‘Samodiva’, opens a door to an ancient world, immersing the audience in traditions, beliefs and creatures seen in Eastern European Folklore between the 16th and 19th century. The piece features multiple Balkan legends. Their subject is a female collective of supernatural women called ‘Samodiva’ or ‘Samovila’, meaning: lonely wind, whirlwind or alone and wild.

The piece follows a four part story line, unfolding in 1824 in Lyubichevo, Bulgaria. The Samodiva enters a new spectrum of reality, she feels, fights the lingering energies of her ancestors. The piece investigates the internal battles between the social expectations and our vital need to ‘be’. Later she becomes the whirlwind, her power transforms her into a complete being, until her shadow gets stolen. The shadow contains her power, without it she is an ‘ordinary’ woman. In part three she leaves her home as a bride, chained down with her veil. The resolution is yet to come. The breaking down of chains, re-finding the shadow and the run to the infinity of time, where the Samodiva’s ancestors wait.