Deborah Pearson: HISTORY, HISTORY, HISTORY (UK)

Deborah Pearson is a UK-based and Canadian born artist; writer, performer, and curator with a PhD in narrative in contemporary performance. She is also a member of the collective Forest Fringe which organized the festival of the same name. The diversity of her positions and roles in theatre, and at the same time her commitment to constantly question her position, as well as position of other artists and art in general, gives her an extremely diverse spectrum of approaches to theatre.

History, history, history is a performance about different layers of a certain period: the history of Deborah’s family, the intimate history of the family through the words of three generations of women, the history through a work of art – a film featuring Deborah’s grandfather – and a layer of historical events. On October 23 1956, student demonstrations sparked the Hungarian Revolution, a rebellion against the Communist rule and the Soviet forces, which was led from Corvin Cinema. A performance about the fact that every historical event has its face, and every face has its history.

Author: Deborah Pearson
Dramaturgy: Daniel Kitson
Artistic advisors: Tania El Khoury, Laura Danneqin
The project was developed with the assistance of: National Theatre Studio
Produced by: A House on Fire, Theatre Garonne, BIT Teatergarasjen

Foto: Paul Blakemore

The performance is in English with Slovene subtitles.

90 minutes

20th International festival MLADI LEVI 2017

This year we’re celebrating the 20th edition of the International Festival Mladi levi. When, some twenty years ago, we were considering a new international festival of theatre and dance, we probably didn’t imagine that the festival would ever become this old, and even less that we would stay together as a team for so long. In fact, milestone anniversaries are interesting only insofar as they remind us of the fact that there was once a beginning and that there is continuity. They remind us that we had dreamt about something, and that we have never given up on this dream. What were we dreaming about? We were dreaming about an international festival with contemporaneity at the heart of the action, the driving force of change. About the possibility that we would not have to visit foreign cities to see the shows that are currently trending, but would be able to bring them here. We were dreaming of a festival that foreign artists would love to come to and share their dreams and explorations, and show us how they see and experience the world, both personally and socially.
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John Kelly: TIME NO LINE (US) – work in progress

John Kelly is a visual artist, director, dancer, and performer – a legend of the New York art scene with a forty-year career and numerous awards. Time no line is a solo performance which has been developing for quite some time and will premiere next spring in New York. It is about the author’s account of himself and of the four decades of his creative career – especially of the tragedy that struck the scene in the form of the AIDS epidemic. Kelly’s performances are often characterized by intimate dealings with major topics. This one is based on the disclosure of the ultimate intimacy – author’s personal journals.

In Houllebecq’s Submission it says that even in our deepest and most lasting friendships, we never speak as honestly as when we are faced with an empty sheet of paper and we are addressing a reader we do not know. During his 40 years of personal journal writing, Kelly has been regularly facing sincerity in front of an empty page, and finally transferred this sincerity to the stage. David Hockney, however, says that AIDS has changed the world. If all those people who died of AIDS were still alive, the world would definitely be a different place, he claims. And maybe Time No Line offers an idea of what the world would be like if it weren’t for premature demise of an entire generation of artists. As a survivor, Kelly can report on these events, on his artistic journey, and on the ways his career has changed the world.

Text, movement, video design, performance: John Kelly
Video design: CultureHub
Movement dramaturgy: Jon Kinzel
Music: Thomas Adès, Charles Aznavour, Hildur Guðnadóttir, George Frideric Handel, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Zoë Keating, Gina Leishman, Joni Mitchell, Henry Purcell, Ken Ueno
Archival Film Sequences: Me O Ye Gods (1992) in/and Painting on Glass (1984), avtor/by Anthony Chase
On video: Hucklefaery
Video technician: Yarie Vazquez
Photos: Steven Menendez, Dona Ann McAdams, Arthur Lambert

The performance has been developed through residencies at: Abrons Arts Center, MASS MoCA, Gibney Dance In Process (DiP) Program, Dixon Place, Stara mestna elektrarna – Elektro Ljubljana, La MaMa, CultureHub
Touring in Ljubljana: Fiona Templeton, The Relationship
Supported by: Good Works Foundation, Marta Heflin Foundation, The Persephone Gift
Guest performance made possible by: Trust for Mutual Understanding
Translation to Slovene: Ana Radović

The performance is in English with Slovene surtitles.

45 minutes

Milo Rau/IIPM/CAMPO: FIVE EASY PIECES (CH, BE)

Milo Rau and the cycle of Campo projects, in which established directors create performances for adults with children as performers, have already been guests of the Mladi levi festival: Hate Radio and The Moscow Trials by Milo Rau, Next Day by Phillippe Quesne, and Before Your Very Eyes by Gob Squad. For the political‑documentary‑theatre foundation of his performance Five Easy Pieces (the title alludes to a series of five four‑hands pieces written by Igor Stravinsky as a learning material for his children), Milo Rau, a veteran of documentary and politically engaged theatre who likes to challenge taboos, chose the case of Marc Dutroux, Belgian murderer and child molester.
The performance is moving on a slippery slope of the scandalous case that shook the nation and provoked mass protests; and yet it avoids moralizing, pathos, and simplifying. Milo Rau is not satisfied with showing the monstrosity of Dutroux – he is presented more as a symptom of the political situation, thus also becoming a painful metaphor of Belgium and its colonialism. He is also not satisfied with children as the bearers of truth, innocence, or a better future. Instead, he prefers to explore with them the ontological and existential questions of theatre and life: crime, death, guilt, freedom … The only adult on stage is actually the one who is creating an alienating effect which once again brings out their inner child from the moments when children recreate, in the manner of psychological realism, situations of different aspects of Dutroux’s case. We are watching the performance without tears, and therefore without catharsis – perhaps the sole liberating aspect being that children exist.

Concept, text and direction: Milo Rau
Text and performance: Rachel Dedain, Aimone De Zordo, Fons Dumont, Arno John Keys, Maurice Leerman, Pepijn Loobuyck, Willem Loobuyck, Blanche Ghyssaert, Polly Persyn, Lucia Redondo Peter Seynaeve, Pepijn Siddiki, Elle Liza Tayou, Winne Vanacker, Hendrik Van Doorn & Eva Luna Van Hijfte (2 casts of 8 performers)
Performance film: Sara De Bosschere, Pieter-Jan De Wyngaert, Johan Leysen, Peter Seynaeve, Jan Steen, Ans Van den Eede, Hendrik Van Doorn, Annabelle Van Nieuwenhuyse
Dramaturgy: Stefan Bläske
Direction assistant and performance coach: Peter Seynaeve
Child care and production assistant: Ted Oonk
Research: Mirjam Knapp,  Dries Douibi
Set and costume design: Anton Lukas
Produced by: CAMPO, IIPM
Co-produced by: Kunstenfestivaldesarts Brussels 2016, Münchner Kammerspiele, La Bâtie – Festival de Genève, Kaserne Basel, Gessnerallee Zürich, Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA), SICK! Festival UK, Sophiensaele Berlin & Le phénix scène nationale Valenciennes pôle européen de création
Translation to Slovene: Ajda Šoštarič

Foto: Phile Deprez

The performance is in Flemish with Slovene and English surtitles.

100 minutes

Tania El Khoury: AS FAR AS MY FINGERTIPS TAKE ME (LB,UK, PS)

August 19, August 20 and August 22
from 6.00 pm until 8.00 pm and from 10.00 pm until midnight, every 15 minutes
August 21
from 6.00 pm until 8.00 pm and from 9.00 until 11.pm, every 15 minutes

Tania El Khoury works in Beirut and London, creating interactive installations and performances in which the audience is an active collaborator. She is currently finishing a PhD on the political potential of interactivity. She particularly looks at live art after the Arab uprisings. Tania is a co-founder of the urban research and live art collective Dictaphone Group.
In As Far As My Fingertips Take Me, Tania commissioned artist Basel Zaraa to write a rap song inspired by his family’s history of displacement. During this One to One piece, Basel and one audience member will engage in a conversation through touch and sound.
We may be touched by the tragic fate of people caught in wars or displaced by them, but this “touch” remains a metaphor. These stories usually touch us through the medium of screens and print. But what if one story touched us for real, physically? If we reach out to Basel, do we allow ourselves to be touched at a deeper level? Certainly, we will not be able to immediately let go of this story. It stays with us, at least until we wash it away. In this piece, the artists critically reproduce an accurate situation: refugees are here, yet so far away.

Performance by: Tania El Khoury
Devised with and performed by: Basel Zaraa
Song by: Basel Zaraa (vocals, bass and keyboard), with Emily Churchill Zaraa (vocals), Pete Churchill (music production) and Katie Stevens (flute and clarinet)
Commissioned by: On the Move LIFT 2016 in partnership with Royal Court Theatre

Foto: Tania El Khoury

Reservation is mandatory.

Performance is in English.

15 minutes

Ivana Müller: PARTITUUR (FR, HR)

With her fourth appearance at the festival, we can really call Ivana Müller a Mladi levi artist. Every time, she succeeds in preserving her poetics, which is based on a dance‑theatre approach with a good sense of different narratives and humor, and with sophisticated ideas that often begin with a single thought, such as »how heavy are my thoughts«. At the same time, she is constantly reinventing herself and does not repeat. This time, she is visiting with a show for children.
The title of the play is suggestive, because the performance is indeed a score, though not a musical one. Using audio instructions, it guides the participating children (and occasionally an adult or two) through performing and at the same time watching the performance that they are creating themselves according to the »musical score«. All leitmotifs of children’s social games, which are almost absent from today’s courtyards, resonate in the play, as well as the emergence of certain statuses within groups; when groups are being formed, when common interests are being found, when it is necessary to make decisions: what are we, where do we belong and who is with us, whether we are scared of monsters or do not believe in them, what is our attitude towards the world – humor, cooperation, observation?

Author: Ivana Müller
In collaboration with: Jefta van Dinther, Sarah van Lamsweerde, Martin Kaffarnik
Design of the monster costume: Liza Witte
Monster: Teja Bitenc
Synchronization to Slovene: Daša Dobršek, Katarina Stegnar, Branko Jordan
Translation: Ana Radović
Performance coordinators: Albane Aubry, Sarah van Lamsweerde
Technicians on tour: Martin Kaffarnik, Ludovic Rivière, Jérémie Sananes
Local producer: Mojca Jug
Produced by: I’M’COMPANY (Matthieu Bajolet & Gerco de Vroeg)
Co-produced by: Tweetakt Festival
Supported by: Performing Arts Fund Netherlands
I’M’ COMPANY is supported by: DRAC Ile-de-France, Ministry of culture and communication

Foto: Liesbeth Bernaerts

Performance is in Slovene. For children 7+.

30 minutes

Nature Theater of Oklahoma & EnKnapGroup: PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS (US, SI)

EnKnapGroup is currently the only Slovenian permanent contemporary dance ensemble. It is skillfully led by the artistic director Iztok Kovač, a world‑renowned dancer, choreographer and founder of the EN‑KNAP Institute, who is shaping a topnotch collective by constantly choosing new choreographers and directors, making EnKnapGroup an ensemble capable of tackling not only dancing, but also acting and directing challenges. For the performance Pursuit of Happiness, the collective collaborated with Nature Theater of Oklahoma, the New York artistic duo Kelly Copper and Pavol Liška. Their works (for example, Life and Times cycle) are an interweaving of theatrical boldness, and at the same time communicativeness, capable of operating in different layers – engaged, but at the same time with humor.

Pursuit of Happiness almost feels like a Spaghetti Western: iconography of the Wild West, intense situations, long stares, cowboy dance, Morricone‑style music, a sea of corpses, and an endless pursuit for a single goal that drives the performance. It is a worn‑out saying that art is a mirror to society; in Pursuit of Happiness, the authors looked deep into the mirror and stuck their tongue out at it. Of course, problems of society that is constantly chasing goods, success, progress at the expense of others and itself are apparent in the performance, but more entertaining, full of taunting and depth, is an aspect of the play where it holds a mirror up to the art itself. The imperative of the American Dream is definitely changing the world, but can we say the same for art?

Authors: Pavol Liška, Kelly Copper
Performing: EnKnapGroup: Luke Thomas Dunne, Ida Hellsten, Bence Mezei, Ana Štefanec, Jeffrey Schoenaers, Lada Petrovski Ternovšek
Lighting design: Luka Curk
Costume design: Katarina Škaper
Making of costumes: Atelje d.o.o.
Rehearsals director: Tanja Skok
Translation of text: Stojan Pelko
Techical director: Luka Curk
Technical crew leader: Jaka Šimenc
Technicians: Leon Curk, Luka Curk, Gal Škrjanec Skaberne, Omar Ismail, Hotimir Knific, Aleksander Plut, Špela Škulj
Public relations: Nina Smerkol
Marketing: Goran Pakozdi
Executive producer: Karmen Keržar
Production manager: Marjeta Lavrič
Produced by: Zavod EN-KNAP
Co-produced by: Théâtre de la Ville, steirischer herbst
Supported by: Embassy of the United States in Slovenia

Foto: Andrej Lamut

Performance is in English with Slovene surtitles.

115 minutes

20th international festival MLADI LEVI

We are happy to invite you to the international festival Mladi levi 2017 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Join us in late summer for the 20th edition of the festival. Below please find the preliminary program; the final program will be available in the following weeks.

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Maria Lucia Cruz Correia: COMMON DREAMS (PT, BE) – prolongued!

Photo: Nada Žgank

UPCOMING: Saturday, September 3rd  and Sunday, September 4th, 16.00 – 18.00 (every 30 min); Tuesday, September 6th till Friday,  September 9th , od 16.00- 19.00 (every 30 min)

Saturday,  August 20th, 3.00pm – 19.30pm(every 30 min)
Sunday, August 21st , 3.00pm – 19.30pm (every 30 min)
Pedaling on the river Ljubljanica (more…)

OPENING OF THE FESTIVAL MLADI LEVI 2016

Friday, August 19th at 8.00 pm
The Old Power Station – Elektro Ljubljana 

You are kindly invited to join us on 19th august at 20.00 hours in Stara mestna elektrarna – Elektro Ljubljana, for the opening of the International festival Mladi levi 2016!

We’re starting the festival with the performance Night of the Moles (Welcome to Caveland!) by acclaimed French director Philippe Quesne. The play on the lives of humongous moles is a fable without a moral, an allegory of life itself, in itself the most interesting of stories.

Afterwards, at 21.30 on the platform behind the Old Power Station,the young-lion dance is unravelling for everyone to attend. This year, music delights will be served by DJ Bakto (Tetkine radosti) and DJ Udo Brenner (Zeleno sonce). While tasty morsels are composed by dazzling chef Primož Dolničar alongside ladies from the Daytime Activity Centre for the Elderly.

More about the programme here.