"The taste of your body" - a successful dance experiment

By: Svetlana Dicheva, Bulgarian National Radio

Mila Iskrenova is one of the most prominent Bulgarian choreographers who has in her repertoire numerous ballets. She works in the field of modern dance. According to the critics she is skilful in the use of ballet as a means of self-expression, the originality of her performances derives from her individual vision of modern art and her own artistic philosophy which includes mysticism and special focus on the complexity of human nature. In 2001 she was appointed pedagogue and choreographer of Ballet Arabesque - the most experimental dance company in Bulgaria. In the past years Mila Iskrenova devoted much of her time to the works of Bach, she tried to collect interesting rare records and has mobilized all her friends to give a hand.

Being a fervent admirer of the phylosophy of Michel Serres, one of the most provocative French philosophers of the present, Mila has decided to combine Bach's music with Serres's understanding of human body. Skin is central to the "philosophy of mingled bodies" that Serres inaugurates in one of his most popular work "The five senses. Philosophy of mingled bodies", written in his youth: "...in the skin, through the skin, the world and the body touch, defining their common border. Contingency means mutual touching: world and body meet and caress in the skin. I do not like to speak of the place where my body exists as a milieu, preferring rather to say that things mingle among themselves and that I am no exception to this, that I mingle with the world which mingles itself in me." Mila Iskrenova has been also facinated by the fact that Serres reconsiles sience and spirit. In one of his interviews the philisopher says:"I don’t know about the idea of metaphysics versus science because I don’t think that metaphysics is the refuge of anti–scientific thought. They are not in opposition, they are complimentary ways of thinking. It is impossible to think about metaphysics without scientific thought."

The "translation" of Bach's music and Serres's philosophical ideas into the "body language" has been a tough task for Mila Iskrenova. She has been very patient when waiting for her choreographic ideas to take shape. Unlike many artists who perceive Bach's music as intellectual she finds in it vitality and sensuality. After "The taste of your body" the choreographer intends to start a new experiment but her idea is unclear yet. A short interview with Mila Iskrenova taken by Svetlana Dicheva from Bulgarian National Radio.