We all know Ralitsa Vassileva – the Bulgarian face on the CNN TV channel. We all know her name and recognize her face; we have watched her reports on the Bulgarian National Television.
The last project of Ralitsa Vassileva is “very personal” (as she calls it in the advertisement for the documentary on CNN). Because this is a project about the place where she started her career and for the times that are part of her personal memories…
The documentary “Autumn of Change” reproduces two different points of view of Bulgaria – “then” and “now”. “Then”, in the times of communism, when the state guaranteed working places, education, low prices, free social services but on the other hand – completely controlled all the aspects of the movement of people – movement out of the country, movement of working and hierarchical positions, place of residence, education… And “now” – when there is no state guarantee for anything and no security as was typical for the previous political system, but when everybody is free to make his/her own choice and to make his/her life the way he/she wants. Thus, by comparing the two, Ralitsa Vassileva is trying to tell the world of the history we know very well but sometimes forget in our everyday flow of events. The history of the enthusiasm for change which people had the courage to dream about and defend makes us nostalgic for the way things were and comes from the dissatisfaction of the everyday existence.
In the frames of the project “Autumn of Change” there is a special place dedicated to culture and Ralitsa Vassileva visited the rehearsal hall of Zornitsa Ensemble. The material from the hall was not included in the historical documentary movie because it was broadcast in a separate report on Dec 14th (1 a.m. CET+1) as part of the “World Report” Program and within the frames of the project “Autumn of Change”. Now the dancers (numbering 70-80) must pay a fee for the pleasure to dance and they must take care of the costumes themselves. No financial support at all is received from the official state institutions but Zornitsa has the freedom to choose its own repertoire and the festivals in which it would like to participate, says the report. In an interview with BTV and her report for CNN, Ralitsa Vassileva said “they win competitions – in Turkey and in France this year- and despite the bad conditions of the rehearsal hall and old costumes, they dance with gusto and enthusiasm.”
Autor Slavka Karakusheva
CNN
For the whole report of CNN for Zornitsa Ensemble see the video.
Bulgaria's Zornitsa dancers Zornitsa brings Bulgarian dancers to the world's notice. CNN's Ralitsa Vassileva reports
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