PERFORMANCE SITUATION ROOM programme of Life Long Burning project

Nomad Dance Advocates Sofia 2015 was invited on the meeting of NOMAD Dance Institute (NDI) in 2013 to be one of the projects developed in the frame NDI, as part of PERFORMANCE SITUATION ROOM programme of Life Long Burning.
The Nomad Dance Advocates event in Sofia 2015 is follow up and continuation of the Nomad Dance Advocates event in Skopje 2012 though which Nomad Dance Academy with its partners and collaborators is trying to develop a strategic and on-going advocacy platform of the contemporary performing arts scene in the Region (Balkan). The aim of these events is to open and continue the dialogue between independent artists and cultural workers working in the field of contemporary preforming arts with the decision makers on local, national and regional level in order to develop mechanisms for support of the regional collaboration and development of this vivid and dynamic art filed in the region.

Representatives of NOMAD Dance Academy network that took active participation in the meeting were:
Willy Prager (Brain Store Project/NDA Bulgaria), Iva Sveshtarova (Brain Store Project/NDA Bulgaria), Angelina Georgieva (New Dramaturgies Platform/NDA Bulgaria), Stephan Shtereff (Informbureau/NDA Bulgaria), Galina Borissova (NDA Bulgaria), Krassimira Bakardzhieva (NDA Bulgaria), Biljana Tanurovska-Kjulavkovski (Lokomotiva, Skopje/NDA Macedonia), Violeta Kachakova (Lokomotiva, Skopje/NDA Macedonia), Dejan Srhoj (NDA Slovenia), Gisela Müller (Tanzfabrik, Berlin), Dragana Alfirević (NDA Slovenia) and Elena Angelova (as guest student/assistant, Bulgaria),

Aim of the pre-meeting was to:

Discuss the needs of the contemporary preforming arts scene in Bulgaria and the Region according to which the programme of the Nomad Dance Advocates Sofia event 2015 will be developed;
Develop the strategic goals and messages that will be communicated with decision makers;
Develop the programme and dramaturgy of the event;
Setting up the dates of the event;
Make a list of participants that should be invited at the event and strategy for communication;
Develop a budget and fundraising plan;
Organise meeting with representatives of the Sofia City Council and independent performing art scene in Sofia in order to support us in organisation of the event;
Plan the further actions and steps for organizing the event.

Results of the pre-meeting:

Developing the strategic goals for advocacy on Local Level (Sofia) and Regional Level

Local level address the needs of the local scene related to need of creation of a space for contemporary dance and performance that should be a space:

for production and presentation of artistic programme (local and international);
with good technical capacities for production, presentation and residency programmes;
for capitalisation of dance: information and educational with published and digital archive;
that support discursive programme: theory, new educational models, critical practice;
for advocacy of the needs of the contemporary dance and performance;
that will work on audience development;
that will be visible and increase the image of the city as well be a motivation factor for other spaces of this kind to be established in the other cities in the region.

The model of the space will be developed further on, following the good examples of a model of public – civil intuitions developed in the Region.
Regional level address the needs of the all actors in Region, in which we are advocating for:

secured and permanent working space;
development of regional collaboration funds in each country;
secured percentage (at least 25%) as matching funds on national level for EU culture projects;
introducing multi-year project finding on national and local level and better/synchronised timelines for application.
Creation of the messages for Nomad Dance Advocates Sofia 2015
Fixing the dates of the Event and development of its working on its programme

The advocacy Event will take place in May 2015 (13 – 16) in the frame of Antistatic festival (11 – 17, May).
Programme of the Event will be organised in two days including general programme for introduction of the topics we want to address and needs that we advocate for; and working groups with certain subject in focus in which the participants will have active role and work together, ending with public presentation by each group.

Developing a list of participants that should be invited
Realisation of two successful meetings:
one with the representatives of Sofia City Council: Todor Chobanov - Deputy Mayor for Education, Culture and Sport with the Sofia Municipality, and Malina Edreva, Municipal counsellor, head of the Committee on Education, Culture, Science and cultural diversity, a member of the Standing Committee on European Integration and Relations with Civil Society with the Sofia Municipality. They expressed interest to support the Nomad Dance Advocates event in Sofia 2015, as well as to include Nomad Dance Academy as partner in their application of the City of Sofia for capital for Culture 2019
with the representatives of the local independent performing art scene in Sofia that support the idea of the Nomad Dance Advocates Sofia 2015, and expressed their interest to be active participants. It was discussed to include presentation of Nomad Dance Advocates in the frame of IETM meeting, which will be held in Sofia in November 2014.
Creation of a first budget draft and fundraising plan
Making plans for future steps in organisation of the event

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