Bad girls and flat guys from Sofia

GO ACE! :D

http://www.zavodbig.com/2009/11/25/thresholin-process-“d”-by-aleksandar-georgiev/

Delo, Tue. 30th June 2009, Ljubljana, Slovenia

''Dance Nomads''

by Mojca Kumerdej

Short Cuts 2 / PTL, Stara Elektrarna, DIC, Kinodvor, Tovarna Rog / 20th-22th June

The international contemporary dance society Nomad Dance Company connects artists and producers from six countries of the western Balkans – Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Bulgaria, along with three non-Balkan countries – Latvia, France and the USA. From 24^th February to 22th of June, this year's dance caravan moved from Sarajevo, through Skopje, Sofia, Belgrade, Kanjiža, Zagreb and Ptuj, to Ljubljana.

In each of the eight cities, the dance authors spent two weeks as artists in residence, creating and presenting their short dance miniatures, under the common title of Short Cuts 2, the process of which was accompanied by workshops, lectures and associating with local and international artists and theoreticians. Organized by the Slovenian co-producer of the Nomad network, the ‘’Fičo Balet’’ institution, between 20^th and 22^nd June, more than a dozen five minute to half an hour performances premiered in PTL, Stara mestna elektrana, DIC, Kinodvor and Tovarna Rog. Also a part of the caravan were two Slovenian authors Ana Schnabl and Bor Pungerčič, while among the Saturday evening’s seven premieres, the three most convincing were the American Elia Rubin Mrak Blumberg, Macedonian Aleksandar Georgiev and the Bulgarian Zhana Pencheva.

The twenty minute solo ‘’Lord Don’t Let the Devil Steal the Beat’’, by dancer and choreographer Elia Rubin Mrak Blumberg was performed as a continuous spinning of the whole body, like as if we are to paraphrase the title, he wanted to stop the devil from stealing or interrupting the rhythm, which, when we consider the accompanying statement and the text from the show, can be understood as an attempt to maintain the ecstatic state of being, that goes beyond pain, hatred and other destructive feelings. Unrelenting, through and through intensive and only circumstantially dervish-like gyration was made even more difficult by the text which the dancer would simultaneously interpret during the first part of the solo. The author convinced us with his movement which includes a promising stage presence – the latter he confirms as a dancer in some of the choreographies of his colleagues – with the only weak point of the piece being the naive text with infantile questions and added instructions towards achieving ‘’collective joy’’.

In his half an hour performance ‘’Treshole’’, the very talented Macedonian dancer and choreographer Aleksandar Georgiev, along with three fellow dancers, tackles issue of the sensing, transferring and causing pain. Because in the human world, one pain is never alike another pain, for it is never experienced directly, but always in a context which either lends it a bearable, such as in the case of a visit to the dentist, or unbearable, as in the case of an attack, character. The viewer’s gate misses the fact that a dancers’ life, due to its intensive physical stress is fundamentally linked with pain, and this is what the choreographer focuses on. He starts the show with an aggressive manipulation of his own body, including the action seen so many times before, where the performer slaps himself, but which in this case, the author develops with his co-dancers into a into an articulation of the creative process, in which the painful movement sequences include a previous agreement and thereby a pain tolerance, which however constantly slides along the elusive border that one unpredictable moment might turn into impulsive self-defence or attack.

Likewise, both Elia Rubin Mrak Blumberg and Aleksandar Georgiev alongside with the choreographer Zhana Pencheva, were also most convincing in the performance ‘’Glass Of Love’’ in which Pencheva engages the relationship between an autocratic author, director or choreographer and the humbly obedient performers, who with more or less success, attempt to exercise a measure of autonomy. The latter performance was among all of them also the most well thought out and executed both choreographically and structurally.

This year’s Short Cuts 2 were organized and executed, along with the Slovenian Fičo Balet, by the Tala Dance Center from Zagreb, Station Service for Contemporary Dance from Belgrade, Brain Store Project from Sofia, Lokomotiva from Skopje and Tancelarija from Sarajevo.

(translation by Bor Pungerčič / Andar_Andar)

Martina Nevistic superstar

Dear people,

we have the pleasure to announce you that WannaB received the Prize of the Public at the Contemporary Dance Platform in Almada (Portugal) !!!!

Marty won a marvellous ceramic cup that is now in the living room of her very beautiful new home !

AndarAndar finds the second clue to Aladin

Who has the body? And who holds it?
Who can call it forth? And who can renounce that?
Where is he kept? Incommunicado...

The Accordion Girls have whispered and streched out their plaited canvas lungs to the furthest reaches. Their advice? Appeal!
And wonder. Is it not written, ''habeas corpus!''?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus

El departure del amerikanski pilgrim

CLOSE FUTURE

When	What	Who	With what	Where
september
9th	NAGIB Festival	Elia	Lord, Don't Let The Devil Steal The Beat!	Slovene National Theatre Maribor (Maribor)
10th	8th L1 contemporary dance festival www.l1.hu	Celine	Papalačinke	Budapest (Hungary)
9th and 10th	Almada Dance Festival	Martina	WannaB	Lisabon (Portugal)
20th	Platform of young choreographers 2009 www.tala.hr	Martina	WannaB	Zagreb (Croatia)
21th	Video dance room on festival Platform of y.ch.2009	Ruta Celine	Apple Man Rurbanisme	Zagreb (Croatia)
14 – 21 th	ZWRK festival	Elia	Lord, Don't Let The Devil Steal The Beat! and workshop for kids	Sarajevo ( Bosnia and Hercogovina)
29 – 4.10.	Balkan Dance platform	Ace	Haidi	Novi Sad ( Serbia)
october
3th		Martina	WannaB	Zadar (Croatia)
4.-10.	Project	Ace, Leila		Sarajevo ( Bosnia and Hercogovina)
27.- 7.11.	Festival	Ace	Haidi	Skopje (Macedonia)
november
28.,28.	Festival ?	Ace (R,I,M,A) Leila ( R,L)	Treshold Latino Drive	Venecia (Italy)