Joanna Spassova-Dikova
Education
1986 – Master of Arts in Acting. National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts “Krastyo Sarafov”.
1992 – Master of Arts in Theatre Studies. Saint Petersburg State Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinematography, Russia.
1992 – PhD, Leningrad State Institute for Theatre, Music and Cinema, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Occupation
1986-1988: Actress. Musical and Drama Theatre “Konstantin Kisimov” – Veliko Tarnovo.
1993: Research Fellow (after winning a competition) at the Institute of Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
2006: Associate Professor.
2008–2013: Scientific Secretary of the Institute of Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
2013–2017: Scientific Secretary in the areas of Cultural-Historical Heritage and National Identity and Man and Society, BAS.
2017–2021: Scientific Secretary in the areas of Cultural-Historical Heritage and National Identity, BAS
2017 – Professor.
9 Nov. 2022 – 9 Nov. 2026: Director of the Institute of Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Specializations
Sept. 2005 – Feb. 2006: Viewing the Theatre Audiences – NIAS (The Netherlands Institute for Advances Studies), Mellon Fellowship, Wassenaar, the Netherlands.
March – Apr. 1997: Theatre Iconography – NIAS (The Netherlands Institute for Advances Studies), Wassenaar, the Netherlands.
Sept. – Oct. 1994: Drama as Language. St. Hilda’s College – Oxford, UK.
Joined the Institute of Art Studies – the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in 1993 as a Research Fellow.
Major publications
Monographies
Спасова-Дикова, Й. За две актьорски съзвездия. „Камея“, 2004.
Йорданов, Н., Попилиев, Р., Николова, К., Дечева, В., Спасова-Дикова, Й. История на българския театър. Българският театър между двете световни войни на ХХ век. Т. 4, ИИИзк – БАН, 2011.
Спасова-Дикова, Й. Мелпомена зад желязната завеса. Народен театър: канони и съпротиви. „Камея“, 2015
Спасова-Дикова, Й. Българският театрален двадесети век, ИИИзк – БАН, 2025.
Articles
Spassova-Dikova, J. Communicating Posthuman Bodies in Contemporary Performing Arts. In: New Literary Hybrids in the Age of Multimedia Expression. Crossing Borders, Crossing Genres, John Benjamins, 2014: 271–289.
Spassova-Dikova, J. Transdisciplinarity and the New Ways for Preservation and Investigation of the Cultural and Historical Heritage. In: Digital Presentation and Preservation of Cultural and Scientific Heritage, 9, Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, BAS, 2019: 89-99.
Spassova-Dikova, J. Miracles and Magic in the Performing Arts. – Études Balkaniques, 1, 2019: 118-138.
Spassova-Dikova, J.The Challenges for Live Performance Arts in the Digital Era and New Digimodern Art Hybrids. In: Digital Presentation and Preservation of Cultural and Scientific Heritage, 10, Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, BAS, 2020: 139-148.
Spassova-Dikova, J. Stage Incarnations of Totalitarian Mytologems in the Bulgarian Theatre. – Études balkaniques 1, 2022: 159-180.
Spassova-Dikova, J.. Metamorphoses of the Theatre Actor in the Early Bulgarian Feature Films. In: Art Readings, 2023: 350-360.
Research projects
Bulgarian Art Archives. Advanced Research Technologies. (BAART 1-3). BNSF. 2006-2016.
The Bulgarian 20th Century in Arts and Culture. BNSF, 2014-2019.
National Scientific Program Cultural and Historical Heritage, National Memory, Public Development (KINNPOR). Council of Ministers. 2018-2022.
Sustainable Development of the Center of Excellence “Heritage BG” (Heritage BG). European Union, European Social Fund, European Regional Development Fund. 2018-2023; 2025-2029.
“European Modernism in Performance Arts and Theories. Figures, Processes. Practices in the 20th Century” (EMPATH). European Commission, Erasmus Plus, Jean Monnet Activities 2020, Modules. 2020-2023.
National Scientific Program “Development and Promotion of Bulgarian Studies Abroad” (NSP Bulgarian Studies), Council of Ministers. 2020-2025.
“Film Culture, Arts and National Images in Bulgaria 1920-1940. The Formation of the Social Significance of Film Culture Between the Two World Wars” (KINO). NSF. 2021-2025.
Conferences
Spassova participated with papers in various international scientific forums in Bulgaria, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Norway, Russia, Serbia, France, the Netherlands, Croatia.
Lecture courses in universities
Theatre: Theory, History, Criticism (SU); Theatre Semiotics and Communication (NBU); European Theories of Acting from Ancient Greece until Present Days (Theatre Institute – University of Amsterdam); Audience Reception in Theatre (Theatre Institute – University of Amsterdam); Theatre Studies and Theatre Management (UniLIT); European Modernism in Performance Arts and Theories. Figures, Processes. Practices in the 20th Century (SWU).
Training of PhD students
Scientific supervisor of 2 full-time doctoral students.
Awards
“Ikar 2015” award of the Bulgarian Bulgarian Union of Actors for a critical text for the book “Melpomene behind the Iron Curtain. National Theatre: Canons and Resistances”. Part I, 2015.
Nomination for “Ikar 2014” of the Bulgarian Union of Actors for a critical text for the study Communicating Posthuman Bodies in Contemporary Performing Arts. New Literary Hybrids in the Age of Multimedia Expression. Crossing borders, crossing genres, 2014.
“Ikar 2011” Award of the Bulgarian Union of Actors for a critical text for “History of Bulgarian Theatre. Bulgarian Theatre between the Two World Wars of the 20th Century”. Volume 4. (In collaboration), 2011.
Main fields of scientific research
acting, directing, Bulgarian performing and screen arts, Russian performing and screen arts, Western European performing and screen arts, theatre and film criticism, theatre and cinema during socialism, postmodern theatre, cultural anthropology, theatre and film semiotics and communication, rhetoric, speech technique, stage speech, art management, performance theory, stage and screen arts in the digital age, new technologies and performing arts, audience perception.
Research related activities
Translation of scientific and artistic texts from and into English and Russian.
National expert on the ERIH PLUS program, NSD.
Member of NIAS, the Netherlands.
