In the performance ‹OTTETTO (8 Swings for His Highness)›, Igor Stravinsky's exceptional 16-minute composition ‹Octet› from 1923 is broken down into its individual parts by Iztok Kovač. At the time of its creation ‹Octet› was generally considered to be a bad joke, but from a contemporary perspective, it is seen as ground-breaking and heralds the beginning of a new era. Kovač investigates the composition from different angles and analyses the relationships of the participating artists. He discovers new ways to approach this work and reassembles the individual pieces into a performance consisting of dance, music and acting. The movements of the dancers are based on the analysis of the voices of the individual instruments. It is quite obvious that ‹Octet› is still a musical work of great importance and timeless quality. Five dancers, eight musicians, the conductor Živa Ploj Peršuh and three visual artists will present the impressive result.
The national and international award-winning Slovenian choreographer, teacher and dancer Iztok Kovač has been one of the most influential Eastern European choreographers since the 1990s. His ability enabled him to create and develop contemporary dance from Slovenia in the European cultural landscape from practically nothing. The dance ensemble EnKnapGroup, founded in 2007 by EN-KNAP Production and Iztok Kovač, is the only professional ensemble for contemporary dance in Slovenia.
Concept, choreography: Iztok Kovač
EnKnapGroup: Luke Thomas Dunne, Ida Hellsten, Bence Mezei, Ana Štefanec, Tamás Tuza
Music: Igor Stravinsky, Octet, 1923
Conductor: Živa Ploj Peršuh
Musicans - Festine Ensemble:
Kaja Lešnjak (Flute)
Matic Kuder (Clarinet)
Arpad Balazs Piri (Bassoon 1)
Miha Petkovšek (Bassoon 2)
Franc Kosem (Trumpet 1)
Leon Pokeržnik (Trumpet 2)
Mihael Šuler (Trombone 1)
Luka Logar (Trombone 2)
Light Design: Jaka Šimenc
Set Design: Jaka Šimenc, Komposter, Iztok Kovač
Costume Design: Valter Kobal
Musical Consultant: Gregor Pompe
Narration: Nada Vodušek, Faris Endris Rahoma (to credit for performances in German)
Technical Support: Luka Curk, Omar Ismail
Photographs: Andrej Lamut, Miha Fras
Executive Producer: Karmen Keržar
Production: EN-KNAP Productions
Partner: Društvo ustvarjalcev sodobne slovenske kulture - Delavnica
Created with the financial support of the City of Ljubljana - Department of Culture, and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.
WORKSHOPS EnKnapGroup:
We 30.10., 12.15 h, Workshop, akar, Bern, for dancers 50+
Mo 11.11., 18.00 h, Workshop, Theater Chur
We 13.11., 15.45 h, Workshop, Kaserne Basel
Duration: 60 minutes (no break)
