Brina Performance Premiere

The performance tackles the specific emancipatory moment of Slovenian contemporary dance during the WW2 period, showcasing dancer, choreographer and dance pedagogue Marta Paulin, with her Partisan name Brina, as the leading figure in this phenomenon. Before the war, she was a student of Meta Vidmar, who had founded a dance school in Ljubljana in 1930, following the Mary Wigman method. She actively took part in the national liberation movement, was one of the members of the cultural group operating within the XIVth division, and also organised improvisational dance acts for the fighters and the locals on different meetings and gatherings. In the inter-war period, she formed artistic and personal ties to Karel Destovnik–Kajuh. After the war, she was forced to give up active dance creation due to frostbite on her toes, so she remained active as a pedagogue and publicist.

Author: Bara Kolenc; directing and performance: Bara Kolenc; co-creation and performance: Leja Jurišić; music, sound and performance: Mitja Cerkvenik; Rotor installation: Peter Kutin in co-operation with: Patrik Lechner, Mathias Lenz; dramaturgy: Aldo Milohnić; lighting design: Peter Pivar; performance of the Ave Maria song: Urška Kastelic; translation: Maja Lovrenov; surtitles: Diana Grden in Maja Peharc; produced by: KUD Samosvoj; co-produced by: Zavod Moja kreacija Maribor; in cooperation with the City of Women, Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture, Zavod Maska, Zavod Bunker and the Platform of Contemporary Dance – Platform after Platform; thanks: Malina Schmidt Snoj, Rok Vevar, Andreja Zupanec Bajželj, Klemen Markovčič, Vlado Vrbič, Simona Ješelnik, Matevž Kolenc, Marko Rusjan, the City of Women crew, National Museum of Contemporary History, RTV Slovenia, MG+MSUM; supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the City Municipality of Maribor.

In the performance we are using photos by Jože Petek and a photo by an unknown author from the archive of the National Museum of Contemporary History as well as an audio statement by Marta Paulin–Brina from the archive of the RTV Slovenia.