4-24 September 2023 Residency in Rijeka, Croatia. Topic: SUSTAINABILITY
The three-week Rijeka residency explored one of today's burning issues - SUSTAINABILITY - from the perspective of 12 participants - dance artists, curators and producers working in the performing arts from four countries: Georgia, Italy, Poland and Croatia.
In the collective reflection on the theme of SUSTAINABILITY, the residency, with the help of Croatian coordinators, was designed so that the work would take place in three different contexts: - in the sea, - in the forest, - in a recycling yard, - in a dance studio.
Working in the sea was particularly inspiring as Rijeka is a major Adriatic port. Participants explored the somatic relationship between the body and seawater, the problem of floating plastic and its impact on the marine ecosystem. The warm-up dance training in pairs, led by participant and Croatian dance artist Jasna Čižmek Tarbuk, was interesting, focusing on the supportive anti-gravity and healing power of seawater with the help of a partner. From this part of the residency, which took place in the first week, the participants created an underwater film by the writers Selena Beram and Nino Khositashvili Xosilita with the performer Nataša Pavlov, which was used in the project presentations in the work of Jasna Čižmek Tarbuk, as well as in the work of the Polish participant Kamil Wawrzuta, whose solo work was based on the dying fish as a victim of digging in toxins released by plastic waste that ends up in the sea due to carelessness.
In the second week, the context in which the participants were placed was a visit to the source of the Rječina River, led by Rijeka-based visual artist Melita Sorola Staničić, whose practice "Aimless Wanderings", which includes walking, somatic observation of the relationship between the body and nature, as well as painting on location, was an introduction to experiencing the context of SUSTAINABILITY in a forest environment.
An interesting video as well as artworks and the use of wood from nature from this part of the Rijeka residency could be seen in the poetic works of the participants: Natia Bunturi, Giulia Roversi and Nataša Pavlov.
The visit to the recycling yard prompted all of us to really connect with the issues of garbage accumulation and CO2 emissions that humanity emits, threatening plant and animal species as well as our own survival on our planet.
SUSTAINABILITY was also questioned in the dance studio in the form of reflecting on the personal sustainability of one's own body, consciousness and well-being, which is also threatened by problematic policies, consumerism and other practices that disrupt the psycho-physical health of individuals and communities, as well as the mind-body connection through somatic practices that have taken root in dance and performing arts such as BMC, Feldenkrais, Laban Bartenieff, etc.
In the final presentation, an interesting solo questioning of personal SUSTAINABILITY could be witnessed in the solo of the Polish dance artist, Aleksandra Konieczna.
At the well-attended presentation of the works created during the residency as part of the TRANZIT Dance and Contemporary Theatre Festival, which was performed on the stage of the Croatian Cultural Centre in Rijeka, interesting reflections and experiences on how to think about SUSTAINABILITY in the future with the aim of SAVING THE PLANET AND LIFE ON IT were heard in conversation with the audience over two evenings, which was a kind of message of the DTA residency in Rijeka.
Another important outcome of the residency in Rijeka was the networking of the international group of participants, both among themselves and with organisations and individuals in the local community, and the planning of future collaborations. Several participants made contact during the residency and agreed to work on projects with artists from Rijeka.
By Žak Branko Valenta,
Coordinator of the residency in Croatia, organised by the TRAFIK Dance/Theatre Company
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