Interview with Leja Jurišić

Leja Jurišić talks about Ballet of Revolt during this interview done in October 2012.

Art has always been a response to the return or repressed unconscious elements at individual and social level. Every crisis should be a reminder to us of the importance of thinking about the future. A crisis almost always results from earlier failures to deal with an emerging problem or to anticipate a likely eventuality. In retrospect, we often recognize that the crisis in history was perfectly preventable, but we have to show it again and again and again!

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Interview with Mala Kline

Mala Kline is one of the modul-dance artists selected in 2011. Her project, entitled Eden has been awarded in Slovenia. She was proposed for the modul-dance project by Kino Šiška Ljubljana. Interview done during the modul-dance conference that took place in Tilburg in October 2012.

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Meeting the ghost. By Antje Pfundtner

When I first heard about modul-dance and realised that 20 European dance houses would be taking part in this project I thought I’d struck the jackpot.

However, on a personal level, modul-dance remained a ghost in my eyes. Indeed, I did have my 3 partners with all of whom I had shared unquestionably fruitful experiences.

But somehow it was still a mystery to me how this huge network could have really worked between us all and how we could communicate. Meetings with my partners were on a one-to-one basis when I visited them. I choose the word “visit” as I was not seeking a residency but instead opted to visit them and engage in a number of experiments at their destinations or their festivals that were linked to my research at the time. Hellerau was the “only” partner who was able to handle the “presentation-modul”, and I am delighted and thankful for that. I say “able” as I have realised that the people involved in the modul-dance project like to make reference to the “weak” or “strong” partners one comes to rely on. I discovered that Hellerau constituted a strong partner as they were able to back the artistic project with funds. Perhaps I have won the jackpot after all? (not to say that I, personally did not find my other partners strong as well).

Shimmying with Friends and Strangers. By Fearghus Ó Conchúir

In September 2011, Fearghus Ó Conchúir wrote the following article focused on his experience during the research he developed at Dance Gate Lefkosia Cyprus.

My abiding memory of the research time I spent in Nicosia was of the last evening spent with some of the delegates of the Dance/Body conference on the Turkish side of the city. We followed the academic Stavros Karayanni there to a cafe in a beautiful old square that once a month hosted a ‘pink party’ for gays and lesbians. There, Stavros danced a delicious, friendly belly-dance and I felt in that moment the embodiment of the conference theme: Dance/Body at the Crossroads of Culture.

Here was dancing where politics, gender, sexuality and ethnicity shimmied and swayed. And it felt good to be there.

“Developing a living-room within the modul-dance frame”. By Tina Tarpgaard

In May 2011, Tina Tarpgaard published this article in one of the modul-dance newsletters. How does she work as an independent artist in Denmark?

In the fall 2011 I will start the first residency as part of the modul-dance project. Together with my group of dancers and software artists (recoil performance group) I am invited to spend two weeks in the excellent facilities at the Tanzhaus NRW in Düsseldorf. Later we will travel to Ljubljana to spend a week researching in collaboration with the innovative dance house Kino Siska. Both giving us a great opportunity to work focused with the concept we have developed as a base for our new production Living-Room. The performance will be produced at Dansehallerne in Copenhagen with the premiere on March 10th 2012.

Anne Juren and Roland Rauschmeier’s “Tableaux Vivants”

In September 2011 Anne Juren and Roland Rauschmeier wrote the following text regarding their experience within the modul-dance project. They have developed the project entitled Tableaux Vivants, where the art forms interweave and allow hybrid relations to develop between the paintings, sculptures and videos and the bodies of the performers.

Within the frame of the modul-dance project, we worked in three different locations (Faro/Portugal, Poznań/Poland and Ljubljana/Slovenia) on the conceptualisation, ideal configuration and technical translation of our idea for Tableaux Vivants.

During our stay in Faro, the composer Johannes Maria Staud gave us a compilation of his works based on the suite Berenice so that we could take some initial decisions on the choice of music. We also developed a comprehensive mind map that included socio-historic facts, artists and relevant eras for our performance. The southern atmosphere and some very pleasant and spacious studios made Faro an ideal place to work and make an in-depth study of concepts and ideas in a relaxed way.

Second part of CoFestival in Ljubljana

The second part of CoFestival will take place between 21 and 27 September 2013. This second round of the festival organized by Kino Šiška Ljubljana will be launched by the 3D film PINA by the German cineaste Wim Wenders, a sensitive homage to the unforgettable dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch. The film will be followed by the already traditional FičoDrom, intended for everybody who misses opportunities to dance.

Programme highlights include the first public presentation of Jurij Konjar’s piece Still (23 Sep at 9pm, Kino Šiška), the show Au contraire (based on Jean-Luc Godard) by the prize-winning Geneva-based artist Foofwa d’Imobilité (24 Sep at 9pm, Stara mestna Elektrarna), The Seagull directed by Tomi Janežič and produced by Novi Sad Serbian National Theatre (25 Sep and 26 Sep at 6pm, Kino Šiška). All shows will be followed by artist talks.

The Festival also promises the Vertigo dance workshop run by Eduardo Torroja, a member of the renowned Belgian group Ultima Vez, a research-art project of the Frankfurt-based dancer and choreographer Lili Mihajlović, and visiting artist Antje Pfundtner.

During the festival, the daily programme will be complemented by the festival team joined by many international artists having a go at The Art of Co-Living, a programme running in the Museum of Contemporary Arts as part of the Triennial of Contemporary Art.

For detailed information visit www.cofestival.net.

About the first part of CoFestival.

CoFestival 2013: The Art of Coliving

CoFestival is three festivals in one: modul-dance, Ukrep and Pleskavica. Under the title The Art of Coliving, Kino Šiška Ljubljana presents its second edition, that will take place from 17th to 21th June and from 21th to 27th September.

Under the umbrella of the modul-dance project, the event will open with Marcos Morau/La Veronal and their recently premiered Siena, a reflection on the conception of the human body, used by the artists as a container and projector of meanings, as well as an exploration of the history of Italian art in a journey that begins in the Renaissance (17 June).

Mixing digital arts, urban and traditional dances lil’dragon, piece of the modul-dance selected artist Eric Minh Cuong Castaing, will propose a sensory experience toward a feeling of future, physical and imperceptible (20 June).

The program also includes a new edition of the ShortDanceFilms, a film screenings curated by Núria Font/Nu2’s (18 June).

In September, one of the last modul-dance selected artists, Jurij Konjar will premiere in Slovenia his new piece Still.

Read here the complete programme, which includes not only dance, but also workshops, theatre and dj sessions.

www.cofestival.net

“Spekies”. By La Zampa

Beyond our experience with respect to this European programme itself, which could be summed up by exclaiming “Fantastic! Encore! Encore!” in connection with the residencies, the welcome and meeting the different partners, here we would like to look at our experience from the standpoint of having had the chance to “get away from our own territory”.

Getting away from one’s “territory” does not only mean travelling.

In our case, leaving our territory entailed some big changes:

– In our creative habits, since our creation process usually unfolds in a single quintessentially French context – whereas with modul-dance the separation, the distance, allowed us to return home invigorated and lighter in weight.

– In our time-management habits: we usually stay longer in each place. In this project, however, between the discovery of the venues and of the working hours, which were always different, we had to constantly adapt ourselves.

Modul-dance experience. By Leja Jurišić

Summer 2010, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Goran Bogdanovski (Kino Šiška, Slovenia) invited me to present my proposal of a new dance work to dance house partners of the European project modul-dance. He explained me the project and I said yes. The possibility to research, create and tour the piece among the participating houses sounded great. I immediately knew what I want to propose. There was a solo piece I wanted to do for some time now. My debut choreography was a solo, and I felt, that after several collaborative and group projects, the time was right to return to this format. I even had the perfect team in my mind for the work.

The end of September 2010, Lyon, France
Meeting of the representatives of all 22 dance houses participating in the project and artists which were invited to present their proposals. Three Days. During the day we had conferences and in the evenings we watched performances at Lyon Dance Biennial. It was great to meet in person all the artists and all the representatives. The construction and goals of the project were presented. All 22 artists shortly presented their work and proposals. Interesting people. There was a little stage with the screen where we saw mainly videos of performances that artists present. The conference hall with a little stage! The idea of talking from behind the desk didn’t appeal to me very much, as the stage is much more the place, which I know and understand. I decide to do my presentation in a format of presentation- performance. This is what I do and what I do best. Good choice. I got some nice offers for creating my new work. What I liked the most was that after the presentation we (the artists) had our own desks where presenters could come to meet us and to show their interest.

With the feeling of being taken care of as an artist, even kind of belonging, and more, getting offers for creating a new solo piece we flew back to Ljubljana. I felt very sick on the plane. Never happened before. No worries.