The State of Things ( Stanje stvari )

The State of Things is a new project by Nina Meško in
collaboration with Tanja Lazetić.The environment of professional morning dance classes at Ljubljana Dance
Theatre will be the stage for television screens which will play a series of
video interviews with Slovenian dance producers, choreographers and
theoreticians. The authors are interested in their relationship towards their
own work, and towards contemporary dance art in Slovenia and abroad; they are
also interested in their criteria and evaluation of dance performances. The
goal of the interviews is to try and acquaint the viewer with the position of
contemporary dance within contemporary society, the arts, and the production
system. Another thing the project hopes to tackle is establishng the position
of the artist towards his or her own creations. The title of the project is taken
from Wim Wenders' film Der Stand der Dinge, which is about the
director's reflections on the film industry and the position of the artist
within. The State of Things is also about the intensive establishment of
reflection, as this is a project questioning the conditions and contexts of its
own origin.
The State of Things is a stage work with a high level of reflection of
one's own media, which enables viewers insight into those key segments of
contemporary dance practice which remain hidden in the case of most projects.

We discussed the state of modern dance with five involved
persons: Uršula Cetinski, Matjaž Faric, Nevenka Koprivšek, Mala Kline and Emil
Hrvatin talk about their work, about the criteria and evaluation of artistic
creativity, and point out some crucial problems.

Help us build a picture that will be as precise as possible. Write to: nina.mesko@guest.arnes.si
or tanja.lazetic@guest.arnes.si;
and follow the results at the address http://www.cityofwomen.org/archive/2004/mesko_lazetic.htm.

"I think that the main problem of the Slovene modern
dance is that creators of dance shows flirt too often with the audience, too
often they think about how audiences or critics will receive them and because
of that shows often stay on the level of quality entertainment or amusement.
While shows with a deeper, thoughtful content or a deeper concept are rare in
Slovenia."
Uršula Cetinski, producer

"Once in a while a choreographer must be tested with
several dancers. Only when one works with several dancers one can verify how
space functions - when one gets the opportunity of a big space. And what is
also true is that nowadays modern dance is pushed away into small spaces. If we
take a look at where shows take place… Dance needs space. In an area of five
per seven metres you cannot make an ambitious project. Not even a solo."
Matjaz Farič, choreographer

"Over the last fifteen years some groups have had
the opportunity to make it to the top of world dancing, but none of them can be
considered… There are a couple of them that are in fact better middle class -
they tour a lot, they are prominent at good festivals, but unfortunately not in
a continuous manner. And that is because there is no background to support
continuous and serious work."
Nevenka Koprivšek, producer

"At many a show I would say to myself: If someone
who knew nothing about modern dance came to watch this, they would never come
again to see something like that: "This is modern dance, then? It doesn't
interest me!" Many times there was 'something like that'. Because it is so
hermetic, so closed."
Mala Kline, choreographer and dancer

"I think the problem of modern art is that it
actually seeks an answer to the question how to operate within conditions where
it is protected, where it is not threatened by the danger that it would not exist…
Of course, a great deal of interesting art has already been done on that
subject - and I think that dance is part of that story too…"
Emil Hrvatin, theatre director and theoretician

Avant-premiere of video-dance installation
Performed by: Valentina Čabro
Bara Kolenc, Mojca Žorž, Ana Hribar, Irena Tomažin, Rosana Hribar, Teja Reba,
Mateja Rebolj, Igor Sviderski, Dejan Srhoj, Leja Jurešič in Urša Urbančič.

Production and organisation: Association City of Women
In co-operation with: Plesni Teater Ljubljana