comfortable to change them, like a clay sculpture. I often propose an initial sequence and then I let the dancers play with it. Most of the time it works very well because I don't break down and explain the movements physically. I use images and associations to trigger the dancers’ movement response.

                                          

 

ICONS: You are a team member of the international choreographic competition for contemporary dance “Linkage,” hosted by the Stara Zagora Opera and Ballet. What is the goal and importance of this initiative?

 

AG: For the past five years the directors Philip Milanov and Valeri Milenkov have been successfully developing this competition for short solos and duets. Every year the number of candidates and participating countries has been increasing. “Linkage” brings together choreographers from different nations to showcase their works in a competitive setting, and yet to establish an artistic camaraderie and conversation among the artists.

 

In addition to the main jury and audience awards, there are also special awards providing choreographers with the opportunity to create new dances for different companies. In addition, the Bulgarian audience enjoys seeing various trends in contemporary dance.

 

                                     

 

ICONS: What are your plans, goals, and wishes for the near future?

 

AG: As an artist and choreographer, I am always hungry to create. So I hardly turn down a project. By the end of the year, my colleague Philip Milanov and I are putting up a production entitled Thracian Impressions with the ballet troupe of the Stara Zagora Opera.

 

And leadership-wise: my goal for leading Ballet Arabesque is to develop the company repertoire as unique and relevant to the current state of contemporary dance worldwide.  We are artists and we never stop evolving -- my personal and professional wishes are to continue working hard, to the extent that we can surprise ourselves in the best possible way.

 

 

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:

 

Angelina Gavrilova has been soloist of Ballet Arabesque for many years. As such she is distinguished for her striking and daring artistic presence. She graduated in ballet production and has taught modern techniques at the Bulgarian National School of Dance Art. Presently she teaches contemporary dance at the National Musical Academy Pancho Vladigerov.

For the past decade, she has been developing a career as a choreographer. She has twice won the prize for contemporary choreography at the Convention for Young Ballet Dancers “Anastas Petrov” in Dobrich, as well as at the International Dance Competition for Children and Youth “Little Stars.” She has been nominated for the Crystal Lyre Prize in 2016 for the production of the opera “The Barber of Seville.” Her one-act ballet “My Way with You” has been selected for the International Competition for Modern Choreography in Belgrade.

 

PHOTOS: © All images courtesy of Ballet Arabesque © Damianova © Svetoslav Nikolov

 

VIDEO TRAILERS: INFINITY, choreography by Angelina Gavrilova, perfromers by Ballet Arabesque 

 

 

 

 

INTERVIEW'S CREATIVE TEAM ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

Interviewer: Angelina Georgieva, Editor, Dance Magazine, Bulgaria, EU

Executive Content Editor: Camilla Acquista

Executive Assistant: Charles Scheland

Founding and Executive Director: Vladimir Angelov

Dance ICONS, Inc., April 2025 © All rights reserved

 

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