dragON aka PHOENIX

choreographic work

STEAM ROOM, 2021

Running time 60 minutes without intermission.

Choreographers and dancers: Aleksandar Georgiev, Zhana Pencheva, Darío Barreto Damas aka STEAM ROOM.
Author of music: Tsvetan Momchilov
Lyrics writer and vocalist: Dragana Zarevska
Set and costume designer: Mihaela Dobreva
Graphic designer: Gjorgji Despodov
Special thanks to Anna Szigó for her dramaturgical support.

Production: STEAM ROOM and Garage Collective.
Coproduction: Workshop Foundation under the program line Creative Crossroads in the framework of the Life Long Burning project supported by the Creative Europe program of the European Union.
Supporters: National Community Centre Vasil Levski, Performance Room, Moving Body Festival, DNK – space for contemporary dance and performance, Skopje Pride Weekend, VIZ!, Jasmin Magazine

This project is realized with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of North Macedonia, the Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria, and the National Cultural Fund of Bulgaria.

Worldwide breaking news, snare drums, trumpets, three loud gongs! The greatest show has finally arrived in town! And that’s not all, we have a statement from the dancers themselves: "Come to our dressing room, we will make the roses bloom".

There are no secrets in heaven, flames don't lie. This is the excess of three burning dancing souls. This is the rise of the superstars. You want them higher, stronger, deeper, clever, naughty, bold and kiss forever? They will do what it takes.

dragON aka PHOENIX is the second work in the choreographic trilogy of the project dragON by the artistic team STEAM ROOM. It is a picturesque show where holding back is not an option. Abusing literalness and borrowing musical theatre logic, this work problematizes the potential absurdities of choreography and dance and deals with the protest and celebration of the body in the dragging scene.

STEAM ROOM is an artistic team within the field of choreography and dance. The team is formed by Aleksandar Georgiev - Ace, Zhana Pencheva, and Darío Barreto Damas, three choreographers/dancers actively operating locally and internationally.

Aleksandar Georgiev is a dancer and choreographer, who takes part in a number of formal and nonformal educational programs such as "NOMAD" (2009), "DanceWeb" (2010/2017), "50 Days Fly Low and Passing Through" (2010), "SPAZIO" (2012/2013) and "Critical Practice made in YU program" (3rd generation) (2016/2017). He has a bachelor’s degree in dance theatre from New Bulgarian University, Sofia, and holds an MA in Choreography from "DOCH", Stockholm (2014). Since 2008, he has been actively working in the field of dance and choreography, practicing different approaches. Apart from his artistic work as an author, he is also part of the artistic team STEAM ROOM which develops a collective authorship format. The team is part of ICC (Imaginative Choreographic Center), reimagining the institutions and processes of institutionalization, and denationalizing within the artistic practices and processes.

Darío Bardam is a Canarian freelance dancer and choreographer based in Sofia, Skopje, Stockholm and Tenerife. He graduated "Teatro Victoria", Tenerife, "Institut del Teatre", Barcelona and "DOCH", Stockholm. Darío has worked with the Swedish dance company "Cullberg" as a guest performer and with CCAP and c.off, (led by Cristina Caprioli). In his work Darío focuses on the emancipation of dance and spaces and de-contextualization/ dis-identification. He is a member STEAM ROOM, ICC (Imaginative Choreographic Center), Lokomotiva (North Macedonia), Interimkultur (Sweden), Garage Collective (Bulgaria), PiedeBase (Canarias) and TenerifeLAV (Tenerife).

Zhana Pencheva is a dancer and choreographer from Bulgaria. After her education in NBU, Sofia, she took part in a series of workshops and programs such as Nomad dance academy and DanceWeb. From 2010 she is actively working in the field as an author and collaborator. In 2018, together with Alexandar Georgiev and Darío Barreto Damas, they created the international artistic team STEAM ROOM, performing in Burgas, Sofia, Tenerife, Skopje and Stockholm and the project institution ICC (Imaginative Choreographic Center). Recently, she has been engaged with collective choreographic stage works as well as her own artistic production. In 2022–2023 Zhana is on tour with her latest choreographic concert "Dance Baby, dance".