February 27 2019
4.30 pm ►Moderna galerija
→ Community of emancipated bodies: Methods of recording Slovenian authors of contemporary dance 1
When, almost five years ago, we started a multiannual project Methods of recording Slovenian authors of contemporary dance at Emanat Institute together with Maja Delak and Saška Rakef, our primary goal was to establish a “community” of choreographers of Slovenian contemporary dance, along with a certain type of reflection or recording of their work processes: tactics, strategies, methods, approaches that could contribute to a multitude of different discourses, readings and writings, contents and records that speak of contemporary dance. The initiative is based on the realization that in that past twenty years, there have been no records in Slovenia regarding the methodologies and procedures developed by Slovenian dance producers. Therefore, our primary focus was on the processuality of work rather than on the methods of archiving and the practices of documenting the “products” or performances. It appears that when it comes to art, we hardly ever think about whose footsteps are we following in, and who has been here before us. But even though we can create our paths without following others, we still need others in front of us. This volume speaks of these orientations and positions, recording the choreographic work of at least ten artists. The main purpose of this work is clear: to affirm (contemporary) dance as a form of art, and to highlight the development, affirmation and reflection of contemporary dance in Slovenia. The first volume presents the following choreographic‑reflexive couples: Saška Rakef and Sinja Ožbolt, Rok Vevar and Snježana Premuš, Zala Dobovšek and Teja Reba, Magdalena Germek and Tanja Zgonc, Samo Oleami and Vita Osojnik, Maša Radi and Mateja Bučar, Jasmina Založnik and Nina Meško, Alja Lobnik and Bara Kolenc, Maja Šorli and Maja Delak, Andreja Kopač and Leja Jurišić.
Book will be presented by editors: Andreja Kopač and Maja Šorli.
Editors: Andreja Kopač and Maja Šorli
Ipublisher: Emanat
→ Day, Night + Man = Rhythm: Anthology of Slovene Contemporary Dance Criticism 1918–1960
Rok Vevar’s book presents a selection of theoretical, historical and critical articles on contemporary dance, modern ballet and dance culture, published in the local periodicals in the period between both World Wars and during the 15 years after World War II. The research for the anthology showed the scope and vigor of local media production and the remarkable level of interest in this art and its culture in the period of both monarchies and the first socialist Yugoslavia. The anthology presents the first articles in local media from the fields of history and theory of contemporary dance and modern ballet, divided into the following content sections: organizing the first attempts to reflect on local dance history (Rado Kregar), visionary theorizations of contemporary dance in the circles of domestic historic avant-gardes, more precisely, Constructivists and Tankovci, a group around the magazine Tank (Ferdo Delak, Avgust Černigoj), theories of contemporary dance and modern body within the youth Christian-social movement, the so‑called Križevci (Franjo Čibej, Pino Mlakar), and the cultural history of classical and modern dance art (Kristina Brenk, née Vrhovec). This is followed by critical and theoretical contributions on the dance work of the protagonists of contemporary dance and modern ballet in the Slovene cultural space of the time, which has been distinctly intercultural and international from the very beginning. The chapter The Age of Dance and the Body features a very narrow selection of the otherwise abundant corpus of dance‑cultural journalism between both World Wars, attempting to present to the reader, above all, the breadth of its spectrum. The volume concludes with a chapter Devil in the Village – Dance in Slovenia 1946–1960, which documents – mostly through the records of Pia and Pino Mlakar – an attempt to institutionalize contemporary dance art in the framework of Ballet SNG Ljubljana and to establish a cultural project of a new Yugoslav ballet. In the neurotic period of the development of Yugoslav socialist exception, which was rapidly switching between the possible directions in art and culture, this proved to be an increasingly impossible project, as documented in two articles by Ksenija Hribar in the chapter Epilogue.
Book will be presented by editor Rok Vevar.
Collected and edited by: Rok Vevar. Editor of the collection: Amelia Kraigher, editor: Gregor Moder; izdajatelji publishers: Maska, Nomad Dance Academy Slovenia, JSKD.
→ DSPS 25+
In May this year, Contemporary Dance Association Slovenia (CDAS) will celebrate its 25th anniversary. On this occasion, we have joined forces with the Maska magazine to create a special issue of the magazine in order to review the history of the association, analyze the operational guidelines, and revise the objectives set by the association over the years. In addition to the CDAS historiography, the special issue is marked by questionnaires and interviews. The editors set out to interview 5 x 5 protagonists – however, the precarious circumstances soon caused the structure of the issue to begin falling apart. And it is precisely this fact that testifies to the current state of contemporary dance.
Presentation of the special, belingual, issue of the Maska magazine on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Contemporary Dance Association Slovenia by editors: Andreja Kopač, Alja Lobnik, Pia Brezavšček
Editors: Andreja Kopač, Alja Lobnik, Pia Brezavšček. Publisher: Maska and CDAS
Admission free.