IF YOU’RE HAPPY, anticelebration

Photo: Nada Žgank

The repetitive children’s song that was being diligently taught in kindergartens and primary schools, around the time when the idea of liberalism was being born in the collapsing Yugoslavia. I still remember how I tried to “shout my hurray” and create a feeling of that happiness, one of the first indoctrinations of the new, post-socialist ideology.

The performance If You’re Happy is a cultural and artistic anti-celebration. If celebration seeks to celebrate the illusion of a country, worth of dignity, anti-celebration examines what this dignity represents and what are its foundations. If the celebrations in our country are censored, it is precisely the opposite with anti-celebrations: they speak about the issues that the censors are trying to remove from celebrations. If celebration consists of a well-defined protocol, anti-celebration is charged with the experimental and ritual character.

I am glad that I had the honour to be directing this year’s anti-celebration. The political leaders, who will carry out social improvements based on its constructive criticism, will be grateful, and so will be the people who may recognize themselves in the mirror of their own miseries and the miseries of the others.
If you’re happy, shout hurray!
Andrej Jus, director

Nursery rhyme “If You’re Hungry”
If you are hungry, you go eat. If you eat, you are full. If you are full, you are tired. If you are tired, you go to sleep. If you go to sleep, you sleep. If you sleep, you rest. If you are rested, you become hungry. If you are hungry, you want to eat. If you want to eat and have nothing to eat, you are sad. If you are sad, you cry. If you cry, you get on people’s nerves. If you get on people’s nerves, they frown on you. If they frown on you, they are afraid. If they are afraid, they are avoiding you. If they are avoiding you, you are invisible. If you are invisible, you are completely alone in the world. If you are alone in the world, there is no you. If there is no you, you do not exist. If you do not exist, you are dead. If you are dead, you are not hungry. If you are not hungry, you are happy. If you are happy, slap your knees!

Credits:

Artists: Andrej Jus, Ana Duša, Špela Frlic, Nataša Živković, Polona Janežič, Brane Zorman
Director: Andrej Jus
On the stage: Ana Duša, Špela Frlic, Nataša Živković, Polona Janežič
Set and costume design: Urša Vidic
Music, musical arrangements, recording: Polona Janežič
Sound design: Brane Zorman
Vocals: Ana Duša, Nataša Živković, Polona Janežič
Voices of children: Borut Bončina, Jakob Žefran, Lara Bončina, Naja Novak Čehajič, Naomi Uma Zorman, Vid Žefran, Djuna Greta Vidrih, pupils of  Savo Kladnik primary school, Sevnica
Technical director and lighting design: Andrej Petrovčič
Design: Tanja Radež
Producer: Alma R. Selimović
Public relations: Tamara Bračič Vidmar
Produced by: Bunker, Ljubljana
Translation: Tadej Turnšek
Cover photo: Tina Kosec, Nada Žgank
The performance is supported by: EU – Program Culture, Ministry for Culture of Slovenia, Ljubljana City Municipality

The performance was created in the framework of the Connect Tapes project within the international network Create to Connect, funded by the EU programme Creative Europe, sub-programme Culture.

International festival ensemble: COMMUNITY

Photo: Gregor Gobec

Sunday, November 27 at 8pm

The performance is in English.

On the last festival evening we will engage in something very rare in Slovene and international improvisational production – a big stage ensemble. The group dynamics of 26 actors will drive the play around the theme of community. A spectacle, clumsy stage happening, inspiring live event, or complete chaos? In any case, this will be an intensive shared experience for both the audience and the performers (if such a distinction would still make sense at all).

Concept: Maja Dekleva Lapajne
Performance: Beatrix Brunschko, Dino Kapetanovič, Eva Jus, Gregor Moder, Jacob Banigan, Jan Hrušovar, Juš Milčinski, Katarina Veselko, Koray Bülent Tarhan, Mistral Majer, Nejc Šmit, Olivija Grafenauer, Peter Frankl, Rok Bohinc, Sara Šoukal, Sašo Stare, Teja Bitenc, Tomaž Lapajne Dekleva, Urša Strehar Benčina, Vid Sodnik, Zeynep Özyurt Tarhan
Music: Evren Gülseven, Goran Završnik, Hannu Risku
Lights: Borut Cajnko

Public discussion on artistic improvisation: Why Theatre Improvisation Exactly?

Photo: Gregor Gobec

Sunday, November 27 at 5pm

Public discussion panel

The discussion is in English.

What is it that creators and spectators recognise as intrinsic and specific to theatre improvisation and what makes us keep on coming back to its cuisine because we can’t get it anywhere else? What are the main potentials of this art form and what does improvisational theatre offer to other artistic fields and wider social context? During the discussion of the affirmation of theatre improvisation and its values the following people will cross their individual approaches to theatre improvisation: Beatrix Brunschko from Theater im Bahnhof (Graz) where they nurture improvisation as well as scripted theatre; Andreja Rauch Pozdravnik coming from the field of choreography and movement improvisation; Gregor Moder, improvisational artist and a philosopher, and Samo Oleami, professional spectator of broad horizons and moderator of the talk.

Host: Samo Oleami
Guests: Andreja Rauch Podrzavnik, Beatrix Brunschko, Gregor Moder

Istanbulimpro (Turkey): ONCE UPON A TIME…

Photo: Istanbulimpro archive

Friday, November 25 at 9pm

The performance is in English.

Istanbulimpro theatre, founded in 2007, combines traditional theatre approaches with elements of music and physical theatre and contemporary improvisation principles. They create regular theatre programme on their stage Istanbulimpro Sahne where they also organize an international improvisational theatre festival and an international storytelling festival every year. They also explore applied improvisation, that is use of principles and tools of theatre improvisation on non-artistic, wider areas of society, and are also members of the Applied Improv Network. In 2009 they were awarded The Best Progressive Theatre Group of Turkey.

Performance Once Upon A Time… plays with the idea of collective unconscious with with the universal story structure, which stimulates the performer’s as well as the spectator’s imagination. The event, interlaced with musicality of an excellent Turkish musician Evren Gülseven and movement and singing images of participating artists, will first and foremost follow the the audience’s wishes at every step.

Concept: Koray Tarhan and Tolga Erdoğan
Performance: Alenka Marinič, Jacob Banigan, Koray Bülent Tarhan, Peter Frankl, Zeynep Özyurt Tarhan
Music: Evren Gülseven
Lights: Borut Cajnko

Improške (Slovenia) Crossing Over: INSPIRATION AT FIRST SIGH(T)

Photo: Ana Šircelj

Friday, November 25 at 7pm

The performance is in English.

Improške is an open, non-hierarchically organised group of female performers who has come together because they like playing together. But also because they are interested in what role gender plays on stage and how we can play with gender stereotypes and surpass them. Improške are a safe community where its members can explore, develop, test their boundaries and look for different forms of expression through improvised performance.

Before there is a word, there is a look. A look is an invitation to create a relationship, first contact with another person, first exchange between the two. A child, who covers her eyes, believes she has dissapeared; what I can’t see, doesn’t exist. In the performance Inspiration at First Sigh(t) Improške and guests will play with all these functions of sight – sight as initiation of communication, sight as the mirror of inner experience, sight as condition of existence. Each scene will begin with a sigh(t) – between two improvisers or between an improviser and someone from the audience – and spontaneously ramifies into a story of a momentary meeting.

Concept: Katarina Veselko, Mistral Majer, Olivija Grafenauer, Sara Šoukal, Teja Bitenc, Urša Strehar Benčina
Performance: Beatrix Brunschko, Eva Jus, Katarina Veselko, Mistral Majer, Olivija Grafenauer, Sara Šoukal, Teja Bitenc, Urša Strehar Benčina, Zeynep Özyurt Tarhan
Music: Hannu Risku
Lights: Borut Cajnko

Theater im Bahnhof (Austria): SERIES JUNKIES

Photo: Theater im Bahnhof’s archive

Thursday, November 24 at 9pm

The performance is in English and has an intermission.

Theater im Bahnhof is the largest independent theatre in Austria that has been awarded several times. The team of twenty artists has been creating brave, often radical performing arts productions and has successfully combined elements of improvisation and scripted theatre for over 20 years. They define themselves as contemporary folk theatre, which is located at the crossroads of tradition and pop culture.

Beatrix Brunschko and Jacob Banigan are fairly familiar with the addiction to various and numerous TV series. Performance Serial Junkies is their theatre reply to enjoyment provided by immersion into the fictional worlds, tension and escapism. In the performance they transform into producers who are peaching an idea for a new series with elements from true stories, local folklore, audacious twists and appealing secrets. The audience has the role of a co-creators and consumers at the same time. Warning! This performance can cause addiction.

Concept and performance: Beatrix Brunschko, Jacob Banigan
Music: Goran Završnik
Lights: Borut Cajnko

IGLU (Slovenia) Crossing Over: CHAIRS

Photo: IGLU’s archive

Thursday, November 24 at 7pm

The performance is in English.

IGLU – Improvisational Theatre of Ljubljana is Peter Frankl, Vid Sodnik and Juš Milčinski, who have joined their forces to create a versatile performing ensemble wishing to work professionally in the area of theatre improvisation. Despite their youth these are experienced improvisers who regularly perform in Ljubljana and around Slovenia and closely work with theatres in Germany, Switzerland and Canada, they have also introduced themselves to the audiences in the Netherlands, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, France, Belgium, Italy, Austria and the USA. In this festival’s version of the performance Chairs they will join forces with the Turkish ensemble Istanbulimpro.

The performance Chairs, which has been designed by members of the international collective Ohana – Vid Sodnik and Gerald Weber, looks for inspiration in the positional layout of the performing space. The rhythm and the content of scenes are dictated by the layout of stage furniture. Let’s imagine that stage props are not merely there as a requisite to help the content, but are its main creators. Let’s imagine that everyday objects are not only tools of our lives but their main determiners.

Concept: Gerald Weber, Vid Sodnik
Performance: Juš Milčinski, Koray Bülent Tarhan, Peter Frankl, Vid Sodnik, Zeynep Özyurt Tarhan
Music: Evren Gülseven
Lights: Borut Cajnko

International festival ensemble: TANDEM

Photo: Kristjan Kolar

Wednesday, November 23 at 8pm

The performance is in English and Slovene.

First festival evening is the evening of glancing over. Guest artists meet on stage and open the festival processes of creation, curious insights into the works of the other and deepening the relationships. We will witness six duets – some of them are already well versed ensembles, the others are completeley new combinations. They will play with the moment when two people gaze into each other’s eyes and explore what can develop from that. Sweet flirting and crossing over on all levels – between artists, between the audience and artists, between space, time and people.

Basic concept: Matthieu Loos
Hosts: Juš Milčinski, Maja Dekleva Lapajne
Performance: Beatrix Brunschko, Gregor Moder, Jacob Banigan, Katarina Veselko, Koray Bülent Tarhan, Rok Bohinc, Sara Šoukal, Tomaž Lapajne Dekleva, Vid Sodnik, Zeynep Özyurt Tarhan
Music: Evren Gülseven, Hannu Risku
Lights: Borut Cajnko

Rima Najdi: CONFESSION #1

Photo: Rima’s archive

24th November at 3pm at GT22

»Confession#1 an ongoing work on a lecture performance that aims to research the imaginaire around Arab women created through their attire. In this series I recycle material from a previous performance Dress ME how YOU like, wearing the clothes to travel to Lebanon from Berlin. Visit villages in the southern area of Lebanon pose next what became landmarks in 2006, make a costume party at a family dinner, then photoshop myself to some touristic destination in the Arab world. I kept a personal journal during the process. During the lecture I display the photos and read from the personal journal.”

Part of  Urban Heat LAB #5, SURVIVAL NARRATIVES: Socio-economic Power Structures

Rima Najdi is a performance artist currently based in Berlin. She works across disciplines including performance, video, installation. Much of the motivation in her work stems from the curiosity to research the production of propositions that challenge and occupy inbetween spaces: spaces that exist perhaps only between the self and the other, reality and fiction, physicality and emotion. She focuses on the body as a tool and as a map of experiences and identity politics. She is interested in the vulnerabilities of one’s body looking at gender politics, safety, mobility and representation. A research for an act, a statement, a photo, an art work that questions issues such as stereotypes, identity, gender, failure of language, borders and its representations. Her art practice tackles identity politics (see: Dress ME how YOU like, and GRAPHIC WARNING: It is not ME it is YOU) and the dynamics that govern frames and gazes (see: Who are they? Who are we? and Madame Bomba: The TNT project). It is not the representation of identities that her work seeks, it is the unearthing of the governing dynamics and strategies. Najdi has a Diploma in Dramatic Arts from High Arts Institute, Lebanese University, 2008, and an MA in Performance Studies from Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, 2011.

www.rimanajdi.com

Svetlana Slapšak: ESCAPISM, EVACUATIONISM, MICROCOMMUNISM OR MONASTERIES, ISLANDS, FORESTS: all the escapes from revolution (lecture)

Photo: archive Svetlane Slapšak

22nd November at 11.30 am at GT22 

Svetlana Slapšak’s realm of expertise, publishing and research is so vast, that – as Dijana Matković put it – it is admirable that it is mastered by only one person. Her areas of expertise include linguistics, antic studies, Balkan studies, gender studies … She has published numerous essays, translations, books and also – started more than 50 petitions. She has fought against death penalty, for peace, for human treatment of refugees, for women’s rights … She is also the current columnist of Maribor’s biggest daily – Večer. Svetlana Slapšak seems to embody the ideal of engaged intellectual who is not afraid to get her hands dirty – either with politics or with banal topics such as cabbage (she wrote a book on cabbage and sexuality) – but at the same time bases her activism and thought on thorough understanding of history and anthropology. Who best to speak about the future and survival than someone who knows about the history and human nature – either from anthropology or from Greek drama?

Part of  Urban Heat LAB #5, SURVIVAL NARRATIVES: Socio-economic Power Structures