On a pleasant evening, eight people almost casually recline on the green and red benches scattered in the garden of the Art Hostel at 21A Angel Kunchev street in Sofia. Some of them are sipping beer; others are drinking mineral water. Everybody smokes. Hollow coconut shells serve as ashtrays.

From the speakers hidden in the basement where the Art café is, singer Anouk angrily proclaims, "I'll never be nobody's wife." Sadly, amid the light chatter coming from the benches, the only confidant to this revelation appears to be a gray cat with white paws that resemble tiny boots. She listens with some uncanny curiosity.
 
From around the corner Elena Koleva-Ivanova approaches with mousy steps, a yellow scarf wraps around her legs, it is tighten up with a blue ribbon at her waist. Black handbag dangles from her shoulder, random symbols cover her arms painted with henna. Elena looks a bit lost.

But then she utters: Nothing bothers me. I feel fine. I am just sitting here and watching you.
Then what she does seems like an aggressive attack on the audience: slinks in between people, gives a prolonged stare in every set of eyes watching her, jumps up and begins to lightly sway her body as if suddenly has been penetrated by an inner impulse, too strong to control.

She says: If there is an accident, most likely it will happen in a tunnel or a bridge. If only I knew that it would happen tonight, I could relax a bit…
What is going on?

X-TENDO, an association for city research by the means of art, is presenting a dance performance, based on the novel Sheltering Sky by American writer Paul Bowles. It is titled Tea in the Desert (Чай в пустинята), which is also the title of the book as translated in Bulgarian.

"The story is about one married couple, Port and Kit Moresby, which travels across the desert, accompanied by a friend," Koleva-Ivanova, one of X-TENDO's founders and a running engine, is trying to explain what goes into the performance. Somewhere along the road the three of them develop peculiar relationship, while the woman gets lost, in some existential sense, perhaps. "I wanted to tell their story, to express their state of mind through my body movements," Elena says and adds she has used a total of 56 pages from the book. The performance will be repeated July 6 in Sfumato theatre.

Known primarily for their extensive project What is the City Telling, the association stages street as well as theatrical performances. In the past, they have also built visual and musical installations in the context of the city's life. The other part of the X-TENDO's think-tank includes Victor Ivanov and Tzvetelina Gospodinova.

Elena says her performance embodies some acting and psycho-dramatic techniques, there is a dialogue, and there are some dreams, painful feelings and thoughts involved. The state of complete stop also is a vital part of the journey, Elena says.

Then she pulls a brownish headscarf, and somehow manages to tight it up with the knot sticking out on her forehead. As Elena begins to stumble across the garden, the music unnoticeably has changed to some Indian tunes.

The cat has found the right time to sharpen her claws on the wooden leg of the table nearby. These movements convey some intensity, though she did not seem a bit disturbed when Elena begins in some blind rage to caress one wall where over a big, red heart graphite someone has written "Тука е така" (Here, it goes this way).

She says: I am not going away. I am here.
The cat draws nearer. Excitedly begins to chew on a blade of grass. (Seriously!)
She says: I am afraid. I feel terrible.

Elena spreads out a mattress sheet with a blue flowers pattern. She dances. Then as if sudden fatigue has befallen her, she puts her handbag as a pillow on a bench, curls up in a foetal position and pretends to sleep. The chanting coming out of the stereo intensifies. She gets up. Pulls a pair of black high-heel shoes out of her bag. Puts them on, buries her fingers in her hair.
She says: NO, no.

Then Elena turns her back to the audience, puts on her yellow shoes and walks away. Applause.

When she returns the insanity in her gaze is gone. She is beaming. "If anyone wants to paint their hands with henna, there is some left."