Jasmina Križaj: Solo of the Heart – Choreo-process
I see the body as a tool for what we call the “self.” Both object and subject, in which our other bodies (emotional, mental, egoic, etc.) are reflected—as a self that we can transform and direct according to our will.
For me, dance/movement is a state, not a form or an action. Dance—the presence of a body alongside and among other bodies—is a visceral experience; through the observed body, the audience perceives their own body.
As a creator, I have always been interested in how my performative state and the composition of a piece can bring the audience into an altered state of being. I am interested in how to lead the viewer into their multi-potential corporeality and the lucidity of thought and feeling through the body on stage. However, not in a way where “external images” override the viewer’s “internal images,” but rather in a way that generates them and awakens the inner eye within them.
Collaborators
Choreography and performance: Jasmina Križaj
Outside eye: Simon Wehrli
Music, sound: Rob Canning
Presentation of research is a part of a proces in production by Nagib from Maribor.
Partner: The Old Power Station – Elektro Ljubljana
CHOREO-PROCESS is a continuous support program of activities in the field of performing arts, enabling a research-oriented approach by authors, shifts in work and moments of distance, process-based development in preparing production formats, public events, organized documentation, and multimedia communication about the development of activities to the public.
Through a laboratory-based approach, the creators will critically question, test, or address a given choreographic theme, problem, or territory. At the beginning of the process, the theme will be presented through an interview and presentation, documented and published on https://vid.pretok.tv, a streaming platform that also serves as an archive of events by the Emanat Institute. During the continuation of the process, it will be documented multiple times and published (audio, video, writings, notes). At the end of the timeframe, there will be a public presentation, which will be documented in the form of a video stream, broadcast, and published on the website, social media, and the new federated platform tv.emanat.si
The results of the process- and research-based work may be diverse, aiming toward the articulation of the artistic work, the project’s key questions, the cast or team, and the exploration of different media.
Biographies
Jasmina Križaj graduated with a degree in choreography from De Theaterschool in Amsterdam, SNDO department. She has presented her performances at numerous festivals in Slovenia and abroad. Between 2010 and 2014, she participated in David Zambrano’s project (“Flying Low and Passing Through, Costa Rica”), was part of the international Modul Dance project, and took part in the Dance-WEB training program under the mentorship of Ivo Dimchev. She has collaborated extensively with the Portuguese artist and producer Cristina P. Leitao. For the past few years, she has been collaborating with Swiss artists Simon Wehrli and Daniel Gisler. Together, they created Nature Poetry, Nothing Works (Shakira, Shakira) – a duet, Nothing Works (Shakira, Shakira) – Les Etudes Madonna – a quartet, and D PRPL. She is currently completing her fourth year of study in body-oriented psychotherapy and is a trainee in Taoist healing methods (Chi Nei Tsang I, II, III).
Simon Wehrli began his career as a musician and later attended the Accademia Teatro Dimitri in Verscio (Switzerland). He studied contemporary dance at Trinity Laban London (UK). He has toured Europe, the US, and Africa as part of the theater group Collettivo Spettatori, the dance-improvisation group 50collective, and the group “Sons of Sissy”/Simon Mayer. Since 2015, in collaboration with Jasmina Križaj and Daniel Gisler, he has created False Entries, Nature Poetry, and Nothing Works (Shakira, Shakira)—a duet, a quartet, and Deep Purple. In recent years, he has increasingly focused on working with young people (including at the Zurich Opera House). Simon is also a guest lecturer in the Bachelor of Dance program at Manufacture Lausanne (CH) and regularly teaches at other arts institutions.
Rob Canning is a composer and sound artist whose work combines an intuitive/improvisational artistic approach with music composition based on algorithmic systems. He has collaborated with orchestras such as the London Sinfonietta, The Concorde Ensemble, The National Chamber Choir of Ireland, and The Con Tempo String Quartet, among others. His compositions have been performed and broadcast internationally, and his multi-channel electronic works and installations have been featured in numerous exhibitions and incorporated into dance and theater productions. He earned his doctorate at Goldsmiths College in London, focusing on computer-assisted composition strategies using free/libre/open-source software. He is a member of the GOTO10 collective and has moved from London to Maribor, specifically the Haloze region, where he is establishing an artists’ village.
Photo: Nada Žgank