Nights…choreophrenia

Nights… choreophrenia is a piece about the ease and harmony in the cruel reality, about what dance and freedom of expression can bring to everyday life, about the creative process which is always new and surprising. A soul-searching in itself, with the eternal dilemma of what and how, this piece is a quest for self and identity, expressed through insecurity and amiable absurdity of acts and actions, and stressed by sublime contrasts between abstract and mythical images, which give a new meaning to the whole.

„Often the creative life is slowed or stopped because something in the psyche has a very low opinion of us, and we are down there crawling at its feet instead of bopping it over the head and running for freedom. In many cases what is required to aright the situation is that we take ourselves, our ideas, our art, far more seriously than we have before. Due to wide breaks in matrilinear succor over many generations, this business of valuing one's creative life – that is, valuing the utterly original, beauteous and artful ideas and works which issue from a wildish soul – has become a perennial issue for women.“ Clarissa Pinkola Estés: Women Who Run With the Wolves

„Sanja Petrovski's self-referential monologue at the very beginning of the show overwhelms us, making us aware of various doubts and dilemmas she encounters in the emotional and intellectual search for theme and form. Those doubts and dilemmas are personal, but universal enough for us to relate to them. Sanja's words do not strike us as a confession, because what she says is not something foreign and distant, but something very pressing and palpable. The constant interplay of narratives on and off stage thus never becomes predictable and tiring, but serves as a firm, dynamic frame to the antithetic structure of the show.“ Ana Gospić, Dance Scene

With this show Sanja Petrovski celebrates her 40 years of artistic work. As a dancer, choreographer and pedagogue, Sanja has left an indelible mark on Zadar's dance and artistic scene. This piece has been made in cooperation with Sanja's longtime associates, colleagues and students at Zadar Dance Ensemble.

Concept, choreography, music selection: Sanja Petrovski

Music: Nenad Sinkauz, Grandbrothers

Costumes: Marija Šarić Ban

Light design: Igor Petrovski

Photo, graphic design: Igor Gluić

Sound design: Tomislav Kraljević Shome

Artists and coauthors: Patricia Gospić, Ruby Ivosić, Natali Perić, Maja Petani, Korina Oltran, Klara Zrilić, Dora Matija Antonina, Nataša Kustura, Marija Šarić Ban, Silvana Čeko Jurišić, Sanja Petrovski

Sponsors: Ministry of Culture, City Zadar, County Zadar

Thanks to: Music school Blagoje Bersa, HNK Zadar, Puppet theatre Zadar