New residency pieces, hit show reprises & World Dance Day celebration

This spring, the Zagreb Dance Center continues its tradition of organising a diverse and dynamic program, bringing new residency titles and numerous reprise performances of acclaimed dance pieces. After the successful first cycle of Dance Extras, in the second cycle, the ZPC presents a screening of physical theatre company DV8’s piece JOHN. At the end of the month, on the occasion of World Dance Day and produced by National Theatre Live, get ready for reprise performances of Marin Lemić’s “Selfiemorphia” and the piece “With Roberta” of dance pedagogue and artist Roberta Milevoj.

On 4 and 5 April at 8 p.m., the audience is in for the premiere performances of ON(TH(E))LINE, created by Tamara Savićević and choreographed by PPA KELKOPE. The piece explores the concept of a line as a symbol of formation, structure and inevitability of social norms. Through dance, the piece depicts an individual’s struggle in facing their own limitations, internal fears and insecurities, and the path towards liberation and achieving personal sense.

The program of the 33rd Music Biennale Zagreb is scheduled for 8 April at the Zagreb Dance Center, while on 11 and 12 April, the audience can expect the premiere of the residential piece WE ARE OPEN TO THE WORLD: WE ARE INCREDIBLE BODIES, by young authors Dora Šesto and Endi Schrotter. The show explores the relationship between the body and the world beyond learned patterns, presenting dance as a direct, intimate act of communication. By involving the audience and rejecting dramaturgical rules, the performance opens up a space for bodily authenticity and imaginative presence.

In April, fans of contemporary dance will be able to see another reprise of the acclaimed show THERE, WHERE ALL SOULS GO by Miloš Isailović, performed by the Zagreb Dance Company, on 15 April at 8 p.m. The piece explores the invisible space to which all souls aspire. Where does the soul go when it leaves love? Where do people without a soul go, and do they also have the right to reach that light, that infinitely graceful realm?

As part of the second cycle of the new program, Dance Extras, the Zagreb Dance Center presents a screening of the piece JOHN on 17 April at 7 p.m., directed and choreographed by Lloyd Newson, one of the most prominent creators of physical theater, and the acclaimed DV8 Physical Theatre company. In conversation with dance experts before the screenings, Dance Extras offer a broader context and elucidate the significance of presented material. Dance pedagogue, ballet master and former ballerina of the Croatian National Theatre Iva Višak, and dance theoretician, curator and dance educator Iva Nerina Sibila will join the conversation before the screening of the film JOHN.

Lucija Romanova’s solo performance ZHIVILA is on the program on 18 and 19 April and it is an intimate journey exploring the author’s complex relationship with alcohol. It uses the poetics of both the body and voice to guide the audience through different layers and perspectives of this particular relationship. Through physicality and text, Lucija opens up before the audience, presenting a plethora of introspective thoughts and emotional intensities.

As part of the celebration of World Dance Day, dance creator Dora Brkarić will perform her piece STRIPTEASE with Iva Katarinčić on 25 April – an ecstatic performance that calls for a stripping off of the layers imposed on the body by the environment, as well as radical truth, vulnerability and cooperation. STRIPTEASE received the best show award at this year’s Croatian Contemporary Dance Awards. On 29 April, Marin Lemić once again brings to the dance floor his acclaimed show SELFIEMORPHIA, produced by artistic organisation ON/A and co-produced by the ZPC, which draws us deeper into ourselves, but also into our relationships with the world around us.

April comes to a close with a reprise performance of WITH ROBERTA on 30 April by dance pedagogue and award-winning artist Roberta Milevoj. In her performance, the fourth instalment in a series of solo performances, dance artist Roberta Milevoj relies on autobiographical or self-reflexive elements as a basis for constructing choreographic material.

The Zagreb Dance Center continues its traditional morning trainings and workshops during the month, intended for professional dance artists. In April, the workshop will be led by Maša Kolar, Roberta Milevoj and Staša Zurovac. The Zagreb Dance Center’s morning trainings and workshops enable the exchange of knowledge, the development of technical skills and the exploration of new dance methodologies under the guidance of experienced pedagogues, choreographers and dance artists.

More information about the program and ticketing is available on the official website of the Zagreb Dance Center.