EN-KNAP Group: SUPERFLUOUS

March 2020. Cultural institutions and theatres around the world are closing down. Despite the restrictions, the dancers of the EN-KNAP Group continue to work; not as a group in a studio, but individually from home. They are staying in shape, looking for new forms of communication and ways to create a performance without working together in the same space. October 2020. Anticipating the second wave of the epidemic and closing of the theatres once again, the creators decide to stage a premiere. The performance is based on the essay The Superfluous Human by Ilija Trojanow about the damaging, destructive force of capitalism, which is systematically abandoning man and humanity in the name of profit. Who is redundant, then? How thin is the line between the useful and the unnecessary? The elements of the performance include a series of both predefined and unpredictable sequences, the unique structure of which is determined by the performers in each iteration. The musician and the light designer spontaneously create additional dimensions of experiencing the performance, thus also contributing to the unpredictable challenge and stimulus for the dancers.

EN-KNAP Productions, founded by choreographer Iztok Kovač in the 1990s, gave birth to the EN-KNAP Group in 2007, which has been the only permanent contemporary dance ensemble in Slovenia since its establishment. The group, which consists of dancers from all over the world selected at an international audition, boasts an exceptional repertoire created in collaboration with internationally renowned choreographers and directors of extremely diverse aesthetic provenances. Since 2009, EN-KNAP Group is based at the Španski Borci Cultural Centre in the Ljubljana’s Moste District.

Since its establishment, the ensemble has collaborated with more than 30 Slovenian and international choreographers and theatre directors, and created 26 full-length performances and a dance film. The group presents its repertoire with more than 50 performances annually on national stages and with regular international tours.