The 36th Spring Dance School in Maribor

Maribor, April 24 – 27, 2021

WORKSHOPS AND TEACHERS

CONTEMPORARY BALLET I & II – TINA (MARTINA) DOBAJ

CONTEMPORARY BALLET I & II

Tina's contemporary ballet is a combination of stylized classical ballet with the softness of modern dance, different dynamics, power, sharpness, and volume of movement.
Contemporary ballet  is a workshop tailored to the needs of the contemporary dancer and looks for parallels to the mechanisms in contemporary dance directions. The introductory part includes Pilates and floor barre exercises. The bar exercises are set through the understanding and proper use of anatomy (body placement) through ballet exercises, foot use, and extensions. Middle exercises cover coordination, transitions, space integration, and elevation dynamics. The final part is followed by exercises for strength and stabilization of the body on the ground.
Ballet fusion is suitable for all dancers, with more and less dance experience.

TINA (MARTINA) DOBAJ, dancer, choreographer, dance pedagogue,  graduated from the renowned dance academy P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels. After finishing her studies she was accepted into the professional group ROSAS led by the famous Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker for the performance Drumming, soon followed by the engagement in the performance The Vile Parody of Address by the choreographer William Forsythe.
After her return to Slovenia, she began teaching professional classes in Ljubljana and at the National Theatre in Maribor, while keeping in touch with Brussels, leading different trainings and workshops there. She also taught at the High School for contemporary dance - SVŠGL in Ljubljana, where she also works today as a contemporary dance and ballet teacher. She was also involved in the preparation of the dance curriculum for the art college in Ljubljana.
Since 2014 she also worked as a pedagogue and choreographer at high school Ptuj, where she helped establish the »Musical« department. She received two national dance awards called "Povodni mož" for her debutant choreography piece »Cesta« (»The Road«) and München festival award for her author piece Geiko (2004), followed by two more shows produced by Flota production - Ring in Kore wa tada no sen desu (2006 in 2007). Tina also collaborated with the renowned Slovene choir leader and conductor Karmina Šilec, producing very successful (and often-copied) choir choreographies for Carmina Slovenica's performances of Adiemus (2003) and CS LIGHT (2007). She collaborated with Slovene dancer Gregor Kamnikar in two very creative dance pieces "Odprto od do" and "Kapital". The latter was invited to the Brisbane festival in Australia (2011), where they led workshops at Queensland University and integrated students into the show.
In April 2013 she taught classes at New Jersey-based dance school MADLOM of choreographer Maja Milenović Workman, with whom she later collaborated as a dancer in her piece "Namišljena resnica - Virtual truth" premiered in September 2013 at »Stara elektrarna« in Ljubljana. In the same year, she also collaborated in improvisation projects in New York, performing with jazz legends Reggie Workman and Ken Vandermark, under the direction of Maja Milenovič Workman.
Since February 2014 she created performances as LaMuG-Zi performance collective, joined by a musician Andrej Hrvatin. Tina now teaches her classes with corepetitor Andrej Hrvatin in Slovenia and abroad.
In 2016, she carried out the project M - Touch in the production of the Federation and Silhouette with the financial assistance of the Municipality of Maribor in the Minority Church. She presented her work also in Choreographic international collaboration in Udine in 2018 and get a prize for choreography Silhouette. She taught Einstein the Yoseida Shiatsu
Tina is also trained in Shaolin and Wudan Kung fu and she is teaching Qi gong and she works also as a shiatsu therapist.
Tina is holding the professional classes at the National Ballet Company in Theatres in Slovenia, Austria, and Croatia and she teaches also contemporary technics at the Conservatory of Ballet in Maribor at the moment. In 2019, she successfully premiered the dance performance Bardo - Spaces of Emptiness, with dancer Evin Hadžialjević and musician Damaris Potočnik.

YOGA & CONTEMPORARY DANCE II – MAJA KALAFATIĆ

YOGA

Each class will have its own theme, so in four days we will focus on the hips, back (backbends), arms and inversions (inverted positions). Through awareness-raising exercises, working in pairs and assisting each other we will aim to stabilize the body, as well to open and strengthen muscle tissue. We will enjoy dynamic sequences as well insights into individual positions.

CONTEMPORARY DANCE II

The first part of the class aims to raise awareness of the body through the techniques of contemporary dance and somatics. We will work on the articulation of the body and the relation towards the space in and out of the body. Part of the class is structured and composed of floor work vocabulary, release techniques and somatic principles. We will focus on different sequences through which we will work on the quality of fluidity. Particular emphasis is on the musicality and performance of the dance / movement material. The second part of the class focuses on acquiring tools that we use during improvisation. It will be guided research consisting of tasks and games.

foto Miha Fras

MAJA KALAFATIĆ (1984, Celje) is a dancer, choreographer, teacher and yoga teacher who lives and works between Ljubljana and Belgrade. She graduated from SEAD (Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance) in 2006 and received her Master's Degree in Hochschule für Musik und Tanz, K6In: HfMT in Dance Dissemination in 2015.
She is currently a PhD student at FMK (Faculty of Media and Communication in Belgrade), in the field of transdisciplinary art and media. Her dissertation is problematizing the concept of skill in contemporary performing arts.
Her practice combines theoretical and practical grounds and includes movement exploration, choreography, facilitating workshops (contemporary dance, somatic practice, social choreography, activism, yoga), and writing about dance. She works as a self-employed in the culture.
http://ski.emanat.si/maja-kalafatic/

FOLLOW THE FLOW  I & II – URŠA RUPNIK

foto: Drago Videmšek

FOLLOW THE FLOW I & II

Urša is teaching a synthesis of contemporary and modern dance techniques, enriched with her own dance experiences and movement principles. Her work is mostly based on nearly ten years of experience as an assistant of a prominent dancer, choreographer, and dance pedagogue Joe Alegado (USA). His method – Alegado Movement Language – is characterized by the use of hands as inspiration and initiation of a movement language, which searches to connect with energy sources within the body as it projects outward into space.
Urša starts her classes with a simple, but dynamic warm-up of an entire body through somatic work in couples, groups, or individually. The warm-up is followed by structured floor work, locomotor phrases within the vertical line, and spatial combinations, which are upgraded into a final dance composition or choreography.
The focus of Urša’s classes is on positioning and movement of the spine and on the complexity of hands, arms, legs, and torso coordination. She pays close attention to the softness and fluidity of the movement, fluid transitions between the vertical and horizontal levels, and expressive interpretation of dance material. In this workshop, Urša invites you to catch a wave of fluidity and set out on a dynamic journey through space and time.

foto: Drago Videmšek

URŠA RUPNIK, has a B.Sc. degree in Cultural Studies and a B.A. degree in Dance and Choreography. As a freelance dancer, she collaborates with prominent Slovenian choreographers (eg. Rosana Hribar, Gregor Luštek, Matjaž Farič, Maša Kagao Knez ...) and other artists. As a member of dance collective Frankies (Benko-Jamnikar-Križič-Rupnik), she works on mostly site specific based dance projects and her own dance performances. Recently, she has collaborated with Liza Šimenc in their latest project Medusa, which has been presented to the audience in Belgrade – Serbia, Berlin – Germany, Ljubljana – Slovenia and Tübingen – Germany and is an ongoing project.
For a last decade, she has been working as a workshop and choreography assistant to the prominent American dancer, choreographer and pedagogue Joe Alegado (also at Vienna International Dance Festival ImPulsTanz from 2011 on) and has been a member of Jalegado Dance Company, based in Prague – Czech Republic. Based on the method Shifting Roots – Alegado Movement Language, she teaches classes, lectures and workshops in Slovenia and abroad (Croatia, Austria, Serbia, North Macedonia ...). Urša is an artistic director of Ursus Dancers collective, based in Ljubljana – Slovenia. As a choreographer and dance pedagogue, she collaborates with University of Ljubljana – Faculty of Education, Conservatory of Music and Ballet Ljubljana – Ballet College, Alma Mater Europaea – Academy of Dance Ljubljana, recently she has been a guest professor at Belgrade Dance Institute in Serbia and Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia.
She is the recipient of the Meta Vidmar Charter (2012), awarded by the Public Fund of the Republic of Slovenia for achievements in the field of contemporary dance art, and the recipient of the Silver Award of the Association of Cultural Societies Ljubljana (2019) for outstanding contribution in the field of contemporary dance.

SALSA FUSION SOLO I/II & II/III – KATJA ČUK

SALSA FUSION SOLO I/II

The workshop is intended for all dancers with basic knowledge or without knowledge of salsa. We will explain the basics of movement, counting music, coordination, and then tackle simpler combinations of steps and routine.

SALSA FUSION SOLO II/III

The workshop is intended for all dancers with prior knowledge and many years of experience. The workshop also invites dancers of other dance genres who will be challenged by this new style.
In the beginning, we will repeat the basics, learn about various salsa steps and develop a slightly more demanding dance routine that contains steps and elements of different salsa styles.

If you are not sure which workshop would be suitable for you or you have any other questions, you can always consult: IG: katya.cuk or katja.cuk84@gmail.com.

KATJA ČUK

Life has given me the opportunity and possibility to develop and consolidate myself in a number of fields: the most outstanding are dance and pedagogy. I was dancing since the age of 7 on various dance courses, seminars and winter and summer dance schools; completed my studies in pedagogy and sociology at the University of Maribor; completed my education for the Creative Movement and Dance Teachers at JSKD, and was educated in Colombia as a dancer and dance teacher of salsa and other Latin rhythms. Living in Colombia, I worked on many interesting dance, theatre, arts, and pedagogical projects: among others, I was part of two "Salsodromo" show parades in Cali (salsa parades on the streets of Cali, the third-largest city in Colombia and called also the world’s capital of salsa). I danced in numerous smaller and bigger performances in Colombia, Greece, and Slovenia.

I teach salsa and all its genres, like other dance rhythms and styles. I do recreational dance and movement workshops, private dance lessons; I offer performances and shows, animations and provide choreographic work.
DANCE is my element - it means dance is that space/activity where I feel me and where I am at home. For many years, I attended and danced at Winter and Summer Dance School workshops organized by JSKD. Today I am honored to be invited and participate as a dance educator.

MENTORS’ WORKSHOP: Two Flying Ones and a Barefoot One – “THE JOURNEY” – SAŠA LONČAR

MENTORS’ WORKSHOP »THE YOURNEY«

It starts in our head first and we call it an IDEA. Our next step is how to make that idea a reality. This is where the confusion usually arises ... so we will take the first step together, add the next one, and the next, and after a while, will get closer to our realized IDEA.
Join me on an interesting journey where we will meet different movements, which we will connect into movement sequences, explore extensive improvisation, find meanings between levels, orient ourselves in different directions, face the dynamics, composition, learn what we do not want and in the end chose the most enjoyable adventure and mark it as the final destination of our trip ...

foto Minka

SAŠA LONČAR is a renowned dance educator and choreographer, founder and artistic director of KD Qulenium in Kranj and Ljubljana. She annually organizes the Festival of Stage Arts Kalejdoskop and research and creative summer camp for children at Mašun. Through her creative processes, imbued with a vivid imagination, openness, daring and excellent leadership sense, she stimulates children’s dance creativity and enriches their personal expression of movement. Saša and her dancers take part in numerous important events and festivals at home and abroad (France, Indonesia, India, Croatia, Denmark, Serbia). 
She was awarded the Meta Vidmar plaque and the Ksenija Hribar Prize at the 9th Gibanica Biennale 2019 for artistic, creative and educational achievement.
More: www.qulenium.org

ADDITIONAL OFFER

Upon prior appointment in the WDS info office:

TRADITIONAL CHINESE MASSAGE – Darinka Brešar:  www.darinka-tuina.si (Sunday and Monday)

BIOPTRON Light Therapy (regeneration with a new dimension) – Zvezdana Lamovšek:
http://www.zepter.si/MainMenu/Products/Medical/Bioptron/ColorTherapy.aspx