February fast approached, and the workshops began. I was thrilled to find out a wonderful performer I happened to meet at my old workplace was taking part as well. Jessica Morgado is a talented, classically trained dancer from Portugal, whose career has taken her to the UK. I was so happy to see her in motion, since we always discussed her dancing during our long and boring shifts. I remember telling her 'Girl, we need to do something together!!' and here it was at last - the thing turned out to be an inspiring performance. 

During the first rehearsal I realized this will be a wonderful experience - I was part of a circle of women of different backgrounds, some experienced dancers and actors, and some were more like myself - just looking for a meaning and a purpose elsewhere, away from their office jobs and the gray 9-5 routine. ​

I can talk for days about all the beautiful emotions I felt, by being surrounded by those perfect strangers, towards whom I felt immediate sympathy and connection. The faces, the expressions, the beautiful ways we all started to own the space, dance, play-fight, converse, smile, sharing those silent moments of strength and weariness.

​Special shoutout to Jenni's collaborator Bar Groisman, a great choreographer herself, for creating the coolest atmosphere during our rehearsals and making us all feel like Uma Thurman at least once a week. 

The show received a 5 star review by The Stage and had an article dedicated to it at The Guardian - a testimony of Jenni's hard work with the Girl Gangs of Manchester and London, which performed before our Cambridge show.  No pressure!

I found the show so engaging, because of the mixture of physicality and emotional story-telling that Jenni does, before and after demonstrating a series of Judo moves such as Hane Goshi - check this one out, it might save your life someday. 

That's exactly how I felt about all these movements, the new awareness of your body strengths can truly save lives, or at least revitalize your being and make you feel like a bear coming out of torpor. 

During the show, Jenni tells a few stories, inspired by her personal life, and one of them gave me chills every time. It was the most surprising thing that, during both shows, people were laughing at this bit. I often wonder, since I am coming from somewhere else, with a language so different from English, whether I am able to grasp the full meaning of things. To this day, I am still cautious of what I say and how I say it. The same goes to listening - I always wonder if I'll manage to extract the full meaning of what's said. But hey, not being a maximalist, truly helps. 
​

Jenni tells the story about a trip with her mom. They saw a man who was carrying a bag full of mice. From time to time he was shaking the bag, which provoked someone on the bus asking why he was doing this. 'So they don't self-organise', he answers.

At the exact same moment when I felt chills on my spine, people were laughing. It felt almost upsetting - could they not hear what she just said? 

To my ears, that was the saddest thing - how we humans always try to exercise forms of control over others, how deeply rooted in our nature is that 'shaking of the bag'. That instinct to overpower leads to the worst cases of violence, and empathy never comes as an impulse - it's the type of behavior that less and less comes natural to us. 

Why do we lack empathy, why do we fail to react, when we see something that isn't right, how the body maintains and lose its energy in fights and conflicts with secondary matter - there is food for thought in abundance throughout the performance. ​

I am really pleased to announce the release of the video single 'The Sweet Surrender' by Gea Russell from his re-issued album 'One Last Dance'.

Projects like this one always appear on the horizon like an invisible floating belt that takes me back to the surface and I even manage to thank each subsequent wave, wherever it decided to send me. Well, in this case, it sent me to an exciting lady (Lisa Genco) in a British cityscape, ringing with the lyrical confession of a lover.

I was truly lucky to work on the video as an editor. The 8mm analogue footage from Gea's archives was incredibly interesting material to work with and with his help and direction, we gave it a whole new life and dimension. I couldn't be more grateful to Gea for his trust and guidance! The secret for the constant change of color and movement in the video lays at the bottom of an old perfume bottle. But these are the things we do, when our only extra gear is an idea. Somehow not using pro equipment is still something that thrills me to this day.

I learned about Gea Russell many years ago on Myspace. His music video for the song 'Easy' was made by the Bulgarian animation filmmaker Vessela Dantcheva (some of you may know her from Compote Collective) at the dawn of the 2000s. Coincidentally or not, through word of mouth about Bulgarian connections, Gea and I became friends and so years later we happened to work together.

Gea is also behind the idea to make a video for the talented musician Liran Donin, whose career I continue to follow with interest.

The album features another Bulgarian guest - a talented musician and DJ, whom you should definitely listen to - Martin Denev. He has an illustrious career abroad and nowadays is part of beautiful musical projects back home too. 

On top of all that, the drummer for the project is Seb Rochford, whose band Polar Bear I haven't stopped listening to for 10+ years (or more!), also on Gea's recommendation, and some of you may also associate him with many other projects such as Acoustic Ladyland, Sons of Kemet, Menlo Park, and has also been the touring drummer for Miss Patti Smith (whose song 'Horses' was one of my teenage anthems). He has numerous projects and each one of them is intriguing on its own. 

This great band of musicians were all gathered together by Gea for this soulful project. Give 'One last Dance' a listen - it is now available to purchase (Links below).

​video director: Gea Russell
co-directed & editor: Elitsa Ganeva
original concept: Graham Welsh
actress: Lisa Genco
Sweet Surrender Track lineup:
Gea Russell - vocals & guitar
Seb Rochford - drums
Neil Charles - bass
Adi Mehic - rhodes
Written, produced & arranged by Gea Russell
mixed by Dan George
mastered by Frederic Alstadt
Listen/Purchase
Spotify
Apple Music
Itunes
Deezer
Bandcamp
Gea Russel - Official Website

Watch the short documentary film about the making of the album and the inspiration about it. I highly recommend it!

                                                                                             One of the things I missed this year.
With plans for a trip to Bilbao ruined at least I am finding little information about my beloved Victor Erice new work - ​Sky and Stone

I find it really inspiring that in the last decade (and more) he dedicated his time and visual genius to create works based on other people's artistic creations - focusing on them and creating sub-realities around art-works that already exist on their own, adding new ways of seeing and connecting with them. 


My dream is to invite him to make a visual installation on one of the hills in my hometown ;] Luckily dreams are not like plans and they can't be ruined (not in the same way anyway) so I'll keep building the vision till one day I can see it happening.​            

                                                               

The importance of writing letters to poets...well I can only compare it with 6CO2 + 6H2O + light. One more ingredient and you might have a poem dedicated to you. The gesture of a short note embroidering the eternal silence. Some poets are weakly encrypted - they don't ask for too much. Just write them a letter. That's all.
I remember writing to this (then) young poet, now teaching professor, about a poem or two that I liked. He was fast to reply and reminded himself about his 'grand time' in Bulgaria in 1996. Funny but I think my family was also on a holiday in Sozopol that exact year. Small but not so lonely planet. :) It's always worth the time to write to a poet, especially when you get the 'warmest wishes' and a few more sips of inspiration in reply.
"Fable" by Mark Yakich

Once upon a time
there was a lonely fox; she was
lonelier than a wooden rowboat in a field.
She happened to come to a hill,
and fell in love with the first wolf she saw.
Already she loved its long lashes
and its freckled wrinkles,
but the eyes stopped her.
Apart from God nobody ever
found those eyes as beautiful
as did this child–like beast.
So at night the fox went up the hill,
stopped before the set of eyes,
and never moved from there any more.
She had wanted a life of chasing butterflies,
but instead stood by one mustard iris.
When, at last, the wolf opened its mouth
it was not to kiss the fox
but to let the world crawl in.