Border line of MN Dance Company and Balkan Dance Project. An exciting dance dynamic that will not leave you indifferent!
Daliborka Podboj, Celje - Parada Plesa
The first cycle of the Celje Dance Festival has finished; it continues in autumn under the curatorial direction of dancer, choreographer and pedagogue Mojca Majcen.
The Celeia Institute, Celje, with the premiere of the dance diptych Borderline / Border Line, choreographed by Michal Rynia, Nastja Bremec Rynia and Igor Kirov, completed its first dance cycle, which started in October last year, and continues in autumn with new productions, according to the programme curator of the dance cycle Mojca Majcen. The first dance cycle was officially closed on the occasion of the World Dance Day on 29.4.2024 on the stage of the Slovenian People's Theatre Celje, in the production of MN Dance Company, Balkan Dance Project (as part of Mojca Majcen's author's project), Festival Velenje and Festival Danceproject Trieste, and in the co-production of GO! 2025 Nova Gorica - Gorizia, Zavod Celeia Celje, SLG Celje.
The dance diptych features dancers from the first permanent cross-border dance ensemble Nova Gorica, established last May in the framework of the European Capital of Culture GO!2025 Nova Gorica - Gorizia and as part of the project Bezmejno telo / Borderless Body, one of the core projects of ECOC 2025, and promoted by the MN Production Institute - MN Dane Company. Luka Vodopivec (Slovenia, Nova Gorica), Eri Nishibara (Japan), Pietro Di Salvo, Alessio Saccheri (Italy); they were accepted at an audition by MN Dance Company among 800 dancers from all over the world, with a contract until the end of 2024 and an option to extend until the end of 2025. The permanent cast also includes the artistic directors, choreographers and dancers Nastja Bremec Rynia and Michal Rynia, who are also performing this time in the project Border Line, and the lighting is designed by Matjaž Bajc, the technical director of the permanent dance ensemble Nova Gorica. The production of MN Dance Company also features dance students from dance academies as part of the Erasmus exchange programme and study placements. And so the second permanent dance ensemble in Slovenia was born, when the first one was founded by the En-Knap Institute: the En-Knap Group/ EKG.
The dance diptych Border Line brings together two solo dance performances Border by choreographer Igor Kirov, and Line by the choreographic duo Michal Rynia & Nastja Bremec Rynia. In both cases, a line of many possible crossings is drawn in the middle, when the crossings of interstate borders are subject to national laws and determinations of who and when can obtain a free border crossing. Whereas the Line represents that narrow dotted line of boundaries which man carries within himself, also acquires in society; when the boundary between good and evil is only an invisible thin line of perception, but a force important for human survival.
The dance project Border by choreographer Igor Kirov highlights the problem of border crossings, where on the one hand there is a desire to open borders, while on the other hand the opposite is happening, with the aim of closing or even demolishing them. The problem of borders is obviously an ever-present one; it is a universal problem that certainly runs throughout the history of human settlement, and it is a key motive for the 2000-year perceived conflicts, just as today there are battle manipulations, when people seek new places for their bare survival, and in the process become (unwanted) refugees. In the first scene of the first diptych, the world of confinement is clearly perceived as the light sifts through and shadows the crowd of people moving into the foreground, then standing in front of the `metallic' stage frames in the darkness of the night, or at the dusky dawn, as they stand silently and wait. ´Border / Border is a dedication to all those who...at the border, at the border, behind the border, between the borders, for the sake of the border and in spite of the border, have built a better and more beautiful world' ( they write about the project).
The choreography gives a clear enough insight into the situation at the border, perceived both in the shadowy light and the dark musical introduction (music: Henryk Górecky: Symphony No3. Op36 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs) 1. Lento-Sostenuto tranquillo ma cantabile). To the music, the crowd gathers, flows and waves from one side of the stage to the other, as if expectations, hopes and wishes are being woven around the room in the colourful costumes of the day (costume design: Anka Rener Kremžar). Every now and then a solo exclamation, a duet, a suffering female solo, a tercet of highs and lows, even a squeal of fear, emerges. The problem of border crossings, where on the one hand there is a desire to open borders, while on the other hand the opposite is happening, with the aim of closing or even demolishing them.
The problem of borders is obviously an ever-present one; it is a universal problem that certainly runs throughout the history of human settlement, and it is a key motive for the 2000-year perceived conflicts, just as today there are battle manipulations, when people seek new places for their bare survival, and in the process become (unwanted) refugees. In the first scene of the first diptych, the world of confinement is clearly perceived as the light sifts through and shadows the crowd of people moving into the foreground, then standing in front of the `metallic' stage frames in the darkness of the night, or at the dusky dawn, as they stand silently and wait. ´Border / Border is a dedication to all those who...at the border, at the border, behind the border, between the borders, for the sake of the border and in spite of the border, have built a better and more beautiful world' ( they write about the project). The choreography gives a clear enough insight into the situation at the border, even the passions rise up to be calmed again by the power of the crowd, captured and directed towards their utopia of existence. They also stretch and link their hands again and again, and a living wall expands alongside them right next to the border, sudden circuits also flow, so that soon afterwards and again everything would stand still.... Who also makes it to the other side at the very edge of the border between the condensed wire, scenic perception (set at the edges of the stage, set design by DNBN Works-Urh Ručigaj Roberts, set design by Maša Mazi s.p.).
The choreography of The Border flows in unison with the music, it is a flexible symphony which specifically cuts in, also delves into unendurable states of impasse that delineate and halt the flow of life; when painful harmonies subsequently resonate in the crowd, intolerance accumulates, settling on the stage with the nightfall, so that with the new dawn one can dare to embrace new expectations. The performance has started with excellence in the execution of the aforementioned composition of selected permanent dancers of NG, as well as international students from dance academies. In addition to the above-mentioned nine dancers, the performance features Michal Rynia & Nastja Bremec Rynia in the forefront, with the inclusion of Mojca Majcen (who did not perform at the premiere but will be part of the repetition in Velenje) and Luca Marchi.
The second part of the diptych Line, the choreographic and dance duet by Nastja Bremec Rynia and Michal Rynia (who also contributed to the costume design and scenography), focuses on the boundaries that one can set for themselves or that are simply reflected within us, stemming from personal physical, mental, emotional, and cognitive states in close connections with the external world that one simultaneously lives and experiences; which can hinder or even enhance the personal growth of each individual who finds themselves in sudden forms of life, as written in the theater program: 'It is a threshold that reflects the complexity and interdependence of our nature. The boundary between good and evil, between light and dark, free and unfree embodies the eternal struggle between opposing aspects of our personality and the world around us.' On the stage, hanging and lying light lines shine attractively, shining marks of new contemporary dance paths, which are dynamically built in the choreographies and productions of the MN Dance Company around the hot contemporary themes of the choreographic and dance duo Michal Rynia & Nastja Bremec Rynia. This time, a shining and inviting boundary line is placed in the scenic foreground, around which individuals stumble or try to overcome it, suggestively and vividly portrayed by the young girl Eri, as she tries to touchingly perceive the beyond the light limits with her toe fingers, someone already rushes to her actions.
The dance dynamics are constantly built on the excesses of rich contemporary dance, also vividly narrative vocabulary, reaching this time for physical limitations that the group could definitively overcome in the original choreographic setting, but personal directions come to the forefront, sparking ego battles of possession, craving for pleasures and dominance, especially highlighted by the male quartet of physical strengths and dramatic excesses, led by Michal Rynia, always prominently featuring Luka Vodopivec.
Women are not just figures on this dance chessboard of dominance but queens and warriors, where Nastja always finds her way out or wins the laurel, even in her own despair and pain, which quickly fades on stage and within the group. The dancers, these fighters for their ego pulse, are dressed in black modern costumes, with black aprons or half-skirts prominently visible, modernly illustrated clothing of martial arts practitioners, especially marked by the central backline, upright postures, and orientations. The choreography also follows many visual paintings, designed on moments or situations of diverse interpersonal relationships, both group and solo, in a wide range of duets, surrounded by a sound scene of rhythm and silence, as the group huddles together and remains silent. The choreography of Line completely captivates the viewer in its dance dynamics, just like the diptych Border - Line entirely does. Unfortunately, the audience of that evening did not fill the seats; perhaps in this direction, it will be necessary to cross the threshold of the inertia of the fast-paced present time.
The dance diptych Border - Line was ceremoniously presented on the International World Dance Day. Mojca Majcen particularly marked this day of dance celebration and memories on the stage of SLG Celje with the Manifesto for a Better World, placing it between the two dance performances. The conceptual design of the Manifesto was choreographically shaped and performed by the Slovenian from Trieste, Daša Grgič, and the event on stage was accompanied by a text inspired by Charlie Chaplin's movie "The Great Dictator," in Nikla Petruška Panizon's interpretation.
The Manifest begins with the dancer entering the stage, dressed in the gray of a men's suit and tie around a white shirt, with pumps in high narrow boots reminiscent of the famous movie era. Daša vividly reflects the pose of the film Dictator with her precise facial expressions and gaze when her narrative symbolism vibrates in terms of pantomime, in short and choppy amplitudes of movement minimalism, and in dance expression in line with the text. It is an innovative choreographic surprise that also thrilled the audience. The theater booklet announces: "Manifest for a better world, for a world without borders that strives to transform society and our interpersonal relationships. A manifesto that builds a world where everyone has the freedom of movement and existence, a manifesto for a better collective tomorrow."
And in the dance diptych Border - Line, international artistic collaboration manifests on broad horizons, which can contribute to a better collective tomorrow, a collaboration that has been producing for years by both MN Company and Balkan Dance Project, contributing to the longstanding artistic collaboration with the Velenje Festival to the newly established Celje Dance Cycle. Also, the fact that the cities along the border invisible line of two countries (Slovenia-Italy): Nova Gorica – Gorica are named European Capital of Culture 2025, along with everything that has united them during this time to achieve such a resonant and honorable European designation.
Since the proclamation of Nova Gorica and Gorica as the European Capital of Culture 2025, and with selected dancers from the first permanent cross-border dance ensemble Nova Gorica, choreographers, educators, and artistic dance couple Michal Rynia & Nastja Bremec Rynia have created several performances in collaboration with foreign choreographers. Last June, Borderless Triptych presented the original performance "To the Moon and Back" with two choreographies by Italian authors: Luca Signoretti and Francesco Gammino and one by Michal and Nastja. In October, they premiered their "Distance," followed by this year's premiere of the diptych "Border - Line" with guest choreographer Igor Kirov, meaning that they conceived three full-length dance premieres in less than a year, also guest-starring on other stages.
On May 9th, they participated in the state celebration of the 20th anniversary of Slovenia's accession to the EU, held in Nova Gorica and directed by Neda Rusjan Bric. This was followed by a full renovation of their "Line" under the new title "Flights," premiering on June 17th at this year's Adriatic Dance Festival in Budva. In October, they will present it at the international contemporary dance festival VisaVi at the NG Theater. By the end of the year, they plan to premiere a new dance performance titled "Prometheus." In addition to all this, they are visibly active in the creation of dance film productions and in collaborating on festivals and other events in Slovenia and abroad as part of the various events of Go!2025.
