Boriana Sechanova
In 1981 she graduated from the State Choreographic School and in the same year she enrolled the dance group of the National Opera in Sofia as a ballet dancer. She participated in the following plays: “Cinderella”, choreographed by Van Daik (Netherlands), “Swan Lake”, choreographed by Meserer (Russia), “Suite in white”, choreography by Serge Lifar (France), “Copelia”, “The Sleeping Beauty”, “Don Quixote” etc., as well as in several modern plays by Bulgarian and foreign choreographers.
In 1990 she went to Moscow at the State Institute for Theater Art where she graduated later as a ballet director from the class of Prof. Olga Tarasova.
Very important steps in her professional development were her participation in the following training programs:
1986–1987 – she learned graham technic with professor Gayre M’Sween from “Marie Ramber “ Ballet;
1988 – Hosse Lemon technic with professor Bruno Genty;
1989 – Paluca school, Dresden, Germany, Horton technic with professor Miguel Loppes , “Joyce Trisler Dance Company” New York.
In 1991 she finished her carrier as a ballet dancer at the National Opera in Sofia and from this year on her name can be met more and more often in the culture life of the country as a choreographer. Her first plays are for the “Movement” theatre – “Faith and Heresy” and for the Arabesque Contemporary Dance Company – “The Island”, music by Folenvaider.
In 1991 a private theater “Pantdance” was founded by the actor – mime Nikolay Sotirov where she has been given the position of choreographer of the theater.
“In this creator’s laboratory Boriana has an opportunity to experiment, to imply her extravagant imagination in different plays” – newspaper “Yellow Labour”, December 9–15, 1994, A. Andreeva (ballet critic).
Together with the theatre she traveled and performed plays in USA, Spain, Austria, South Korea, Venezuela. In this period she created: “Apocalypse” (1993), “Three sisters” (1994), written by A. Chehov, “The play is the occasion to seek and create to common features to all mankind through speech, pantomime and dance. The drama and ballet artists, leaded by Boriana Setchanova have rushed into the trap called synthetic art, in the big challenge of the ‘Three sisters’ – the time which could be named as no-time.”, newspaper “Word”, March 16, 1994.
In 1992 she has been invited as a professor in the State Choreographic School in Sofia.
In December 1994 was the premiere of the play “Triptych” by the music of Shostakovich, List, Bah at the National Opera in Sofia.
“[…] ‘Triptych’ has with modern and various choreography and precisely measured director’s stop sequences. Extremely impressing is the quartet: Mariana Krantcheva, Trifon Mitev, Darina Bedeva and Momchil Mladenov, planned as a choregraphic cannon, the final scene in which the means of expression of chore, ballet and pantomime lay.” – newspaper “Culture”, January 1995, A. Janeva.
In the next year B. Setchanova has been invited again in Arabesque Contemporary Dance Company for which she made the plays “Wedding” (1995), music by Stravinski and “The Wide Girl” (1996). “[…] The new stage realization of the unusual and a little known work by Igor Stravinski “Wedding”, Arabesque Contemporary Dance Company owes to the talented choreographer Boriana Setchanova. The richness of the means of expression, variety of suggestions, sharp modern sensibility – these are the explicit features which point out the young choreographer as one of the most interesting creators of the ballet in our country”. M. Russanova, “Democracy” newspaper, May 8, 1995
From 1996 ongoing she has been a director of the “Ballet Stage Production” program at the New Bulgarian University and in 1995 she became a dance lecturer in the American University in Blagoevgrad.
In 1997 she offered lessons as a contemporary dance professor in Sejong University, Seoul, Korea.
The following premiere of B. Setchanova was the ballet “Alisa in the wonderland” (1997), where once again she shared her nontraditional views.
In 1999 she was invited to choreograph “Cinderella” at the National Theater for Opera and Ballet.
Her choreographies created for Varna Opera & Ballet are as follows: “Triptich” – 1999, “Frost desire” – 2000, “Nutcracker” – 2001, “Don Juan” – 2003, “Carmen” – 2006.
In 2000 she directed and choreographed the “Violete spring” ballet.
In 2000 she became Artistic Director and Choreographer of the Arabesque Contemporary Dance Company, a very famous group of contemporary dance. Here are performed some of her works: “Rains”, “Deep Blue” , “The birds”, “¾ Moon”, the musical “Hair” – co-production with Sofia Theatre – “Carmina Burana”, “Don Giovanni”, “Nutcracker”, “Dance translations”, Carmen collection.
As a guest-choreographer, Boriana Sechanova has created choreographies for Stara Zagora Opera Theater: “Macbeth” (2003) and “Sheherezada” (2004) and for Rousse Opera, “Tourandot” (2006), “Nutcracker” (2009).
In 2006 and 2008, Boriana Sechanova was elected as a member of the jury of the International Ballet Competition, Varna.
In 1996 she receives First Award on the 17th International Ballet Competition, Varna 1996, setting with contemporary choreography for the play “A little bit later”, music by Enia.
On the 6th National meeting of Ballet Art in Dobrich in 1993, she won the Award of Third Prize for contemporary choreography.
The choreography of “FAUST” was rewarded as a best performance from Sofia municipality back in 2003.
In the same way, “Don Juan” choreography was rewarded as a best performance in 2004 by Varna municipality in Bulgaria.
The play “Carmina Burana” was rewarded as best choreography performance in 2006 and received the “Cristal Lyre” from the Union of Musicians & Dancers, Sofia Bulgaria.
