REFUGEES NO LONGER – A DANCE IN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Magdalena Rahn
Sofia Echo
13:53 Thu 16 Oct 2008
Bulgaria
Like refugees, dance crosses national borders. And it was the Bulgarian
dance performance Bezhantsi that made its way to hall A5G3 of the
European Parliament in Brussels on October 15. The event took place on
the initiative of vice-president of the Party of European Socialists
Kristian Vigenin.
Vigenin’s fellow Bulgarians the Deputy Prime Minister for EU Funds
Management Meglena Plougchieva and the Bulgarian ambassador to the
European Union Boiko Kotsev also attended.
Bezhantsi is a performance in the repertoire of the troupe National
Art, under the direction of Neshka Robeva, former coach of the
Bulgarian national rhythmic gymnastics team. In Brussels, it was
staged as such that the dancers performed in the centre of a circle
created by work desks at which viewers sat. The show drew an audience
of more than 200, including European Parliament members and Bulgarian
professionals living in Belgium invited by Vigenin.
Telling the story of Bulgarians, Jews, Turks, Serbs and Armenians,
each with their national particularities, stories and lives, Bezhantsi
carries a message of hope, with the goal of the performance being to
give the opportunity to see not what divides, but what unites them –
the ongoing struggle for a better life, Robeva said at the event.
"The presentation of Bezhantsi […] perfectly fits into the European
Parliament’s priorities for the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue
and work on immigration legislation," Vigenin said in introducing the
show, as stated in a press release from his local public relations
office. "I am happy to have the opportunity to have co-operated in
bringing here a show that, through music and dance, says more than
all of our resolutions, declarations and garrulous speeches."
Bezhantsi premiered at NDK (National Palace of Culture) on December
12 2007; it is back in Bulgaria at Sofia’s Sulza i Smyah Theatre on
October 27.