Today we’d like to introduce you to Plamena Karadanova.
Plamena, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born and raised a happy baby in Sofia, Bulgaria. From a very young age, my toddler brain felt more excited upon watching the ecstatic MTV music videos over Disney movies. While growing up, I was surrounded by many forms of art, particularly music which notably included my mom’s phase of listening to Savage Garden and ABBA on the radio.
I first came upon the Step Up movies at the age of 11 and something immediately fired up inside me: a passion for dance. I did not have the chance to go into it until many years later because I was constantly moving from Bulgaria to Austria and then to a boarding school in the outskirts of Yorkshire, England. Although my environment was not full of creativity, music and dance would always find a way to come back into my life. I started looking for it more and more to a point where I would travel by train to reach cosmopolitan cities bursting with art and spend my summers at dance camp. The fire inside me grew larger upon every movement. At the end of high school, I decided to move across the ocean to Los Angeles without knowing anyone here and away from my “not so accepting about dance” family to immerse myself deeper into the dance culture I was so in love with.
Has it been a smooth road?
When is it ever a smooth road? Life is not so nice, but nice things can emerge from the rough paths. From work to social life to family, there were many things that were tough in my last years of high school. It was not easy to have a dream in an environment full of closed-minded people and nobody to look up to. Many times I would train by myself and be my own role model in order to get through the dark times I was stuck in and come out on the other side. I was so engulfed by the negativity that I was only able to grasp the reality of having accomplished my dream to move to Los Angeles a week after arriving. This experience changed my perspective on how I view hardships. I now welcome them because they allow me to level up rather than stay stagnant.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I strive to be a professional dancer whilst studying Marketing and Dance at Loyola Marymount University. Whenever I am not in class, I am in the studio or elsewhere training. I am also part of a creative artist production and training called RUR Alliance founded by Jaja Vankova. Alongside this, I train with a crew called Snowtorious, which gave me the opportunity to travel around NorCal, while competing at events. I am most proud of being able to adapt to my everchanging environment and learning from the differences I encounter. I have set myself apart by always staying true to myself and where I come from, in order to bring something new to different communities.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Yes, I definitely believe Los Angeles has been nothing but accepting of the qualities different people bring from their home countries. These differences work to create a tight sense of unity within communities. Artists who are kind and open-minded to others, while sticking to their own values, can become leaders of their own art and embrace opportunities from all around. I would recommend that people come to Los Angeles to first get a feel of the lifestyle and see which part of the experience fits with their aspirations. As a dancer, industry plays a huge role in LA, but there are still other ways to connect with the community and discover some of the roots of Hip Hop. Our city can definitely improve on being less focused on profiting off of art as an entertainment business and give more room to creative freedom without boundaries.
Contact Info:
- Email: pl.karadanova@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plamenawho/
Image Credit:
Thomas Richmond
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