By Mark Beachy – April 6, 2012
Highlights from Hopa Topa Kukerica! This play was produced at the Ambassador Theater. Conceived and Directed by Lilia Slavova. The video was produced, shot, and edited by Mark Beachy.
Under the patronage of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria, Ambassador Theater presents Hopa Tropa Kukerica!, an authentic celebration of Bulgarian culture! Lilia Slavova wrote and directedhis whirlwind of song, dance, puppetry, and traditional masquerade. Hopa Tropa Kukerica!, was choreographed by Ivan Dimitrov. The second part – called Na Megdana - was directed and choreographed by Desi Jordanoff. The choreography for the entire production was full of joy, high energy, and pride. Featured talents included folk music group Orfeia, women’s vocal ensemble Svitanya, Bulgarian dance ensemble Zharava, and St. Kliment Okhridski Bulgarian School.
Hopa Tropa Kukerica! Photo courtesy of Ambassador Theater.
Set Designer Antonio Petrov framed a golden curtain with black ones, and strewed the stage with Bulgarian artifacts, such as animal skins, antlers, woven rugs and thick furs, and stick bundles. This creates a village-like atmosphere on which the large cast can sing and dance. The music, arranged by Petko Kolev, remained upbeat for the majority of the production. What really grabbed your attention, however, were the outfits. The women of Orfeia wore elaborate headdresses and glittery gold dresses, their feet peeping out from under the patterned fringe. The dancers were adorned with flowy white blouses that were paired with red-patterned skirts and vests, and there was not a single woman in sight that does not have a large blossom tucked behind her sleek braids.
The production began with a frightened young girl (Mimi, played by a sparkling Gwendolyn Torrence) shrieking about the Kukerica. Her family (Daniel Rovin as Georgij, Konstantin Hadjipanzov as Grandpa Petar, Amie Cazel as Biliana, and Daria Kondova as Baba Mara) decided to distract her by using plain objects (such as rags and gourds) to create puppets. These puppets, designed by Julia Tasheva, were incredibly creative. They made animals such as rabbits and turkeys from household objects, and then finally formed a man from mostly cloth, who then invited a young audience member onstage and presented him with a Bulgarian rose. The actors worked together, practically intertwined, to make these puppets move realistically, and the effect was very interesting and entertaining. Soon, music began and dancers emerged from the audience and danced around the room, with fun choreography by Ivan Dimitrov. It was quite a spectacle, as they joined hands and circled around each other in varying patterns, some beating on drums and chanting. Looking down at the colorful dancers moving together, it was similar to looking into a kaleidoscope. The gold jewelry clinked to the beat as they danced, adding their own unique chime to the music.
After the puppetry, music, and dancing, audience members were welcomed onstage to join the dance, while others walked down the hall to sample traditional Bulgarian food. Workshops with the actors and dancers were also held later in the day for people who wished to attend.
While the entertainment was great, I do wish that the audience behaved more gracefully. Flashes from cameras were constant, and from every direction, which proved to be a great distraction, and a safety risk for the actors and dancers.
The entertainment was well-executed. It was quite a display of talent!
The slump is over for DC area theatregoeers. After more than a week without any openings, audiences have five new openings to consider this weekend, SWAN day on Saturday,and, on Sunday, a most unusual performance by Bulgarian performers, produced by the Ambassador Theater.
Svitanya, one of three ensembles performing on Sunday
Described as “a whirling masquerade of puppetry, folk objects, song, dance, and food to bring out the fun loving fool in all of us!” Hopa Tropa: Kukerica! will be given two performances at the George Washington Masonic Memorial Theatre in Alexandria, VA, starting at 11:30am.
“The theatre is beautiful, and the view from the Masonic grounds is breathtaking,” Hanna Bondarewska told us, as she described Ambassador’s largest production, by far, to date. More than 50 artists will perform under Lilia Slavova’s original improvisational concept, featuring Bulgarian ensembles Orfeia, Svitanya, and Zharava, music by Petko Kolev, choreography by Ivan Dimitrov, set design by Antonio Petrov and puppets by master puppeteer Julia Tasheva. Tickets, ranging from $10 to $25 can be purchased on line at the Box Office, or day of performance, at the theatre.
Lifestyle
By — Erin Williams, Published: March 10, 2012
Puppetry from Bulgaria
Experience the arts and culture of Bulgaria on April 1 when the Ambassador Theater hosts “Hopa Tropa: Kukerica!,” a masquerade experience of puppetry and music at the George Washington Masonic Memorial.
Photo by Valentin Radev
Puppet shows will be held at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., with workshops at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. The memorial is at 101 Callahan Dr. in Alexandria. Tickets are $25 for adults, $15 for seniors and $10 for children and students. Visit www.aticc.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hopa Tropa Kukerica
Celebration of Bulgarian Culture at the Masonic Theater in Old Town Alexandria
April 1, 2012
Under the patronage of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria, Ambassador Theater celebrates the rich traditions of Bulgaria with the second installment of an interactive show that will delight both children and adults – Hopa Tropa Kukerica! A whirling masquerade of puppetry, folk objects, song, dance, and food to bring out the fun loving fool in all of us!
In renowned Bulgarian director Lilia Slavova’s original, improvisational exhibition of Bulgarian culture, ordinary objects come to life with the touch of an imaginative family. As they dance through the world of the Kukeri, the audience can sing along and join the fun, in Bulgarian and English! With music arranged by Bulgarian musician and composer Petko Kolev and choreography by well known Bulgarian dancer and choreographer, Ivan Dimitrov, set design by Bulgarian artist Antonio Petrov and puppets by Master Puppeteer Julia Tasheva.
Featuring: Amie Cazel, Daria Kondova, Konstantin Hadjipanzov, Daniel Rovin and Gwendolyn Torrence.
What began as an idea to continue with Ambassador Theater’s mission to highlight international cultures and bring them to the DC area, has expanded into a multi-act production featuring the added talents of Orfeia, Svitanya, Zharava and the St. Kliment Okhridski Bulgarian School. Under the direction of its founder, internationally renowned singer Tatiana Sarbinska, Orfeia has earned its reputation as a top vocal ensemble and preserver of Eastern European musical traditions. With compositions that range in age from brand new to generations of song, Svitanya brings unending enthusiasm to every performance. The Bulgarian folk-dance ensemble Zharava was established in January, 2007. Within its first six months, the group gathered more than 20 enthusiastic members, including natives of Bulgaria, Russia and the U.S. The fire in each member’s heart is implied by the group’s name: Zharava – ‘burning embers.’ The group carries this energy into all its performances and workshops. After enjoying this artistic feast, everyone will be invited to the dining area of the Masonic theater to sample traditional foods provided by the Bulgarian Community Center. Finally, anyone who is not weighed down by food will have the chance to take a workshop with the staff and cast of Hopa Tropa Kukerica to learn some of the traditional puppetry skills and dances from the show!
The Masonic Theater at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Old Town, Alexandria VA
101 Callahan Drive Alexandria, VA 22301
April 1, 2012
11:30 AM and 2:00 PM – Hopa Tropa Kukerica
12:30 PM and 3:00 PM – Playing with Kukerica, workshops for all ages
TICKETS: $10-25 http://www.aticc.org/home/box-office . For more information, go to our website: www.aticc.org
Contact: Hanna Bondarewska
(703) 475-4036
Or Daniel Rovin
Contact: Hanna Bondarewska
HannaB@aticc.org (703) 475-4036
Or Daniel Rovin ambassadortheater@aticc.org
Hopa Tropa Kukerica
An Authentic Celebration of Bulgarian Culture at the Masonic Theater located in Old Town Alexandria on April 1, 2012
(Photo by Valentin Radev)
Under the patronage of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria, Ambassador Theater celebrates the rich traditions of Bulgaria with the second installment of an interactive show that will delight both children and adults – Hopa Tropa Kukerica! A whirling masquerade of puppetry, folk objects, song, dance, and food to bring out the fun loving fool in all of us!
In renowned Bulgarian director Lilia Slavova’s original, improvisational exhibition of Bulgarian culture, ordinary objects come to life with the touch of an imaginative family. As they dance through the world of the Kukeri, the audience can sing along and join the fun, in Bulgarian and English! With music arranged by Bulgarian musician and composer Petko Kolev and choreography by well known Bulgarian dancer and choreographer, Ivan Dimitrov, set design by Bulgarian artist Antonio Petrov and puppets by Master Puppeteer Julia Tasheva.
What began as an idea to continue with Ambassador Theater’s mission to highlight international cultures and bring them to the DC area, has expanded into a multi-act production featuring the added talents of Orfeia, Svitanya, and the St. Kliment Okhridski Bulgarian School. Under the direction of its founder, internationally renowned singer Tatiana Sarbinska, Orfeia has earned its reputation as a top vocal ensemble and preserver of Eastern European musical traditions. With compositions that range in age from
(Photo by Edwin Remsberg)
brand new to generations of song, Svitanya brings unending enthusiasm to every performance. After enjoying this artistic feast, everyone will be invited to the dining area of the Masonic theater to sample
traditional foods provided by the Bulgarian Community Center. Finally, anyone who is not weighed down by food will have the chance to take a workshop with the staff and cast of Hopa Tropa Kukerica to learn some of the traditional puppetry skills and dances from the show!
The Masonic Theater at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Old Town, Alexandria VA
101 Callahan Drive Alexandria, VA 22301
Events of April 1st, in thanks to the patronage of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria:
11:30 AM and 2:00 PM – Hopa Tropa Kukerica
12:30 PM and 3:00 PM – Playing with Kukerica, a workshop for all ages
Photo credit: Joyce Billie
For more information, go to our website: www.aticc.org
The Ambassador Theatre in Washington took place on Thursday evening (U.S. time) premiere of “The Madman and the Nun” by Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, one of the most popular works of Polish precursor theater of the absurd.
Presentation in translation directed by Daniel Gerould Bondarewska Hanna – artistic director of the theater. The play takes place in a psychiatric hospital. The hero is locked in the young poet Mieczyslaw Walpurg (in English translation of the name was changed to Alexander), who tries to escape with a beautiful nun.
The surreal comedy-drama written by Witkacy in 1923 was interpreted as a metaphor for the conflict with an oppressive society, individuals.
Present at the premiere of Daniel Gerould, Professor of New York City University of New York (CUNY), one of the most prominent specialists in the world Witkacy, staging boasted in an interview with PAP.
“It’s good that the director did not, as archaic art-historical, but with references to the present, referring to the sensitivity of today’s audience” – said the critic.
Performing “The Madman and the Nun” in the Ambassador Theatre will take place six times a week to 18 December inclusive.
The premiere was preceded by an evening dedicated to the art of Witkacy at the Kosciuszko Foundation in Washington with the participation of a professor of literature from Washington University. George Mason, Mark Rudnicki. He delivered a lecture on Polish dramaturgu.
From Washington Tomasz Zalewski (PAP)
Ambassador Theater is looking for a Stage Manager for the Special Celebration of the Bulgarian Culture presenting “Hopa Tropa Kukerica” at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Old Town, Alexandria VA April 1, 2012. The rehearsals will start about mid February. Anyone interested, please send your resume at ambassadortheater@aticc.org
Ambassador Theater is looking for talented actors with strong movement/dance and singing abilities (FLEXIBILITY, puppetry and improvisational skills are a plus) for a very innovative and fun show entitled: Hopa Tropa Kukerica, directed by Lilia Slavova
Auditions to be held January 31, 2012
4-10 p.m.
at Durant Center
1605 Cameron Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
please sign up for audition times online at http://hopatropa.eventbrite.com/
The show will be performed at the Memorial Theater
at the George Washington Masonic Temple
April 1, 2012.
Please prepare a comic monologue and 16 bars of a song.
Actors who will be called back will be asked to dance and improvise–callback date TBA.
Please be open to the idea of touring with the show!
The rehearsals are planned to start around February 15th
Please make sure to sign up for your time on eventbrite and bring your photoresume to audition.
For more information email: ambassadortheater@aticc.org
The principal actors do a bangup job of adding wit, personal trauma, and wild eccentricity to the action, particularly John Stange as the wildly mood-swinging Walpurg and David Berkenbilt as a crackpot analyst-shrink—clearly a dig at the sex-obsessed world of Sigmund Freud. The supporting cast, including Ray Converse, Jen Bevan, and James Randle, add sinister helping hands as well…it’s loaded with crazy, imaginative touches, including the weirdly effective costuming designed by Jen Bevan. Sister Anna’s sexy pink habit is a nice touch as is the overly ornate habit of Anna’s superior, the very weird and ultra-cranky Mother Superior, Sister Barbara (Mary Suib). Barbara’s pancake makeup and huge, fluttering fake eyelids make this character even funnier.
But perhaps the biggest hat tip of all goes to director Hanna Bondarewska. Working with scholars to establish a faithful, working English translation of this Polish play, and helping her players get into their characters and navigate Witkacy’s intriguing, multi-layered, glorious mess of a play, she brings a long-neglected playwright vividly back to life, exploring once again his oddly forward looking views on life, reality, art, and—for better or worse—the role of mind-altering substances in transporting an artist to other realms where creativity may somehow be more highly regarded as a glimpse of the divine.
For Witkacy, it seems, life might ultimately be summed up in the words of an American uppercase-challenged poet e. e. cummings, who later wrote:
listen; there’s a hell
of a good universe next door; let’s go
Ambassador Theater’s production of The Madman and the Nun runs thru Dec 18, 2011 at Flashpoint Gallery, Mead Theatre Lab, 918 G Street NW, Washington, DC. BY Terry Ponick
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