Double bill: Duets Across Borders
- Dance & performance
- Followed by Q&A with the artists
2 ore.
Info
Two new choreographic works in development are presented to the public as part of a joint initiative initiated by the National Dance Center Bucharest and Derida Dance Center Sofia, part of the “Duets Across Borders” project.
The two presentations, SEEMS FAMILIAR (Simona Dabija & Deyan Georgiev) and Suck it up, buttercup! (Elena Miroslavova & Mariana Gavriciuc), mark the result of a period of research and artistic residency held between February and April 2026, in Bucharest and Sofia, during which the artists explored collaborative working formats and developed common choreographic directions.
The works are presented in an open, work-in-progress stage, proposing a sincere and sensitive look at the relationship between the artists, the creative process and the realities behind the scene. These first stage forms remain open and evolving, with the possibility of their further development within the collaboration between the two institutions.
_SEEMS FAMILIAR_
Idea, choreography and dance: Simona Dabija (RO) and Deyan Georgiev (BG)
Music: Bojidar Vasilev (BG)
Produced by: Derida Dance Center (BG) and The National Center for Dance Bucharest (RO)
Part of: Moving Balkans Co-productions 2026
Seems Familiar grows from a stretched time: the slow formation of a first connection inside something new. Two realities and two temporalities meet – our lives, our meeting, and the work we are creating together. On stage, we seem to carry each other, or to co-exist in a suspended time. From this proximity, a familiarity between our bodies begins to emerge. By spending time together, sharing life stories, and moving with and through each other, we open that sense of familiarity and belonging to the audience as well.
Suck it up, buttercup!
Idea, choreography and dance: Elena Marinova (BG) and Mariana Gavriciuc (RO)
Music and sound design: Martina Stefanova (BG)
Produced by: Derida Dance Center (BG) and The National Center for Dance Bucharest (RO)
Part of: Moving Balkans Co-productions 2026
You are an artist.
You are a thinker. You are the author, the performer and the critic, a bit auto-critical.
You are a teacher, a researcher, a project manager, an event planner, an organizer, an accountant, a cleaning person, a flyer distributor. You are creative.
You are a PR and a marketing person. You make promo photos, promo texts, promo reels, promo statements on promo trends, promo campaigns, promo podcasts, promo posters.
You need to make content. What other skills do you have?
You are a salesman.
You have a piece.
You look and hope for grants, residencies, open calls. You apply, you write to festivals proposing your work.
Please, please, help me be on time for this deadline, you pray.
You are emerging. Still emerging. Not yet emerging.
You meet the audience. You thank the audience for being there. You try to explain to a guy that what you are doing is useful, while he says that football is more useful, football has a bigger audience. You invite him to give you a follow on instagram and come to your other performances.
You are already late for that big opportunity.
You try networking. You are disappointed. You are a disappointment.
You’re an athlete.
You go to workshops, hoping you can still get the moves. You are tired.
Is it enough?
“You’re an artist and that means: you’re a dreamer, you’re a clown. That is what some people think.”, Dieter Lesage
Biographies
Elena Marinova (she/her) is a Bulgarian contemporary dance artist, choreographer, and cultural entrepreneur. She graduated from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London in 2023 and will begin her MA degree at Erasmus University (Cultural Economics and Entrepreneurship) in 2026.
Elena is the founder and Artistic Director of Dance Frame Collective and the creator of Head Under Water Dance Company. Her work explores themes of consciousness, inner states, and the experience of personal and collective transformation through multidisciplinary approaches.
She also develops educational platforms in the field of dance, including Dance Frame Residency and Dance Frame University, supporting emerging artists in their professional paths. In 2025, she established Dance Frame Fest, a festival for young international choreographers held annually in Sofia, Bulgaria.
As a performer, she has been part of Derida Dance Company and DUNE Dance Company and is active in multidisciplinary projects connecting dance, sound, text, and visual art. As a choreographer, she has worked with the National Contemporary Dance Company of Bulgaria – Ballet Arabesque, ATOM Theatre, DUNE Youth Company, her own company Head Under Water Dance Company, and on independent projects.
Mariana Gavriciuc is an emerging choreographer based in Bucharest. Her artistic practice focuses on personal narratives, which she explores through movement, video, and text. She often draws inspiration from intimate experiences or autobiographical fragments, which she recontextualizes within performative frameworks. Through this process, she creates spaces where vulnerability, memory, and the physical body intersect. Her practice is rooted in a desire to make the personal meaningful within collective experiences, using choreography not only as a form but also as a tool for reflection, dialogue, and storytelling through the body.
She holds both a BA and an MA in Choreography from the National University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale” in Bucharest and is also a graduate of the second edition of the Dance and Performance Academy Program at the National Centre for Dance Bucharest.
Mariana is the co-founder of Delazero Association, a member of the creative group TANGENt, part of the artist collective Late Field Collective, and co-founder of the screendance production company GoldenBoi Screendance.
Deyan Georgiev este un performer și coregraf a cărui practică leagă arta și știința, concentrându-se pe întruchipare, stările de transă și atmosfera coregrafică. Bazându-se pe o gamă largă de contexte performative, lucrările sale se mută între discipline și forme. Absolvent al Facultății de Actorie la NATFA din Sofia, deține și un master în Coregrafie, Cercetare Artistică și Co-creație de la Codarts/Fontys din Olanda. Spectacolul său solo, Wired, a fost selectat pentru Aerowaves Twenty23 și a fost recunoscut în lista Forbes Bulgaria 30 Under 30.
Romanian dance artist Simona Dabija explores hybrid embodiment where mechanical and organic movement coexist. Her dance challenges perceptions of the human form, by deconstructing the movement through rhythm and speed. She holds BA and MA degrees in Choreography from UNATC Bucharest. She remains the main collaborator of choreographer Simona Deaconescu and a core member of Tangaj Collective, performing and teaching within the company for the past 10 years. In parallel, she has been developing projects with independent spaces and collectives in Bucharest, such as Linotip, /SAC, and Delazero. In 2024, she premiered her first solo piece, “BPM—Beats per Millennium”, part of the Iridescent Festival at CNDB, and co-created the performative installation “Original Spaces/Legalized Gestures”, together with choreographer Ioana Marchidan. She received the CNDB Award in 2020 for her contribution to the growth of contemporary dance in Romania.
The two performances are held within the framework of Moving Balkans, a dynamic contemporary dance platform that collaborates with numerous dance institutions from the countries of the region.
The two performances are realised with the financial support of the Creative Europe Programme of EU, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria, and the Sofia Municipality – Calendar of Cultural Events.
Main media partner
Radio Guerilla
Media partners
Scena9, Zile și Nopți, Adevărul, Agerpress, Elle, Happ.ro, Liternet, TVR Cultural, Radio România Cultural, Revista Arta, The Institute, Zeppelin, ISCOADA, Revista Golan, Feeder, Visit Bucharest, Ziarul Metropolis, IQads, Ceașca de Cultură, Modernism.ro, Daily Magazine, Munteanu Recomandă.
