An Interview With Maria Angelova
Invest more in mental health services across the world and start to realise the huge impact that spaces, design and architecture have on people’s wellbeing.
As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Annie Nicholson, The Fandangoe Kid.
Annie is a multidisciplinary artist, who makes work predominantly for the public realm. Her practice seeks to create platforms for dialogue on the complexities of life, death and the human condition.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path and point in your life?
Running the project The Fandangoe Skip in NYC was really important to me on so many levels, it’s probably one of my most significant personal achievements associated with my career. When I lost my family in an accident in New York’s East River in 2011, I quickly discovered that there were very few platforms for dialogue around the complexities and nuances of traumatic loss and grief, especially in a collective sense. My practice as an artist has saved my life, while navigating the toughest times and I wanted the public art pieces I install to contribute to social change, smashing the silence around grief and loss and creating spaces for people to share, to listen, to just be — without agenda.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
In 2019, we were invited to screen the first film I made called Into Your Light, made with Tara Darby, on the Manhattan Bridge. It was a tribute to my late sister Sonia Marra, who was killed in the accident I mentioned above, and it really felt powerful to tell her story and the story of our sisterhood, within the context of dance and movement as a healing force for grief, in this same place where she had died. After that my practice, my work and the opportunities I had to grow the work I believe in really took off.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that mistake?
I can definitely be guilting of overworking and have had to find ways to work better and smarter. Creative people need to have down time in order to cultivate new ideas, to rest the brain and not to produce like an art factory, but to really percolate ideas and not churn out ‘content’. The focus on process needs to be much more celebrated and for a long time the urgency in my bones, spurred on by so much loss in my life, didn’t give me any let up and I would just work 7 days a week. I’ve since fallen in love and found much more balance and grounding in the present.
Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?
You can really see all of this from my website and bio.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
- Invest more in mental health services across the world and start to realise the huge impact that spaces, design and architecture have on people’s wellbeing.
- Work with artists, architects and social policy more broadly to develop spaces that people actually want to see and be in.
- Start thinking more laterally about how we develop a more fluid language around grief, loss and mental health across the board.
Are there any projects you are eagerly working on and would like to share with our audience?
Yes, it’s called Fandangoe DISCOTECA and it’s a mini touring club for release of all kinds of grief, anxiety and day to day angst, including climate grief, political angst, and collective mental health.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
It means encouraging growth by sharing your knowledge, listening to others, and not kicking the ladder out underneath you, but knowing that we are better and stronger together, through collaborative thinking.
What inspires you to keep moving forward and amplifying your impact?
I have total fire in the belly and it’s something that’s grown in me from being one of the only survivors in my family. The loss of them all, those people who love me unconditionally almost broke me into pieces and I thought I would die. I had to work for a long time to pull myself back up and I came through something which sort of means that I have survival mechanisms and a lust and gratitude for life just running through my veins and I want to use all the time I have to make a difference with my practice.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I want to continue working publicly across the world to make pieces that inspire a more global and fluid language around grief. I am committed to growing my practice in such a way that it reaches way outside of the echo chamber and allows for a real change in the way we integrate loss into our lives, across many audiences and social groups, in safe and nurturing ways. I truly believe that creativity can save the world and that we all deserve the right to be able to feel safe to be able to share our most vulnerable feelings, without having to pay enormous amounts of money to do so. I hope that my practice continues to significantly contribute to this landscape.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
A young person I once worked with in the early years after losing my family told me and the rest of the class, that no two days are the same, tomorrow might be different, worse even, but it will be different. And I always remember that as it helps so much when we feel stuck in a certain way of thinking / feeling and unable to see beyond it.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I’d like to have a lunch with Anne Pasternak, director of Brooklyn Museum. I’ve long admired her work, and the programming at Brooklyn Museum is inclusive and accessible. We recently screened a film there as part of For Freedoms residency ahead of the US midterms and I really love how socially engaged the programme is at the museum. I would love to work more with them.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can follow me on social media via @fandangoekid, on the website via www.fandangoekid.com.
And please tune into a new BBC World Service documentary about my practice : https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct4246
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at angelova@rebellious-intl.com. To schedule a free consultation, click here.
Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Annie Nicholson Of The Fandangoe Kid Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.