Drama League Welcomes All-Female Delegation to Stage Directors Exchange Program

This month, The Drama League will welcome an all-female delegation of artistic leaders and world-renowned artists as part of the expanded international International Stage Directors Exchange Program.

Visiting theaters and colleagues across new work, the Bulgarian contingent will come together for a free panel discussion exploring European theatre practice, U.S./European theatre collaboration, and challenges within the global arts community on Thursday, September 1, 2016 at 3:00 p.m. at The Drama League Center (32 Avenue of the Americas).

The esteemed all-female delegation, comprised of leaders in the arts and arts administration, will include Yuliana Decheva, Margita Gosheva,Kamelia Nikolova, Mira Todorova, and Kalina Wagenstein.

Free and open to the public, the panel will be hosted by Travis Ballenger, Artistic Producer of The Drama League, and moderated by Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, its Executive Artistic Director. Seating is limited. For reservations, call (212) 244-9494, or by visiting www.dramaleague.org.

"We are thrilled to welcome our international colleagues to New York City," stated Mr. Ballenger. "The Drama League believes that no community can grow and change without an infusion of new ideas. That belief is a central to who we are and the reason behind our robust exchange program." He went on to add, "This Delegation is comprised of some of Europe's brightest minds in performance, education, criticism, and arts leadership. The panel discussion will be a wonderful opportunity to hear them speak and learn more about their work."

Added Mr. Stelian-Shanks, "Over the last decade, The Drama League has brought over 120 American and Bulgarian artists together, on multiple continents, to create work and foster deeper understanding. These women, all leaders in international circles, represent the future of the field. Their ideas are nothing short of extraordinary. I can't wait for Americans to hear them."

Yuliana Decheva is the Delegation Representative and Program Assistant of the America for Bulgaria Foundation, the first foundation of its kind to foster binational philanthropic programming between the two nations it serves. Ms. Decheva graduated with a master's degree in International Events Management, and has experience in organizing sports events, music festivals, press conferences and corporate seminars.

Margita Gosheva studied acting at The National Academy for Theater and Film Arts (NAFTA) in Sofia, and performs under the direction of the legendary stage directors Margarita Mladenova and Ivan Dobchev at Sfumato Theater Laboratory. In his first visit to the United States in 2014, at the invitation of artistic director Anne Bogart, Ms. Gosheva participated in the Summer Intensive training of Siti Company at Skidmore College (2014) and initiated a further Viewpoints Workshop led by renowned American actress and Siti Company Member Ellen Lauren in Sofia (2015). Margita has been an actress for more than 16 years. In addition to her extensive work in the theaters of Europe, she has also had leading parts in six feature movies, five short films, two international projects and one television series, including the award-winning film The Lesson, directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, one of the three finalists for the European Parliament's LUX Prize in 2015.

Prof. Kamelia Nikolova, PhD is a theatre researcher, historian and theatre critic. She is Professor of European Theatre and Head of the Theatre Studies Department at the National Academy for Theatre and Film, a Research Fellow in the Theatre Department at the Institute of Art Studies/Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and a visiting professor at other universities. Among her published work are nine books, including The Other Name of Modern Theatre: Stage Director (1995), Expressionist Theatre and Body Language (2000), Theatre on the Border of 20th and 21st Century(2007), History of Bulgarian Theatre. Volume IV (2011, in a research team), Bulgarian Theatre after 1989 and New British Drama (2013), Theatre in the 20th Century (2015), and many studies and articles in Bulgarian and international publications. Her texts are published in the UK, USA, Germany, France, Poland, Spain, Italy, Slovakia, Russia, and Macedonia. She is a member of the editorial board of Homo Ludens theatre magazine, the scientific magazine Papers of BAS - Humanities and Social Sciences, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Art Studies Quarterly. She is also a member of the Publication and Communication Commission (PCC) of OISTAT, of IACT and of the International Network for new dramaturgy THE FENCE. For her most significant theatre research and books, she was awarded the Icarus Award, Bulgaria's equivalent of the Tony Award.

Mira Todorova, PhD is the artistic director of the performing arts at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria, and the artistic curator of DNA, the space for Contemporary Theatre, dance and performance. At the Palace of Culture, she programs two theatrical spaces, the Azaryan Theatre and DNA. She is a lecturer at New Bulgarian University and Sofia University, and also works as a researcher, curator, editor and dramaturgical consultant for various artistic and theoretical projects. She is a co-founder and project manager of New Dramaturgies Platform, author and editor of the website for theory and criticism www.dramaturgynew.net. Since 2011, she has been a programmer of the international contemporary festival One Dance Week. She authored Dramaturgical Adaptations in the Art of Postmodernism (2005) and has written for numerous in national and international art and culture publications. For her theoretical writings, she has been nominated twice for Bulgaria's national Icarus Award for Performing Arts Criticism.

Kalina Wagenstein founded the Art Office Foundation in 2007 to promote and expand the performing arts, working with Bulgarian artists and their artistic productions in Bulgaria and abroad. She currently serves as Art Office's Executive Director. Her career began when she graduated from Sofia University in Journalism. She has worked for the Bulgarian News Agency, the National Film Centre and the National Film Archive. Ms. Wagenstein has been a national representative of Bulgaria at the EURIMAGES Fund of the Council of Europe. In 1999, Mrs. Wagenstein assuming the leadership of the Sofia office of the Swiss Cultural Programme in Southeastern Europe and the Ukraine. During the nearly ten years of its operation in Bulgaria, the Programme supported more than 400 projects in arts and culture.

The U.S./Bulgaria Stage Directors Exchange, a partnership with Art Office/Sofia and funded in part by the Trust for Mutual Understanding, is open by invitation to professional directors and artistic directors. The exchange develops research, production, training and collaboration opportunities for American and Bulgarian directors in both countries via international exchanges and residencies.

Since its inception in 2010, the program has facilitated an educational artist training program between Sfumato Theatre and Shakespeare & Company; supported the artistic director of About Face Theatre, Andrew Volkoff, as he directed the Bulgarian premiere of John Kolvenbach's Love Songat the Nikolai Binev Youth Theatre in Sofia; hosted the Program Director of the Varna International Theatre Festival in New York City, where he attended work at multiple festivals; and many more initiatives.

In 2013, the Drama League, in conjunction with the Present Company, proudly presented the American debut of the acclaimed Theatre B+ production of The Spider at the New York International Fringe Festival.

The Drama League of New York, since 1916, has been at the forefront of the American Theatre community, providing talent, audiences, and prosperous support. It is one of the nation's oldest continuously-operating, not-for-profit arts advocacy and education organizations. Through its programs, initiatives and events, The Drama League serves over 3,000 artists and 15,000 Audience members each season with over 150 events and programs. For more information about events or membership, call Tom Sime at 212.244.9494 ext 101. For additional information, visit the website at www.dramaleague.org.