Phantasm
Phantasm is the first performance created by Sapromat Collective in collaboration with choreographer Tsveta Doycheva. It was provoked by our interest in the space of the ruined rehearsal hall in the National Student House. The specifics of the space include wide windows, high ceiling, ruined walls and eight separate architectural niches. We created an installation consisting of four wide prisms made of mirrors. They move in regular geometrical trajectories, form different shapes and fit inside the hall’s niches. The geometry of the movement is inspired by the proportions of the interior. Each of the structures has a see through mirror that can hide or reveal what’s inside depending on the interior lighting.
Throughout the first act of the performance, the four prisms are moved by performers hidden inside them. In the second act, a square is formed in the middle of the hall and the bodies of the performers slowly appear within the prisms. Tsveta Doycheva’s choreography is inspired by the gestures and repetitive movements that one makes in front of a mirror surface. In the final act an interactive floor projection mapping traces in black lines the movements of the spectators while the performers leave their mirror cages and enter the square. They react to the projection, while also interacting with the audience by mirroring their gestures and postures. The floor gradually becomes fully black from the traces that are projected on it. The performers then leave the hall in darkness and the audience is left alone inside the space to move around and explore the mirror structures on their own. Angel Simitchiev’s accompanying drone music incorporates sounds and noises made during the rehearsals of the performance.
Phantasm explores the modern individual caged inside the perception of their own appearances. The performance merges different media – such as choreography, site-specific installation and digital media – in order to create a poliphony of expression. As in other projects by Sapromat, the viewer is left to interpret the performance freely and on their own, while moving inside the hall at their own pace and perceiving the composition from any possible angle. In this way personal space is related to the larger physical space and to the space of others.
Creation SAPROMAT and Tsveta Doycheva
Music Angel Simitchiev
Poster Hasan Halilov
Photography Yana Lozeva
Performers Bilyana Georgieva
Ivan Nikolov
Stiliyan Zheliazkov
Tsveta Doycheva
The projec is supported by The National Cultue Fund, Bulgaria, The Council of European Studies of Columbia Univesity, DA Lab Foundation, National Student House and Conclave Theatre Company.
