In Bulgaria this time each year a festival referred to a Kukeri is held to ward off evil spirits during the winter season. Its very much like Carnivale which is celebrated in many other countries around the world, but with a Balkan twist. Adults and children who participate in the traditions of the festival will dress up in handmade costumes with decorative masks which resemble scary animals or monsters. It actually reminded me more of Native American or Tribal Festivals and Ceremonies in the U.S. – mainly because of the animals and large carved faces. They also have cow bells attached to their costumes so that they can create synchronized sounds to scare demons away.
This year I was able to attend the International Masquerade Games “Surva” and Kukeri Festival in Pernik, a small city outside of Sofia. I went with a few friends and made some new ones while we explored the parade route and took photos of the amazing costumes. There were several countries who participated this year including delegations from China, Macedonia, Slovakia, Belarus and Romania. Most of the participants from Bulgaria were from smaller villages who are more likely to hold on to these traditions.
I find it fascinating that so many cultures and religions have similar ceremonies/traditions particularly between late January and mid March. In Carnivale Festivals, men, women and children dress up in elaborate masks and/or costumes similar to the U.S. celebration of Halloween which also revolves around evil spirits and demons. Even in Judaism we have the holiday of Purim in March in which we all dress up in costumes and make noise whenever someone mentions the name of the villain Hamen during the reading of the Story of Purim “The Megillah.” And just as in Carnivale and Halloween cross-dressing is all part of the fun Nothing like a man dressed as a female to scare the evil spirits away . . .
So your probably wondering given then most recent posts I’ve made (no electric, no water, sickness, etc) if I’m having any fun. The answer to that question is yes, despite the many mishaps that have befallen me over the last 2 months I have found many fun things to do in Sofia since I’ve arrived.
One of which was just last night – getting to see RENT performed in Bulgarian. Lets just say it was a very interesting experience. It was a student production, put on by the local university/institute of dramatic arts. I was wondering how or if they would change the lyrics of the songs to Bulgarian, because you don’t want to mess with such an amazing show. Having seen the show 3 times on Broadway and owning the DVD of the movie I was comfortable knowing that I would understand the show completely no matter how much Bulgarian was involved. What they ended up doing was singing some of the songs in English, but with subtitles projected in Bulgarian for the audience to understand. They chose to have no scenery, but a glass type structure with metal frame and legs which was hung from the ceiling most of the time at different angles. It was used to symbolize the sky light window of the apartment, skyscraper type structures as a background for outside and also as the table for La Vie Boheme. I thought it was quite a creative approach.
Unfortunately, they also cut out several musical intros and songs including two of my favorites, “Would you light my candle” and “Jump over the Moon” and instead used dialogue in Bulgarian. Sort of how they mutilated the show when they made it into a movie – removing the music from the phone sequences and scene intros, etc. But, I am pretty sure they didn’t use the same words and took some dramatic license with the dialogues adding much much more sexuality to the characters and scenes that don’t really need it. More so they made homosexuality more of a joke using Angel more as a clown than a real person and making Maureen and Joanne’s relationship over sexualized, playing to men’s lesbian fantasies. At one point, Joanne practically was going down on Maureen on stage (with clothes on of course). And when Maureen did the “dialogue version” of “Jump over the Moon” it appeared like she was a stripper feeling herself up and about the take her clothes off.
Ironically, the one song in the entire show that is primarily about sex, it’s repercussions and loss, “Contact” was done with the entire cast in “hospital beds.” Making the message of the whole show more so about the fact that risky sexual behavior and homosexuality results in death by AIDs. They also chose to make it appear that the entire cast had AIDS, when after “La Vie Boheme” the AZT break moment between Mimi and Roger resulted in everyone pretending to take pills.
All and all I was very bothered by the dramatic license the director took which changed the message of Love, Life, and Struggle to simply, Homosexuality is a joke, everyone gets AIDS when you parade as a whore. There was no humanity shown, which is what the original show is all about. And also quite important most of the cast couldn’t sing – none of the girls hit any of the notes right . . it was actually quite painful to listen too. Only 3 cast members actually had decent voices – those who played Roger, Tom and Benny. I don’t mind if the songs are sung accented – but at least sing on key, not scream/shout the words.
It makes me miss RENT on Broadway more & more . . . So here is the Original RENT Cast Reunion at the 2008 Tonys . . .
And for your enjoyment:
Another recent night of entertainment was when I got to watch Nicky, the bartender of my favorite expat bar, The Black Dog perform with his band. He has a great voice which you can sort of hear behind the chorus of expats and Bulgarians singing along with him to “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” by Guns & Roses.
One thing I’ve noticed the last few weeks is the lack of seasonal holiday music being played 24/7 or even at all here in Bulgaria. In the U.S. we begin to be bombarded with Christmas candy, lights, decorations and music well before Thanksgiving. I don’t think I’ve heard one American Christmas classic in a coffee shop, mall or on the radio. I don’t know if I may just not be recognizing Bulgarian Christmas music, but I do definitely miss hearing the songs I am familiar with . . . so here is a classic I cannot get out my my head:
First, I wanna wish my Congrats to the future Jr. Senator from Massachusetts, Martha Coakley!!! Or shall I say Senator-Elect, because she is gonna kick Scott Brown’s bigoted behind.
Second, WTF world?! – why do you hate me so. What did I do to you. Really, just give me a damn break. Just took a shower this morning, and what happened immediately after I put shampoo in my damn hair . . . you guessed it: The water stopped. I paid off my heat & electric bills yesterday, but never even thought about water. Tenants in MA don’t pay for the cost of water and are only required to cover heat & electric. Therefore, it didn’t even cross my mind until my power finally came on late last night and I saw an email my landlord sent me that listed the 3 utility companies for heat, electric and drum roll please . . water. There was nothing I could do at midnight. So I went to bed and hoped for the best.
So this morning I woke up excited to take a shower, and instead of the nice warm shower I dreamed of I had to poor a cold bottle of mineral water over my head to get the shampoo soap out.
Nothing like a man dressed as a female to scare the evil spirits away . . . 
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