30th Anniversary of the Musical Theatre Research Group (Musical Stage Arts)

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Musical Theatre Research Group (Musical Stage Arts), six regular and associate members of the group, including doctoral students, will present nine of their monographs published in the last 5 years.
The event will take place on 19.09.2025 at 16:00 in the Great Hall of the Institute of Art Studies, 21 Krakra Str., Sofia. 
The books by the following authors will be presented:

• Anelia Yaneva. Models of Choreographic Directing in Ballet Art (19th – 21st century). Sofia: Institute of Art Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2025, 356 p. The book is a logical continuation of the previous monograph, Architectonic Principles of Choreographic Directing in Ballet Art. The focus is on the director’s ballet theatre – both in terms of specific genre directions (romantic ballet, classical ballet, drama ballet, dance theatre, total dance theatre) and in terms of the individual dramaturgical and dance solutions of famous choreographers such as Maurice Béjart, John Neumeier, Mats Ek, Matthew Bourne, Boris Eifman, and others, who set specific cultural and historical models in the context of the emergence and development of choreographic directing.
• Claire Levy. Screen Music Up Close. Sofia: Publishing House of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences "Prof. Marin Drinov”, 2024, 152 p. Conceived in an open form and last but not least as a topic with a continuation, the text focuses on key issues with regard to music as a special, non-autonomous element in the multi-component synthesis of the cinematic narrative, as well as on some later related phenomena in the field of modern audiovisual culture. In other words, the emphasis is placed on questions related to the functional theory of film music, with concepts in film terminology describing not only certain functional aspects of cinema music, but also those specifics that distinguish the nature of film diegesis. The analytical notes presented on the titles of different genres and dramaturgical orientations draw attention to possible approaches in the study of this type of music.
• Iliana Petrova Salazar. Dance, Health, Therapy. Book II. Europe. Sofia: Al Art Visions, 2025, 312 p. The book is the second research work of the author from the monographic series “DANCE.  HEALTH. THERAPY”.Created based on the author’s dissertation: “European Choreographers Oriented to Dance Therapy and its Application in the 20th and 21st Centuries”, it explores the birth and revival of dance as a type of therapy in Europe and its application in the 21st century. The personalities, principles, and methods that science uses to dance for health and therapy from a choreographic perspective are distinguished. The European roots of dance therapy, its influences, contemporary branches, and interdisciplinary applications are sought.
• Iliana Petrova Salazar. Dance, Health, Therapy. Book I. World. Sofia: Al Art Visions, 2023, 150 p. Created based on a dissertation, with scientific supervisor Prof. Anelia Yaneva, DSc, the monograph explores the healing potency of dance – from the ashes of ancient knowledge and rituals to the time when the gracious connections between dance and the universe, faith, and ecstasy, heal the disease and care for health.
• Rosen Metodiev. Ballet in Burgas. Burgas: Znatsi Publishing House, 2022, 312 p. The book is the first detailed study of ballet art in Burgas – from the end of the 19th century, when the first events began in parties, through the dance performances at the Amateur Opera, to its nationalisation and the construction of a valuable ballet repertoire, with ballet works unique to Bulgaria. 
• Anelia Yaneva. Architectural principles of choreographic directing in ballet art. Sofia: Institute of Art Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2020, 266 p. The study analyses the specifics of choreographic composition in dance, choreographic dramaturgy in the construction of a plot work, and choreographic directing, influenced by dramatic theatre and cinema, but subsequently built its own codes for impact in the contemporary expression of ballet and dance theatre. 
• Emilia Zhunich. Festivals for music and performing arts. Concepts. Metamorphoses. Realisations. Sofia: Institute of Art Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2020, 556 p. A study dedicated to festival practices around the world, in comparison with those of the native land and with a focus on the unique Festival of Opera and Ballet Art and its 50-year history, which is followed in detail. 
• Stavri Angelov. Musical and Stage Creativity for Children in Bulgaria in the Second Half of the 20th and the Beginning of the 21st Century. Literary Heroes and Stage Realisations. Sofia: Simulini 94, 2020, 546 p. By analysing the source and subsequent stage realisations, the study focuses on operas, operettas, musicals, and ballets based on fairy tales, including Bulgarian fairy tales, as well as those inspired by literary works, such as operettas for children, and performed by children. 
• Emilia Zhunich. The Best Fool. 100 Years Since the Birth of Minyo Minev. Stara Zagora: ed. Vital G EOOD, 2019, 140 pp. Dedicated to the work of Minyo Minev and his path in the opera of Stara Zagora. 

We look forward to welcoming you on 19.09.2025 at 16:00 in the Hall 1 of the Institute of Art Studies, 21 Krakra Str.