Hrista Panayotova / Христа Панайотова  - Xrista (she/they) is a Bulgarian dancer, choreographer, herbalist and activist, currently based in Cologne, Germany.

Understanding their belonging through a Deep Ecology, Еcofeminist and Еcosexual perspective, as a human being on this planet. Belonging to land, more-than-human beings, people and stories.
From many places, coming from many stories and relations, rather than one place only.

What moves her and brings her to creative and activist work is the deep understanding of the unity of all beings and systems on this planet, the understanding that the crisis and the poor state of our planet is, as the philosopher Baptiste Morizot writes, a crisis of sensitivity.

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As a choreographer Xrista is interested in using dance as a medium for socio-political topics and activism, for creating alternative realities, in which myths and stories can be told by voices and bodies. A common element of Xrista's work is the relation to the audience, which is often aiming to facilitate a communal experience.
Their artistic aesthetic expresses this in a poetic and yet sometimes disturbing manner, moving between humor, queerness, pop-culture and abstract strong physical movement language and voice. 

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As a dancer Xrista is to be seen in work such as: 

• Barrier (2025) - Christi Knak Tschaikowskaja mit ‘creature freedom’, Duesseldorf 

• Currents (2023-present) -Acting for Climate (Norway) with performances/open rehearsals in Mallorca, Sicily, Sardinia, Norway, Copenhagen and Belgium

• Commonnorm (2022 - present) Tacho Tinta

• shimmer & death (2023-2024)  Amanda Romero and collaborators

• Circular Vertigo (2nd cast) (2021-2022) Overhead Project

• Studies on the universalism (2021)  - Christi Knak Tschaikowskaja, Cologne/ Gold und Beton, Ebertplatz

 

Choreographic works & Collaborations: 

• past to future to us (2025 - work in progress) - mentor Guy Cools, created as part of ATLAS, Impulstanz Vienna 2025

• homopuppy (2023), a circus-dance duo w/ Leon Börgens (Premiere Köln TF)
  & meet in the middle (2021) (Premiere Gallery Swimming Pool Sofia, Bulgaria)

• fertilizing the drought (2021-2023) & devour the cracks (2023-2024) (residencies in tanzhaus NRW & tanzfaktur Köln)

• Адаптация (2020), Solo work mentored by Breno Caetano, Premiere Köln ZZT
   

Education:

2025 ATLAS choreographic scholarship Vienna
Mentor: Guy Cools ; Solo  Research - past to future to us 

2022 danceWEB scholarship Impulstanz Vienna
Mentor: Wim Vandekeybus and Nicola Schößler

2016 - 2020 Bachelor of Arts: Dance, Profile: Performativ Praxis University for Music And Dance Cologne, Center for Contemporary Dance (CCD/ ZZT)
*Internships: Overhead Project (Circus/ Dance Company) & B.J. Riepe

2005 - 2012 Highschool Diploma/ Matura, Profile: Professional dance education in Classical Dance (Vaganova)
International School of Arts, NUI Dobri Hristov, Varna, Bulgaria