Transformability: Forever [partly musical]

"Transformability" is performance by Willy Prager, provoked and inspired by the eponymous article by the philosopher Boyan Manchev, published in 2006 in the prestigious German magazine "Theater der Zeit". The performance was created in partnership and with the participation of choreographers and performers Sonja Pregrad (Croatia) and Tian Rotteveel (The Netherlands). Later the team was joined by Iva Sveshtarova (Bulgaria). The original work premiered in 2012, at the iconic Tanztage dance festival in Berlin, followed by numerous invitations from other festivals in Europe and rave reviews in the media.

Twelve years later, this cult performance returns to the Bulgarian stage with the title "Transformability: Forever [partly musical]" as part of the international educational project "SEEDS". SEEDS was launched in 2023 as an "academy" for dancers and producers who are at the beginning of their careers, aiming to integrate them into European professional exchange through long-term intensive training. That is why choreographer Willy Prager recreates his work with students from the Romanian Dance Centre and with young Bulgarian performers.

The original title of Boyan Manchev's influential publication, which forms the basis of the performance, is "Transformability. Performing Society and Contemporary Conditions of Dance". In the text, he discusses the relationship between contemporary consumer society, with its increasingly exacerbated 'performativity', and dance, in the context of capitalism and the global market economy. From that perspective Willy Prager does not simply retell the key philosophical theses in stage language, but adds to them metonymically, from the perspective of practice and performing arts. Thus, the philosophical text is turned into a script following the structure and rules of the musical as an art form. The performers are placed within the conceptual framework of this popular genre, which symbolizes progressive society, but also aesthetically often teeters on the edge of a butaphoric happiness, leading to impossible pleasure and complete exhaustion.

Through its subtle play with the nuances of stage genres, philosophical concepts, and contemporary sociopolitical realities, “Transformability: Forever [Partly Musical]” provokes us to think whether it is possible a philosophical text to become a central element in the creation of one of the most market-oriented stage forms such as the musical; how a theoretical text can be danced; and how a bridge between dance and theory can be built using the principles of popular culture.

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Willy Prager is a performer and choreographer, who graduated from the experimental Theatre-Studio 4XC and “Synthetic Stage Arts” program of the University of Plovdiv. He holds a Master’s degree in “Solo, Dance, Authorship” from the Universtität der Kunste in Berlin. He has worked with directors and choreographers such as Nikolay Georgiev, Galina Borissova, David Zambrano, Ivo Dimchev, deufert&plischke, Thomas Lehmen, Dalija Acin, Matej Kejzar, and Maren Strack, among others. 

He is author of the performances: “Prager Strasse”, “Game-a porter”, “Transformbility”, “Egyptian spring”, “The victory day”, “Sequel for the future”, “Less might be more, but sometimes less is just nothing” – the last four created and premiered in Berlin and Bucharest.

Together with Iva Sveshtarova they are well established stage tandem and have worked together on “Watch your back”, “Cliché”, “Dona Clara”, “Pre-migration fever”, “+/- 359 Topology”, “Museum of hygiene”, “Our last pas de deux”, “Balkan Dance Reality Show”, “shamebox”, “Made for happiness”, “A better life”, “Before the end of ...(the world)”, “Euphoria of Sickness”. Their most recent joint productions - "shamebox" /2018/ and "Made for Happiness" /2019/ have been awarded the national ICAR Award in the category "Contemporary Dance and Performance", and "Euphoria of Sickness" /2023/ has been nominated for the award in the same category.

In addition to the ICARUS award, Prager won the European Choreographic Award "Jardin d'Europe" from ImPulsTanz, Vienna with the performance "The victory day" (2013).

Willy Prager is co-founder of Nomad Dance Academy and the Antistatic Festival for Contemporary Dance and Performance, as well as co-producer of Dance Magazine.

The performance is realized in the frame of the project SEEDS - South-East European Dance Stations, cofinanced by “Creative Europe” program of EU, National Culture Fund, subprogramme “Creative Europe”, in the partnership with RCCA “Toplocentrala”.

The performance is part of the European project SEEDS - South-East European Dance Stations. SEEDS is co-funded by the “Creative Europe” Programme of the European Union. However, the views and opinions expressed there are entirely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the EACEA are responsible for them. 

This guest performance is made possible with financial support of the the “Creative Europe” Programme of the European Union, the National Culture Fund, under “Creative Europe” subprogramme, and the Sofia Municipality Calendar of Cultural Events, 2024.