Paper short abstract:

This paper investigates folk dance phenomena in 21st century urban Bulgaria. It analyses the dance forms per se and how these reflect of political, economic and cultural processes and changes.

Paper long abstract:

This paper investigates folk dance phenomena in 21st century urban Bulgaria, analyzed as dance forms per se and their reflection of political, economic and cultural processes. Under discussion are the following dance phenomena:

• Experiments (folk dance blended with other genres)

• Mega spectacles

• Recreational folk dance club movement

The show "Dva Svyata" [Two Worlds] is representative of choreographies by professional companies, based on folk dance patterns combined with artistic gymnastics, named "experiments" by Bulgarian choreographers. The second example, the mega spectacle "Tova e Bulgaria" [This is Bulgaria], resembles the Bulgarian folk dance ensemble performance tradition, with a nationalistic appeal. The third example is related to the new powerful recreational folk dance movement that unifies features of the recreational dance club form, popular throughout Europe and North America, and Bulgarian folk dance ensemble tradition with special emphasis on performance and competition.

In search for the nature of changes of Bulgarian dance in its various forms today (as a synchrony), the paper discusses the new phenomena in their dynamic relations to the "old" (traditional dance and the folk dance ensemble tradition) and the spirit of the new century. The changes are viewed as application of new patterns in choreographic and performance levels and as a mode of existence (self-governance and support), that also act as preservation (bringing new life to Bulgarian dance). The paper follows the analytical perspective suggested by Lotman and Uspenski regarding cultural changes and culture as memory, the understanding that culture constantly excludes from itself specific texts in parallel with the process of creating new texts.