Thistles and Sunflowers Dance Fusion
New Commission as part of Thistles and Sunflowers festival and Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022
linktr.ee/thistlesandsunflowers #ThistlesandSunflowers #YS2022
29 May 2022 | 7pm | Scottish Storytelling Centre | 43-45 High Street Edinburgh EH1 1SR
With welcome notes by special guests, including H.E. Mr. Marin Raykov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Court of St. James’s
Tickets are on a Pay What You Can scale. Suggested amount is £5.
Once upon a time Edinburgh was struck by an awful pandemic and all theatres laid empty. Alexis and Ariana dreamed of dancing together on the stage. Their dream came true when the theatres opened their doors for the first time since lockdown. The two dancers from the lands of thistles and sunflowers were finally reunited and accompanied by a piper, they danced together for an in-person, socially-distanced audience.
Building on their first momentous encounter, Scottish Highland dancer Alexis Street and Bulgarian folk dancer Ariana Stoyanovaa present 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, regional variations and stories with live harp accompaniment by Tsvetelina Likova.
Intrigued? Join us for the follow-up Balkan Ceilidh and dance the night away with Alexis, Ariana and many more artists from the lands of thistles and sunflowers at 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:
Tsvetelina Likova is a Bulgarian Scot harpist and composer who has performed at numerous concerts as a solo, chamber and orchestra musician from London’s Royal Albert Hall and Edinburgh’s Usher Hall and St. Mary’s Cathedral to the National Palace of Culture Sofia and Thessaloniki Concert Hall.
Alongside her live accompaniment of both Scottish and Bulgarian dance pieces at Thistles & Sunflowers Dance Fusion, Tsvetelina will perform her solo The Golden Bird – an original composition written by the artist and inspired by the fairytale The Golden Bird by Ran Bosilek. It won the first place at the Competition for New Folklore Composition for lever harp by Harps Corner and Friends in 2020. It is also the title of Tsvetelina’s first book for harp inspired by Bulgarian folklore. Enjoy one of her recent trad arrangments here.
Thistles and Sunflowers Dance Fusion is newly 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 (TDFS), New Bulgarians Cultural Platform and Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in the UK. Alexis Street and Ariana Stoyanova were commissioned to devise Thistles and Sunflowers Dance Fusion through an initial TDFS micro-grant in July – August 2021 followed by a residency at Bulgarian Cultural and Educational Centre Scotland February – May 2022.
Thistles and Sunflowers Dance Fusion is part of Scotland’s 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 is 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.
ILIYANA NEDKOVA 
2 thoughts on “Dance Fusion”