YOU ARE NOT ALONE
Celebrating Choreography, Practicing Soft Resistance
16 October – 16 November
The Imaginative Choreographic Center (ICC) was born from a need to imagine other ways of institutionalizing in the field of dance and choreography. Too often, continuity in our field is secured only through precarious employment, cultural market demands, political constellations, or the privilege of private wealth. These models reproduce gatekeeping, meritocracy, dependency on curators and programmers, and the fragility of public funds.
ICC proposes something else. It is a project institution: an ongoing practice and research that insists on co-thinking, co-dreaming, and co-imagining other forms of continuity and sustainability. It is a structure of soft resistance, constantly reshaping itself as a reflective tool for our field.
This year, directed and produced by Aleksandar Georgiev (Ace), sometimes in dialogue with the Dreamers Group of ICC and a wide constellation of collaborators, ICC proposes the festival YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
At its core, the festival celebrates choreography, not only as an artistic form, but as a way of organizing, relating, and imagining. Choreography is both practice and proposal, both structure and gesture. Through it, we practice other ways of co-existing and re-distributing value beyond spectacle, exclusivity, or market recognition.
The Festival Structure
DAY PROGRAM / ICC Context
For the 7th time, ICC Context creates a space for collective process and imagination. This year, it unfolds in Sofia during YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
The day program is a two-week process where ten artists gather for co-thinking, co-dreaming, and co-imagining institutionalization in contemporary terms:
Participating artists:
ALEKSANDAR GEORGIEV – ACE, DARÍO BARRETO DAMAS, ZHANA PENCHEVA, IDA DANIEL, VIKTORIJA KOSTOVA, IGOR KORUGA, MILICA ILIĆ, MIKE DELE DITTRICH FRYDETZKI, OMER KEINAN, YANITSA ATANASOVA.
The Inputs are open doors for local audiences and will be held from 3-6 November at Toplocentrala and Etud Gallery. They include presentations, workshops, and sharings, which you can find in our program.
The day program culminates in a public presentation on 11 November, 16:00–18:00 at Toplocentrala Studio 4, where the group of 10 artists will share their artistic and cultural practices with the wider public.
NIGHT PROGRAM / Collective Witnessing
The night program is dedicated to watching choreography together. It presents seven performances at Toplocentrala Hall 1 and Derida Dance Center, curated through a model of reciprocal motivation: some are co-produced or supported by ICC, others are brought through public recommendations and shared motivations.
Performances by:
ZRINKA UZBINEC, KARIS ZIDORE, NAZARIO DÍAZ, ALEKSANDAR GEORGIEV – ACE, DARÍO BARRETO DAMAS, ZHANA PENCHEVA.
The full details and updates of the program will be shared via ICC social media channels.
AROUND PROGRAM / Expanded Fields
The Around Program gathers materials and events that orbit the concentrated festival period of 16 October – 16 November. It explores the aroundness of the festival both conceptually and temporally: choreography as an expanded field, and programming that happens before and after the main festival dates.
It consists of: Hot Topics (podcast conversations), Critically Hot (texts in poetic, critical, or experimental forms), Off Program (performances shared before and after the main period)
Details of the Around Program will be announced progressively through ICC’s platforms.
TICKETS LOGIC / Accessibility and Celebration
YOU ARE NOT ALONE insists that accessibility and diversity are not only questions of identity politics but also of economic possibility. For this reason, the festival adopts a pay-as-you-wish ticket model, offering four different price options for audiences to choose from according to their means.
This approach celebrates not only inclusion but also the diversity of financial strength and capacity in our communities. It affirms that choreography, as a public practice, must remain accessible, collective, and celebrated across differences.
RESISTANCE THROUGH SOFTNESS
YOU ARE NOT ALONE is not only about presenting works. It is about celebrating choreography and resisting together. A festival where we practice insistence rather than repetition, consistency rather than interrupted spectacle, and resistance through softness.
Here, resisting is celebrating, and celebrating is resisting.
Ten artists. Two weeks. Co-thinking,
co-dreaming, co-imagining cultural,
curatorial, and artistic practices.
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Artists:
ALEKSANDAR GEORGIEV – ACE,
DARÍO BARRETO DAMAS,
ZHANA PENCHEVA, IDA DANIEL, VIKTORIJA KOSTOVA, IGOR KORUGA, MILICA ILIĆ, MIKE DELE DITTRICH FRYDETZKI, OMER KEINAN, YANITSA ATANASOVA.
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Proposing public INPUTS held from 3–6 November at Toplocentrala and Etud Gallery. They include
presentations, workshops, and
sharings.
→
Public presentation on 11
November, 16:00–18:00 at
Toplocentrala Studio 4,
-ARTISTIC/CULTURAL PRACTICES-
ALEKSANDAR GEORGIEV, DARIO BARRETO DAMAS, ZHANA PENCHEVA, IDA DANIEL, VIKTORIJA KOSTOVA, IGOR KORUGA, MILICA ILIC, MIKE DELE DITTRICH FRYDETZKI, OMER KEINEN,
YANITSA ATANASOVA
3 NOV
TOPLOCENTRALA
OPEN DOORS FOR LOCALS / INPUTS
11:00 – 11:20: The Stick-Arounds by Ida Daniel
11:30 – 14:00: Blue Sky by Omer Keinan
14:00 – 15:30: LUNCH
15:30 – 15:50: The Stick-Arounds by Ida Daniel
16:00 – 17:00: Drifting Bodies by Zhana Pencheva
17:10 – 18:00: Co-thinking, co-dreaming, and co-imagining
4 NOV
TOPLOCENTRALA
OPEN DOORS FOR LOCALS / INPUTS
11:00 – 11:20: The Stick-Arounds by Ida Daniel
11:30 – 12:30: Shadow Set by Darío Barreto Damas
12:40 – 14:10: POWER BALLADS by Aleksandar Georgiev
14:10 – 15:30: LUNCH
15:30 – 15:50: The Stick-Arounds by Ida Daniel
15:50 – 18:00: Co-thinking, co-dreaming, and co-imagining
5 NOV
TOPLOCENTRALA
OPEN DOORS FOR LOCALS / INPUTS
11:00 – 11:20: The Stick-Arounds by Ida Daniel
11:30 – 13:00: Tongue Code by Mike Dele Dittrich Frydetzki
13:05 – 14:20: Bodies of Permission by Yanitsa Atanasova
14:30 – 15:30: LUNCH
15:40 – 16:00:The Stick-Arounds by Ida Daniel
16:00 – 18:00: Co-thinking, co-dreaming, and co-imagining
6 NOV
ETUD GALLERY
OPEN DOORS FOR LOCALS / INPUTS
11:00 – 11:20: The Stick-Arounds by Ida Daniel
11:30 – 13:30: INPUT by Igor Koruga and Milica Ivic
13:30 – 15:00: LUNCH
15:00 – 15:20: The Stick-Arounds by Ida Daniel
15:30 – 16:30: Soft Structures by Victoria Kostova
16:30 – 18:00: Co-thinking, co-dreaming, and co-imagining
11 NOV
TOPLOCENTRALA
PUBLIC SHARING / PRESENTATION
16:00 – 18:00 Presenting artistic and cultural practices from the group of 10 artists.
Seven performances. Toplocentrala HALL 1, Derida Stage. Watching together, resisting together
→
Curated through a model of
reciprocal motivation: some are
co-produced/supported by ICC, others are brought through public
recommendations and reciprocal
motivation.
→
Artists:
ZRINKA UZBINEC, KARIS ZIDORE, NAZARIO DÍAZ, ALEKSANDAR GEORGIEV – ACE, DARÍO BARRETO DAMAS, ZHANA PENCHEVA.
-PERFORMANCES-
Zhana Pencheva, Darío Barreto Damas, Aleksandar Georgiev. Karis Zidore, Zrinka Uzbinec, Nazario Díaz
16 OCT
TOPLOCENTRALA / HALL 1
I Love When You’re Watching Me
By Zhana Pencheva
19:30h / 50 min
30 OCT
TOPLOCENTRALA / HALL 1
FANTASTIC FUTURES / FF
By Aleksandar Georgiev
19:30h / 75 min
7 NOV
DERIDA DANCE CENTER
Slit Show
By Karis Zidore
19:30h / 60 min
8 NOV
DERIDA DANCE CENTER
Dolls and Goats
By Zrinka Uzbinac
19:30h / 40 min
9 NOV
TOPLOCENTRALA / HALL 1
PHANTASMAGORIA
By Darío Barreto Damas
19:30h / 40 min
&
ATRÁS
by Aleksandar Georgiev – Ace
20:30h / 40 min
16 NOV
TOPLOCENTRALA / HALL 1
Hablame, cuerpo
By Nazario Diaz
19:30h / 50 min.
The festival stretches: before, after, around, and through.
→
The Around Program gathers
materials and events that orbit the concentrated festival period of 16 October – 16 November. It explores the aroundness of the festival both conceptually and temporally
→
It consists of: HOT Topics (podcast conversations), Critically HOT (texts in poetic, critical, or experimental forms), OFF Program (performances shared before and after the main period).
Artists & Artistic Works
At the heart of You Are Not Alone are the artists—their voices, visions, and practices. This segment gathers the diverse artistic works that shape the festival: performances, experiments, and encounters that invite us to listen, reflect, and share space together. Each work carries its own urgency and intimacy, yet resonates within the collective context of the festival. The program unfolds in three parts—Daily, Evening, and Around the Program—each offering different ways to experience and engage with the artistic works.
DAILY PROGRAM
The Daily Program artists in the first edition of You Are Not Alone, dedicated to choreography and collective practices, are: Aleksandar Gergiev, Dario Barreto Damas, Zhana Pencheva, Ida Daniel, Viktorja Kostova, Igor Koruga, Milica Ilić, MIke, dele, Dittrih Fridetzki, Omer Keinen, and Yanitsa Atanasowa. More about the artists and their proposals →
Aleksandar Georgiev
Dario Barreto Damas
Zhana Pencheva
Ida Daniel
Viktorja Kostova
Igor Koruga and Milica Ilić
MIke
Omer Keinen
Yanitsa Atanasowa
EVENING PROGRAM
The Daily Program artists in the first edition of You Are Not Alone, dedicated to choreography and collective practices, are: Zhana Pencheva, Dario Barreto Damas, Aleksandar Gergiev, Karis Zidore, Zrinka Uzbenez, Nazario Diaz
AROUND THE PROGRAM
The Around Program gathers materials and events that orbit the concentrated festival period of 16 October – 16 November. It explores the aroundness of the festival both conceptually and temporally: choreography as an expanded field, and programming that happens before and after the main festival dates.
It consists of: Hot Topics (podcast conversations), Critically Hot (texts in poetic, critical, or experimental forms), Off Program (performances shared before and after the main period).