Snejanka Mihaylova is one of four artists commissioned by If I Can’t Dance to produce a new work as part of Edition V – Appropriation and Dedication (2013–2014).

For the new commission, Snejanka Mihaylova is looking into the aural aspect of the thinking process. Her research underscores the relational dimension of thought and the necessary predisposition to listening and receiving that is a part of any thinking act. Her project will unfold through two interconnected paths of research, that converge in the making of a publication and a song.

The working title of Mihaylova's project, Inner Stage, refers to the experiential quality of thinking and its manifestation in an acoustic form. In dialogue with the Bulgarian psychoanalyst David Jeroham, who engages theatre techniques in his therapeutic work, Mihaylova will weigh the 'inner stage' against his notion of the 'stage gaze'.

Alongside her work with Jeroham, Mihaylova will explore the relation between voicing and thinking in a collaboration with Swedish composer Lisa Holmqvist with whom she will develop a song to be performed by the artist. They will employ the technique of 'exegesis' (commentary on sacred texts) as a method for composition, and are investigating its potential as an artistic rather than purely academic tool.

Mihaylova's trajectory for Edition V will include a residency stay at Beirut – an art initiative and exhibition space in Cairo, Egypt – where Mihaylova will carry out research into the manuscripts discovered at Nag Hammadi in Egypt in 1945. From these texts emerges a vision of early Christianity in which different perspectives coexisted in a climate of reciprocal acceptance. They contribute to a particular understanding of authorship and originality in the context of the sacred canon of Christian writing. The manuscripts challenge ideas of a single authorial position, because they exist thanks to the practice of copying and in the absence of an original text of reference. Mihaylova's research thereby forms a specific line of inquiry within If I Can't Dance's research into Appropriation and Dedication.

Mihaylova's work on the song will closely intertwine with the making of a book in collaboration with Philip Baber. In the book, she will further elaborate her notion of the inner stage in relation to the question of faith.

Mihaylova's collaborators are Philip Baber for the creation of the book, David Jeroham for the investigation of the inner stage, Lisa Holmqvist for the composition of the song and the theorist and dramaturge Piersandra Di Matteo.

Biography
The practice of Snejanka Mihaylova (Sofia, BG, 1978) is located at the intersection of philosophy and performance, thinking and theatre. Mihaylova holds a degree in philosophy of language and hermeneutics from the University of Florence, Italy (1996-2001). Mihaylova has also been trained in theatre studies and completed a master’s degree in theatre at DasArts, Amsterdam (2009-2011). In 2012, she was a resident at the Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht. Her work Theatre of Thought, for which she published an eponymous book, has been performed in several locations in Europe, including De Hallen in Haarlem (2011). In 2012 she published the book Practical Training in Thinking and led a seminar in dialogue with Mladen Dolar at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.