Roberta Milevoj: ROBERTA AGAIN

CoFestival – International Festival of Contemporary Dance

Performance premiere
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Dance solo Roberta Again is an unusual and precious dance work by the Croatian dancer and choreographer Roberta Milevoj. In it, the author chooses some key characteristics and categories of the cultural landscape from which contemporary dance sprouted in the beginning of the 20^th century (nature, expression, emotion, sensuality) so she can rethink them and re-form them using their contemporary correspondences. Using the spatial volume, expanded and reinforced with movement, light and music, the author introduced time into this solo that is not merely personal, but captures the period of historic changes for human bodies and their percepts and along with this also for choreographic categories (e.g. expressionist category of image in space) and problems. After a century of movement, these are recognizable, yet very changed. The solo Roberta Again is a dark, contemplative and slightly rapturous dance piece, but it has its special grounds and weight, so it comes across as real, vulnerable and risky. Roberta Milevoj works in Croatia, currently the home of one of the liveliest, most ambitions, witty and creative contexts of contemporary dance in Europe.  

Roberta Again is Roberta Milevoj‘s dance piece which explores the possibilities of reshaping the emotional experience of a natural space in an artificial setting such as a performance space. As the transit from the former into the latter is made, the material obtained by being in the natural place transforms. Backed by a specific musical background, such altered dance material creates a new perspective of the time and space of the performance.

Is the first, natural space just a place from which we draw inspiration for the other, artificial space?
Is it possible to translate one space into the other?
Is it possible for a space to change solely on the basis of a change of our perception?
Is it possible to create a third, imaginary space by reviving a physical memory?
Is what we see really the way we see it?

“I believe that the body, just like nature, is faced with a lack of the usual creating tools on disposal if it finds itself in a space rarely used for creating material. In such a situation, the conditions under which the show is being made change along with the perception of the creation itself. I was interested in comparing the two experiences: how to observe one’s personal perception of nature through choreography, how to deal with the natural when performing.” – Roberta Milevoj

 “I decided to record live sessions while observing Roberta’s movements. I tried to do so as if doing some typical field recording. The recordings thus became my musical score.” – Nenad Sinkauz

Choreography and performance: Roberta Milevoj
Music: Nenad Sinkauz
Lighting design: Bojan Gagić
Advisor: Matija Ferlin
Graphic design: Mauricio Ferlin
Photography: Goran Škofić
PR: Morena Milevoj
Translation: Ana Uglešić

The show has, in part, been inspired by Contrada, a dance film made together with director Matija Debeljuh.

Project partners: Student Centre of the University of Zagreb – Kultura promjene (Change Culture),  Mediterranean Dance Centre – Svetvinčenat and Croatian Institute for Movement and Dance 

Financial support: Town of Pula and Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia

A ‘thank you’ to the Milevoj family, Mario Ferlin, the Municipality of Svetvinčenat, Matija Debeljuh, Andrea Gotovina, Petra Glad, Snježana Abramović Milković, Silvija Stipanov, Teatar&TD, Goran Bogdan, the participants of the Student Centre workshop, Zrinka Užbinec, Claudia Fancello, Tomislav Feller, Zdravka Ivandija, Miroslav Piškulić, Jasna Žmak, the Zagreb Dance Centre.

Organizacija/Organisation: Kino Šiška & NDA.