Kretanja ČASOPIS ZA PLESNU UMJETNOST 

Kretanja 13/14 _ 1 from Croatian stages:

09 Iva nerina Sibila Which .... ? Jelena Mihelčić Humman Error ... contents 

editorial: dance/

04 art: Katja Šimunić ??? ? Maja Marjančić Anka krizmanić ....

? Maja Đurinović The Exhibition...

theory:

? Katja Šimunić Three...

2 _ Kretanja 13/14 MilkoSparemblek Intro- duction

?? Maja Đurinović ??

?? ?? Vjeran Zuppa Svjetlana Hribar Ludio doctus 2+2: Pokret je zbir svega što jesmo ?? Andreja Jeličić 77 Plesno kazalište Milka Bosiljka Perić Kempf Šparembleka u svjetlu teorije Plesati možete na glazbu, umjetnosti kao ekspresije ali i na šum, ritam, tišinu...

?? Darko Gašparović O dramaturgiji Milka Šparembleka

?? Tuga Tarle Oda ljubavi pod čizmom ideologije

Kretanja 13/14 _ 3 editorial:

n anticipation of the establishment of dance education at the university le- vel in Croatia, which will, according to the founders’ announcements, bring Itogether practical (i. e. classical and contemporary dance techniques) and theoretical dance studies in one institution, Kretanja (Movements), as the only Croatian journal exclusively dedicated to dance art, has from its very fi rst issue (in 2002) published a corpus of texts that can be used as a kind of basis or in- troduction into dance theory, and which should have an important place in the envisaged institution and serve as a platform for institutional and non-instituti- onal researchers of dance. Throughout issues dealing with special themes whe- re dance is positioned in relation to literature, photography, dramaturgy, fi lm or visual arts, along with translations of essays of the most important international dance theoreticians, we have introduced texts that present different examples of knowledge about dance on the path to the much needed dynamically organised dance studies, and we have also presented outstanding creations from the Croa- tian dance scene and promoted domestic authors.

Kretanja / Croatian Dance Magazine is published twice a year by the Croatian Centre of the International Theatre Institute. After the fi rst fi ve issues we decided to publish an English edition of Kretanja 06 (2006), with a selection of represen- tative texts by Croatian critics and theoreticians that were previously published in the Croatian issues. We continue this practice in the English edition of Kretanja 13/14 with a selection of texts published in the period from 2006 to 2010.

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In the fi rst part of the journal, in the section From Croatian Stages we pre- sent a text by Iva Nerina Sibila entitled Which Body, Which Gesture? in which the author confronts two different choreographic writings: one by Edward Clug, an international choreographer who staged the production of Reasons 4 with the ballet of the national theatre from Zagreb and the other by Sonja Pregrad, a young dancer and choreographer and member of the independent Croatian dan- ce scene, represented with the performance SOLO., to question the type of cor- porality and gestures generated by these two different dance concepts. The text by Jelena Mihelčić in the same section reviews the performance Human Error, by Croatian choreographer of the younger generation, Marija Šćekić, which tackles the questions of the dualism of body and mind, assuming Antonio Damasio’s attitude of Descartes’ error of their fundamental separation.

The Dance/Visual Arts section is represented by two texts dealing with the ways in which Croatian visual artists represent dance art in their works. Maja Marjančić writes about the painting opus of Croatian woman painter Anka Kriz- manić (1896-1987), who was inspired by performances by, for instance: Ana Pavlova, Gertrud Leistikow, Grete Wiesenthal, Ana Roje and Oskar Harmoš. Maja Đurinović focuses in great part on the visitors and media that reported about one surprising aspect of the exhibition Avant-Garde Tendencies in Croa- tian Art (Klovićevi dvori Gallery, Zagreb, 2007) dedicated to Croatian dance art. The section Theory concludes the fi rst part of the journal and presents Ka- tja Šimunić’s text Three Gestures in Which a Hand Touches the Forehead, whi- ch on the example of Roxane’s text-induced gesture in Rostand’s drama Cyrano de Bergerac, through the gesture of touching the forehead in Martha Graham’s choreography Letter to the World, to the interpretation of the same gesture in the choreography Trio A by Yvonne Rainer challenges the question of the relati- onship gesture – movement.

The second part of the journal consists of a selection of texts from the sym- posium dedicated to internationally known Croatian choreographer Milko Špa- remblek held in 2008, with the intention of giving an insight into the exceptio- nally rich work of this artist to foreign critics, theoreticians and researchers.

The English edition Kretanja 13/14 is published with the aim of intensifying the dialogue between dance practice and dance theory in order to intertwine heterogeneous dance works and challenging dance discourses. Would you like to dance/write with us?

Katja Šimunić

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< Sonja Pregrad: SOLO. FOTO: Nives Sertić. >

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IVA NERINA SIBILA WHICH BODY, WHICH GESTURE?

n this essay, I will review two performances which be- for his work in the fi eld of culture, the Prešeren Foundation long to the 2008/2009 season. Reasons 4 by choreo- Award in 2005 and the Glazer Credential in 2008. Igrapher Edward Clug, produced and performed by the Reasons 4 is a performance with a mystical atmosphe- Croatian National Theatre Ballet in Zagreb and SOLO. by re in which, out of nowhere and seemingly without reason, independent author and performer Sonja Pregrad. The qu- ten dancers emerge from the semi-darkness through a spa- estion which I would like to pose with this essay is which ce dis-framed with black movable partitions, they dance body is represented in these performances and why exactly and suddenly disappear. such a body. In developing this question, I would like to examine the relation between the Croatian institutional and Music non-institutional dance scene. I would also like to try to di- The starting point of the performance is music by Slo- sturb, at least in a theoretical, Utopian, and idealist way, vene pianist and composer Milko Lazar. His “Four Sonatas some of these relations for which I claim dogmatically de- for Piano and Violin” performed live (by the composer and termine which body belongs to which theatre and produc- Jelena Ždrale) create an acoustic environment. Rhythmically tion frame. tense, fl ickering and sophisticated music creates an atmosp- here fi lled with powerful dynamic oscillations and the furi- I. REASONS 4 ous tempo that persecutes the dancers alternates with airy, Edward Clug is a Slovene dancer and choreographer of slow parts in which tones remain suspended in space, and Romanian extraction. He became a soloist of the Maribor the dancers move around or between them. Ballet in 1991 and danced a classical and contemporary The structure of the performance follows the move- ballet repertoire. He began to choreograph in 1996 in the ments of the sonatas so that the music also creates the ba- performances by Tomaž Pandur and in 2003 he became sic dramaturgy of the performance. The performance starts head of the Maribor Ballet. The performance Reasons 4 is with a male dancer coming out running, almost hitting into an extended version of a short work set for the Portugu- a dance position and fast choreography. The introduction ese Ballet. He also choreographed for the Dutch company of other dancers and their penetration into space is accom- “Station Zuid” and for the Stuttgart Ballet in 2009. He has panied by the development of the score, from a solo, or won a number of international awards for dance and cho- unisonance, into a group, or “multisonance.” Respecting reography, including the most important Slovenian awards the abstract, and not narrative, form of the choreograp-

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< Edward Clug: Razloga 4/ Reasons 4. FOTO: Saša Novković i Ines Novković. >

< FOTO: ??? >

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hy, the choreographer alternates duets and group scenes, The choreographic lexis which Clug uses is based on and combines them with the sudden exiting and entering of the tradition of classical ballet, signifi cantly expanded by dancers, sometimes letting the music fi nish and leaving the contemporary improvisational methods (analogy in lite- dancers in silence. rature, “free stream of consciousness”). Thus, movement The only stage elements are black movable partitions streams out of the body like a fl ood with its own logic, which change the space like a fi lm frame from time to time moving within the kinetic sphere of the Western academic as well as the musicians who are situated in the upper left dance canon. part of the stage. Simple black costumes, trousers and na- A specifi c feature of Clug’s “bodywriting” is also speed ked torsos for men and trousers and corsets for women, which, like the edge of a knife, cuts space. Furthermore, the make the appearance of this performance somewhat like a dance performance reveals the somewhat decadent pleasu- “work-in-progress”. With this, the author directs the gaze re in this speed, in the power of perfect bodies to compe- to what is most important to him, to the choreography. te with the demands of the choreographic instinct and to The choreography, in other words, the very fabric of the keep the purity of form and dynamics within the dense and performance, embodies and interprets music: dance mostly hyperactive fl ow of movement. follows the rhythm, accentuation and atmosphere, and the Insistence on the open position of the legs is also evi- authorial originality and skill are obvious in the multi-laye- dent, bringing the social and aesthetic implications of the red penetration into music and in the plurality of metaphors classical ballet tradition into the choreography (in contrast from which the scenes resulted and which they transfer. Al- to the parallel position used in contemporary dance which though direct with regards to the dance-music relation, as is neutral, and gives the feeling of a zero state, belonging to well as simple in its “black on black” visual identity, Rea- gravity and which follows the body anatomically). sons 4 offers a complex interpretative landscape. Strong, lightning-quick throws of hands and legs are also important elements of the choreography, while the tor- Aesthetics so is mainly in a vertical position and remains subordinated Meticulous and tense, Clug’s choreography is one of in relation to the extremities. In this way, the torso remains plasticity1 and contrast. Plasticity in the sense of comple- a carrier of the dancer’s identity in Clug’s work, but it is not te elaboration with which movement is transferred throu- an equal participant in the choreography. Clug manages to gh the body, so that the tiniest movement of the hand or turn this verticality, which in addition to the open position, eye does not remain accidental, open or unfi nished here. is one of the unquestionable rudiments of the ballet tech- This quality is also achieved with special attention directed nique and frequently a limitation in terms of choreographic towards the fi nishing of a movement which remains strai- imagination, “to his own advantage.” He does so with the ned, thus opening the expectation of another movement. unexpected articulation of body details such as, for exam- In the moments of tranquillity, or those of non-movement, ple, the several times repeated movements of fi ngers of the tension is also felt like a breath kept for too long and this hand which, like a spider, go over the body of the partner provides the performance with a vague feeling of danger. or the isolated play of the shoulder-blades. In this process, Bodies here do not yield to the protection of the force of he achieves contrast with the large, expected movements gravity, but are forced into movement by their own anxio- and brings into play a redirection of the spectators’ attenti- us energy to which the music is at the same time a starting on from the macro to micro plan, providing a touch of the point and refuge. The aesthetic of plasticity is also provided “surreal” to the entire performance. by the absence of connecting steps so that the transition from one tension to another is unexpected, without prepa- Duets ration or a running start. In a further analysis, three male-female duets will be The quality of contrast is placed in the non-movement, brought to attention. In these segments of the performance in the pauses between two movements into which and out (which, more so than the group scenes, leave an impression of which the dancers constantly move. Also, the powerful of extraordinariness and multilayered quality of interpreta- and dense accentuation of movement leaves an impression tive possibilities), the choreographer indicates problems of of overemphasized dramatics and the unreal. (Like a dream the dance body’s “plasticity” and the relation of the perfor- in which events follow one another without pause.) mer to this quality in an interesting manner. In the fi rst duet, the male and female dancers dance 1 By defi nition, plastics is the art of making fi gures using some a classical pas-de-deux, but she, although perfectly, per- soft matter or the skill of perfecting parts of the body in order to forms it like a mechanical puppet moving in dying twitches. provide them with beauty and markedness; it also refers to sculpture. Her relation to the performance is entirely indifferent, and

Kretanja 13/14 _ 9 from Croatian stages: : Nives Sertić. > FOTO . SOLO < Sonja Pregrad:

layers of emotions or pleasure in virtuosity are completely nipulation of touch and transfer of weight. Nevertheless, removed. The body of the female dancer seems as if taken the relation between the partners remains reserved as if away from her and trapped in the form which she performs. they are still separated by a fi lter pulled over the skin. In the following duet, the same theme is treated even more intensely: a ballerina with naked legs wearing poin- Impression te shoes enters on stage, accompanied by her partner. As The impression that Reasons 4 leaves on the spectator is they begin the slow pas-de-deux, a black partition lowers one of admiration for the meticulously refi ned choreograp- from above and “frames” them in a way that we see only hy, virtuous performance, excellent non-narrative play of their legs. The upper part of the ballerina’s body is cut by space – time – body which still produces a powerful emo- this. Only the legs remain. After fi nishing the perfectly per- tionality. On this emotional level, the “taste” that remains formed series of steps, pirouettes and extensions, the male after we reminisce about the performance is that of gre- dancer lifts the ballerina and she remains suspended in the at loneliness and impossibility to realize real contact. The air with her legs in a graceful parallel position, with poin- dramaturgy of incessant running out onto stage and out of ted feet. Following that, she falls into the fourth position on it, abrupt halting of movements and changes of space ma- the fl oor beneath the partition, and we can see her entirely kes the dancers seem like passers-by who almost absently again. Her body is slightly bent forward. She stays like that, exist merely to, prompted by unclear motivation to us, as if frozen. And there is no relaxedness in this “fall” either, explode into movement and go back to their (dis)quiet. Ad- no pause in the form. ding to this the already mentioned plastic virtuosity of the The third, closing duet is different from the former two. performance, Reasons 4 in the end communicates directing It is in its form a play of the male and female dancer on to perfection, which leaves its protagonists in the traumatic equal terms in which the fl oor is used, playing with the ma- solitude of their own beauty.

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In this context, we also read the imprints of the con- The author sets objects on the scene (chairs, a plant, stant dogma of the “court ballet body” which Edward Clug, shoes, cutlery) which she uses during the performance, and with his choreographic method, fuses with the urban, com- each of them is a body – a requisite, an object, but also pulsively ultra-designed body in overdrive of the 21st cen- a metaphor of the body itself. As the performance deve- tury. The conclusion of this fusion is at the same time admi- lops, she goes through different themes of relation to her rable and dreadful. own experience of her body, such as questions of female pain and sexuality, indifference and exhaustion, subjectness II. SOLO. and objectness by using, apart from movement, costumes, Sonja Pregrad is a young author and dancer from Za- requisites, quotations from pop music, as well as her own greb. After fi nishing the Ana Maletić School of Contempo- verses. rary Dance, she pursued further studies at the Dance Acade- At the end of the performance, completely naked, she my in Rotterdam and New Dance Academy in Arnheim and reaches for tenderness toward herself only for a moment; Amsterdam. She danced in the Katie Duck Magpie Dance nevertheless, soon she unpredictably destroys the created Company troupe, known for their improvisational methods. image by turning into a grotesque, a demon or Alice’s ra- In Croatia, she participated in the performances by Dance bbit, disappearing as if she is abandoning her own perfor- Centre Tala Out of Service, Irma Omerzo Dance-Session mance, her own room into which she let us during the per- and Visit, Marina Petković Liker Let the World and To Work, formance. to Work and in her own performances Oh my body, if only you were here with me, SOLO., and Dishevelled. With Zrin- Which body? ka Šimičić and Iva Hladnik, she is the founder of the improvi- SOLO. by Sonja Pregrad, understandably, also shows an sational collective and festival “Improspection”. entirely different body from the one in Reasons 4. Just as From the opening sequence of SOLO., the performer Clug’s body is designed and plastic, so is Sonja Pregrad’s destroys and dissolves the usual image of the body. The body surprising. It is surprising with its atypical non-classi- dancing body, as well as the everyday pedestrian one. Her cal quality. The dancer brings to stage an authentic combi- movement is formed with postmodern dance techniques, nation of poetic fragility and remarkable physical strength; such as release, fl oor work and improvisational methods, tall and strong, with curved lines of the body, strong legs and the performance is (I deliberately remove the notion and delicate upper part, she enters the stage in everyday of choreography here because the author moves between clothes, jeans and a T-shirt, frequently with her hair uncom- improvisation, performance and dance) led by a dialogue bed, and almost no makeup. of gravitation and body mass. The sequence of movement The body, performance and experience which Pregrad constantly changes plans in terms of equal usage of the fl o- affi rms in her work belong to the basic and emblematic or and transfer of weight from the legs to the hands, with form of contemporary dance: a female solo performed by which the vertical is annulled the entire time. This is a mo- the author. In such a form the pretext, scenic material and vement of extreme extensions, on the verge of acrobati- performance are related to the reliving of the entire creative cs, movement at the same time organically fl uid and risky. process. This tradition therefore carries within itself the ot- Playing with spiral movement, this most mystical element her, a personal, non-codifi ed body, a body that is not inte- of movement which penetrates to the very essence, is also rested in the passing of a rigorous selection by the Imperial frequent and the dancer achieves this with a winding of the Ballet Academy, oriented towards aesthetically satisfying a spine, which pulls along the entire body and the very space. social elite, but is rather interested in self-defi ning; the ince- ssant redefi ning of the body through the process and per- Aesthetics formance of one’s own corporeality. The aesthetics of SOLO. is dominated, in opposition to Reasons 4, by an unfi nished quality of movement and only III. WHY? occasional accentuation. An unfi nished quality of move- We can establish with certainty that these two perfor- ment in the sense that the centre of action is in the torso mances which, conditionally speaking, are connected by and hips, and movements of the extremities are consequ- the anxiety of being in the body (one through playing with ences of this action. As the entire performance is based on the boundaries of the classical form, the other through the the question “how to be in the body,” and the dialogue “I establishing of its own order), embody, summarize and co- – my body,” so the accentuation of movement comes from mment two dance groups (or, in theatre jargon – two sce- this inner dialogue and not from the need to emphasize nes) out of which they emerged, the institutional and non- certain choreographic moments. institutional one.

Kretanja 13/14 _ 11 from Croatian stages:

The institutional scene, which in Croatia is mainly re- I see the second reason being in the total imbalance presented by the Ballets of the Croatian National Theatres, of the non-institutional scene and institutional one regar- apart from its defi ned aesthetics, also carefully maintains a ding the ratio of dancers and authors. The institutional structured order of its troupe, as well as its repertoire, audi- scene, although rich in terms of repertoire, is completely ence and fi nancing. Such troupes, among which the Ballets indifferent to the question of development of a domestic of the Parisian and London Operas are the most powerful choreographic force. The last generation of dancers who ones, make a kind of corridor for the work and development managed to succeed among ballet dancers turned choreo- of ambitious and talented choreographers like Edward Clug graphers are Staša Zurovac and Mark Boldin, now already by fostering classical and contemporary repertoires. This mature choreographers. After them, not one new choreo- corridor should also include troupes that have abandoned graphic initiative appeared on the scene. And so, the re- classical repertoires for the benefi t of contemporary ones pertoire is being constructed through incessant investment (one of the most known representatives is NDT), but still into productions by foreign choreographers, without moti- keep the structure of a classical troupe. The driving force vating Croatian potentials. This means that there are dan- and market which this corridor establishes has continuously cers and an enormous infrastructure in the institutionali- been building and maintaining the values of European ma- zed system of the Croatian scene and almost no Croatian instream dance, and it has been doing that from the very authors. beginnings of the professionalization of dance art. On the other hand, the non-institutional scene marks The non-institutional scene is placed outside (or ten years of expansion of authorial works without an infra- beyond) this market/corridor and relies on the creation of structure and with very few dancers in relation to the num- its own alternative “networks”. More inclusive and open, it ber of dancers who are authors at the same time. is in constant fl uctuation between activism and art. As it is And what would be more logical than to somehow dramatically under-fi nanced and lacking the necessary in- open these two poles one toward the other? What would frastructure, survival on this scene, the life of a performan- be more logical than to at least as a small experiment invi- ce and further development of an authorial career mainly te a choreographer from the contemporary scene to set a remain at the initiative and skilfulness of the author him- miniature performance/workshop for a few willing dancers self/herself. from one of the Croatian National Theatres? Whether this In conclusion, we can establish that Reasons 4 and would bring along any success among the subscribers of se- SOLO., as well as the bodies that emerge from within them ason tickets I really do not know, but it is not important ei- are in all their complexities representatives of two different ther. What is important is the fact that this would certainly artistic scenes, two social/artistic/political systems which do set in motion who knows what kind of new ideas, initiati- not overlap and which are most frequently in opposition to ves, systems and some new, even more contemporary and each other. Why then write about them in the same text? more innovative bodies which would create a fusion of the Why then compare them at all, repeating the well-known best from both scenes. theses about ideological and market-related differences Because, and here is the third reason, was it not the between the classical and contemporary dance scene? choreographic atelier of Carolyn Carlson, dancer and cho- reographer of the contemporary procedure, that had the Reasons 4, perhaps more most signifi cant infl uence on the development of the Fren- The fi rst reason, I believe, is the fact that in spite of ch contemporary dance of the 80s precisely in the Parisi- everything, these two performances (as well as some ot- an Opera, the same one on whose stage Giselle came into hers which came into being on both sides of the large gap being? between the institution and off-scene) should be represen- And, was it not the star of the British contemporary ted, contextualized and fostered as part of the same, if not scene Wayne McGregor, installed as the house choreograp- scene, then at least part of the same artistic contemporari- her of the London Royal Ballet, the one who is, thanks to ness which they comment with their bodies (and gestures Ninette de Valois, meritorious for elevating Marius Petipa which emerge from them), and also actively structure. Fur- and Jules Perrot into the classics? thermore, they should also share the same audience beca- Therefore, if the Parisian and London scenes took that use, let’s be honest, Reasons 4 is a rather demanding per- direction already a long time ago, is it also not perhaps time formance for the audience of the Croatian National Theatre for us to do so? Ballet, raised on fairytale-like spectacles; and performances Since, the fourth reason, both sides would gain.  such as SOLO. deserve a much broader reception than the author herself can ensure. English translation: Lidija Zoldoš

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< Marija Šćekić: Human Error. Foto: Sandra Vitaljić >

JELENA MIHELČIĆ MARIJA ŠĆEKIĆ‘S HUMAN ERROR

ance, being an art of the body, is very close to Can the human body, as a material, [spatially] extended human experience. The beginnings of gesture as fact, be understood only as a shell which functions sepa- Da means of communication and of dance as an in- rately from the personality or so-called spirit, and is spirit tegral part of human life, reach back to the dawn of civiliza- really independent from that mortal, tangible, corporal de- tion as we know it. Bodily expression and gesture are innate stiny? Is the human mind, or intellect, equally functional and, in a way, fundamental to humans; they are unique to- without the senses, emotions and feelings which are expli- ols that have been utilised as a superstructure by subsequ- citly corporal phenomena? We may, perhaps, attempt to ently created complex language systems. As a means of co- answer these questions by the very process of returning to mmunication, movement is, with rare exceptions, unique to the body, by entering the body. In a way, the solution of the whole of humankind. When we trace the dance history the stated problem may be seen as a regular task for tho- of ancient civilizations, we discover everywhere a close re- se who practise the bodily language on a daily basis, and lationship between movement and dance on one hand, and test it by shaping it into an artistic bodily (dance) expressi- religious and magical rituals on the other; in other words, on. Also, to every enthusiast of the art of dance, the repe- we discover a close relationship between the corporal and ated return to dance theatre represents perhaps an uncon- the religious or spiritual life of humans.1 However, with the scious questioning of a certain strong and deep relationship beginning and development of philosophical thought, an between the corporal and the spiritual, or a connection ever more pronounced dichotomy between the body (ma- between the body, emotions and mind. Entering a dance tter) and spirit (soul, mind) came into prominence, and be- theatre (or club) is for the modern human the closest s/he came one of the fundamental philosophical questions tac- may come to the religious and spiritual experiences practi- kled by numerous thinkers and scientists who attempted to sed through dance by the ancient civilizations.2 comprehend the incomprehensive – human nature.

2 Thomas, Helen, “Dancing the Night Away: Rave/Club Cul- 1 Maletić, Ana, Povijest plesa starih civilizacija I. i II., Matica ture”, in Thomas, Helen, The Body, Dance and Cultural Theory. hrvatska, Zagreb, 2002. Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, p. 178.

Kretanja 13/14 _ 13 from Croatian stages:

Contemporary neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, who- rity and persuasiveness, Descartes has remained one of the se scientifi c work is based on the crucial role of the body central references of modern philosophy. in cognitive processes, used an interesting metaphor in the Contemporary scientists and philosophers keep coming beginning of one of his books: back to the body in an attempt to prove its direct connecti- I have always been intrigued by the specifi c moment on to the process of cognition, to knowledge and intellect. when, as we sit waiting in the audience, the door to the Maurice Merleau-Ponty states that the body is able to stage opens and a performer steps into the light; or, to take perceive the world by itself and operate thus as an inde- the other perspective, the moment when a performer who pendent bearer of cognitive processes5. Max Scheler con- waits in semidarkness sees the same door open, revealing demns Descartes and “blames” him for many serious mis- the lights, the stage, and the audience. (…) the moving qu- conceptions about human nature. He claims that the sphere ality of this moment … comes from its embodiment of an of spiritual experiences [experiences of the mind; transl. instance of birth, of passage through a threshold that se- note] refers to the whole body and not only to the brain, parates a protected but limiting shelter from the possibility and maintains that today it has become impossible to talk and risk of a world beyond and ahead. (…) I sense that ste- about some external (divine) linkage of the mental and bo- pping into the light is also a powerful metaphor for consci- dily substances. According to Scheler, the spiritual always ousness, for the birth of the knowing mind…3 consists of physiological and psychological aspects, and the Thus he unwittingly drew a parallel between perfor- psycho-physical life is one and unifi ed6. On the other hand, ming art (dance) and philosophy, or, more specifi cally, co- Damasio, when describing neurological processes, tries to gnitive theory. prove that the “apparatus of rationality” has evolved as an Damasio’s work, as well as the stated philosophical, extension of the automatic emotional system, with emoti- Cartesian questions, was the source of inspiration for Cro- ons playing various roles in the process of reasoning. The atian choreographer Marija Šćekić in the performance Hu- neural spots in the body responsible for rational thinking man Error which premiered in Zagreb in May 2009 at the are the same ones responsible for emotions and feelings, Trešnjevka Cultural Centre. It is signifi cant to note how the as well as for body functions and survival of the organism. body-based, and therefore, considering the achievements Thus, Damasio puts the body (emotions) into a direct rela- of modern humanity, somewhat primitive manner of expre- tionship with a chain of operations which ensure the “hi- ssion and understanding – dance, managed to successfully ghest reaches of reasoning, decision making, and, by exten- explain the important and lasting philosophical polemics in sion, social behaviour and creativity”7. this performance. In this context, it is now possible to move to the perfor- The philosophical theory of Descartes is considered as mance itself in order to describe the ways in which Marija the central reference on human dualism, which postulates Šćekić, having used the virtuosic dancing body as a means the division between the physical and the refl ective. This is for philosophical investigation, has approached this pro- because Descartes is considered the father of modern phi- blem. What is human error? losophical thought (cogito ergo sum), although similar ideas In the performance Human Error Marija Šćekić places about the separation of the soul from the body were alre- her own dancing body on stage connected via wireless sen- ady introduced by Plato and have developed mostly thanks sors to visual and aural computing systems which, by inter- to Christian philosophy.4 The Cartesian system represents preting her neural activities at the time of physical motion, two parallel and independent worlds, the world of the mind generate a visual and aural scenery; a virtual entity which and the world of things, each of which can be examined provides the audience with insight into the body, into its with no reference to the other, despite the fact that they inner self. The spectator witnesses the physical appearance are in a state of mutual interrelationship. According to his of the dancer and, at the same time, the computer’s audio- conception of matter, Descartes favours the rational path visual interpretation of the ‘inner choreography’, invisible to to cognition to anything arriving from senses or feelings. the naked eye. Following Damasio’s theory, the dancer has Although his theory of supremacy of the rational over the the opportunity, in this symbolic way, to get to know her- emotional has been frequently rejected because of its cla- self through the fi lm (audio-visual construct of her interior)

5 Merleau-Ponty, Marcel, Phenomenology of Perception, Rou- 3 Damasio, Antonio, The Feeling of What Happens; Body and tledge & Kegan Paul, 2005. Emotion in the Making of Consciousness. Harcourt Brace, 1999, p. 5. 6 Scheler, Max, The Human Place in the Cosmos, Northwestern 4 Russell, Bertrand, History of Western Philosophy, Routledge, University Press, 2009. 2005. p. 511, p. 519. 7 Damasio, Antonio, Descartes’ Error, Penguin Books, 1994, p. XVII

14 _ Kretanja 13/14 from Croatian stages: 

Kretanja 13/14 _ 15 from Croatian stages:

while the spectator witnesses and doubles that understan- If we now return to the performance, we may say that ding. How? Šćekić has, symbolically speaking, brought herself and her Damasio divides the process of cognition via the body audience face to face with her images, that she has crea- into fi ve steps, by which he attempts to scientifi cally prove ted access into the process of generating knowledge about the path from emotion to the creation of a conscious fee- her own self. Her choreography, which represents pure and ling [of that emotion]. In short, this is about a process which clear movement within the familiar space-dynamic frames comprises a relationship between an organism’s awareness of R. Laban, affects her organism which, in turn, via ne- of itself as a stable system which keeps us alive, and the urological signals, affects the computer systems and their awareness of changes continuously entering that system via products which we eventually see and hear. However, by the organism’s encounters with its surroundings. being in her own fi lm created according to Damasio’s steps The starting point is that the organism, affected in the from emotion to consciousness, Šćekić neither confi rms nor encounter with its surroundings in such a way that emoti- refutes his ideas. Human Error is not a scientifi c experiment ons are induced, creates mental patterns. Damasio refers to despite appearing so from the descriptions so far; it is a these patterns, for lack of a better term, as “images of an performance dealing with emotions, and – more than anyt- object” which convey different aspects of the physical cha- hing else, with spirituality. racteristics of the object. He says: The very fi rst image we see, the strong, convulsive twit- ...this fi rst problem of consciousness is the problem of ching of arms emerging from the core of the dancer’s body, how we get a “movie-in-the-brain”, provided we realize with the loud accompanying utterance of the word khul that in this rough metaphor the movie has as many sensory (hebr. to twist), suggests an inner struggle, suffering and tracks as our nervous system has sensory portals – sight, powerlessness. The central motif of the performance is also sound, taste, and olfaction, touch, inner senses, and so on. a long turning on the spot which evokes thoughts of infi ni- (...) solving this fi rst problem consists in discovering how ty, dervishes, the Slavonic kolo, a circle or the ecstasy of re- the brain makes neural patterns in its nerve-cell circuits ligious dances. Finally, the very beginning and ending of the and manages to turn those neural patterns into the explicit performance are framed with the biblical In the beginning mental patterns which constitute the highest level of biolo- was the Word...and the Word became fl esh, through whi- gical phenomenon, which I like to call images.8 ch Šćekić introduces a third element into the equation, one Besides the images, there is another presence [in the that has been left out of that permanent confrontation of mind] which signifi es an individual as an observer, as a po- mind and body and that is the element of the spirit, or soul, tential actor in relation to this, as an individual in a parti- which Damasio had completely overlooked in his investiga- cular relationship with some object. The human mind is tion and through which the [originally] scientifi c and philo- not only able to create mental patterns of objects (images) sophical discussion also becomes theological.10 but also mental patterns conveying the sense of self in the Human knowledge about its own nature is in a state act of knowing. That sense of self in the act of knowing is, of development, continually negating and augmenting it- according to Damasio, crucial for the problem of conscio- self. If Descartes had radically changed the science of his usness and he describes it referring repeatedly to the fi lm time by saying I think, therefore I am, and claiming everyt- metaphor: hing physical and emotional to be divorced from the rati- ...the neurobiology of consciousness faces two pro- onal, and if a few centuries later Damasio named his inve- blems: the problem of how the movie-in-the-brain is ge- stigation Descartes’ error, claiming reason to be nothing nerated, and the problem of how the brain also genera- more than an evolved emotion, then Šćekić asks: what is tes the sense that there is an owner and observer for that knowledge; what makes it true and correct; what is the real movie.9 truth of our knowledge? And here it is – human error: the Consciousness, according to Damasio, generates an relativity of human knowledge, the human tendency to awareness of images in our mind, and puts these images make mistakes and learn from them, and the constant stri- into the organism’s perspective since it brings them into a ving for truth and perfection. relationship with the integrated representation of the or- Plato’s idea of the soul has introduced a possible un- ganism. derstanding of the above questions (along with discussions about the soul’s separateness from the body also attribu- 8 Damasio, Antonio, The Feeling of What Happens; Body and ted to Plato but later articulated more clearly with Des- Emotion in the Making of Consciousness. Harcourt Brace, 1999, p. 11. 10 In his latest book Looking for Spinoza (2004) Damasio does 9 Ibidem, p. 13. tackle the problem of spirituality [transl. note].

16 _ Kretanja 13/14 from Croatian stages: 

Kretanja 13/14 _ 17 from Croatian stages:  cartes). Plato claims that every soul’s destiny is to strive (dabar) at the same time means word, news, promise, re- for God – the one who knows the real truth. Souls which velation, case, indictment, legal action, event and a thing. lose the vision of that truth lag behind on their path and An Israeli understands the concept of word not only as a return to the beginning, to the earthly path, while those means for transference of thoughts but something more, that come near it, can in their next life rise above earthly something dynamic and creative. A word was considered to life11. Human nature has no knowledge, but the divine na- be a creative force which brings the world into existence ture has – so claimed Heraclitus but also many other Greek (creates it)13. philosophers. Xenophanes thus says: Men have seen lit- The word (language) is a later product of civilisation and tle, and therefore know little…human knowledge is in its is generally considered the most important and most ma- very essence deceptive. Humans come to knowledge thro- gnifi cent achievement of the human mind, yet knowledge ugh their own efforts and even though on this path they must have existed before language and resided in the body. can never achieve complete enlightenment, it is in the- Contemporary sociology, especially anarcho-primitivist the- ir nature to strive for the better. Xenophanes claims: hu- orist John Zerzan, criticises language and the concept of man knowledge is imperfect, but the wisdom of the gods prehistoric man with no language and alphabet as being is faultless. Occasionally, man may say something that is poor and brutal. He even goes so far as to claim that both completely true, and yet he has no exact knowledge, in language and ideology, which is the product of language, contrast to the god. He concludes that the god, unlike the are systems of distorted communications between two po- mortals, is not in body and mind, making it clear that he les and predicated upon symbolization. In modern langu- conceives his god as incorporeal. Hecateus differs from ages, the word “mind” serves to describe something that his contemporaries in his idea of truth; he sees human exists independently in our body, in contrast to the Sanskrit knowledge as independent of that of the gods’; for him, word for mind, which means “working within”, presuming people set out to discover what is true on their own. Like an active embrace of sensation, perception and cognition. Xenofanus, he holds that human life is a path of constant Zerzan points to language’s reifi cation of the mind’s expe- search and inquiry. In contrast to his forerunners, Heracli- riences and, referencing the works of Freud and Lacan, cla- tus does not see human knowledge only as an accumula- ims that it was devised in order to suppress feelings, repre- tion of experiences linked to the external, he says: I sear- senting humanity’s mastery over the world. Quoting the ched into myself. He places humans somewhere between linguist Muller, Zerzan writes about the sickness of langua- the deity and the beast. The beasts, with their sensual im- ge, its distortion of thoughts and inability to describe things pressions, enter only the visible, while the god’s knowled- directly. ge also comprehends the invisible. Yet humans are able to There is a profound truth to the notion that “lovers combine the perceptions of their senses and feelings and need no words” (...) we must have a world of lovers, a thus speculate about the invisible. Empedoclus fi nally con- world of the face-to-face, in which even names can be for- cludes by saying what Descartes would write centuries la- gotten, a world which knows that enchantment is the op- ter. Starting with the assumption that human perception posite of ignorance.14 of the senses remains incomplete, based on the sense or- The constant spinning of the dancer and her convulsive gans which are narrowly limited and blunt the thoughts, twitching from the beginning and the end of the perfor- he says: during his life a man sees but little, he dies quic- mance represent an awareness of the error, of self-fallibi- kly, and is certain of only a few things which he happens lity, of the constant process of searching and the sense of to have encountered along the way12. powerlessness of absolute knowledge which is in fact impo- As a choreographer, Šćekić, of course, believes in the ssible, of knowledge that is wholly questionable and subject body, believes in its knowledge. She communicates with to continuous refutation, of the human error of separating body and dance, she conveys emotions and thoughts. Her the body, mind and spirit.  body is literally a medium. The fragment from the Gospel of John: In the beginning was the Word (and the Word was English translation: Andreja Jeličić with God, and the Word was God) (...) and the Word beca- me fl esh, shows a distrust of thought and trust in the body. Šćekić writes this text in Hebrew, where the sign for word 13 Rebić, Aldabert, “Značajke hebrejskog jezika u odnosu na spoznaju i interpretaciju”, in Bogoslovska smotra, Vol. 73, No 4, 11 Plato, Phaedrus, Oxford University Press, 2002. February 2004. 12 Snell, Bruno, The Discovery of the Mind in Greek Philosophy 14 Zerzan, John, Language: Origin and Meaning, /www.primiti- and Literature, Dover Publications, Inc. 1982, pp. 136-152. vism.com/language.htm. (Fifth Estate, winter 1984).

18 _ Kretanja 13/14 dance visual art:  dance visual art:

MAJA MARJANČIĆ MOVING IS THE LIGHT

Kretanja 13/14 _ 19 dance visual art:

< Indijski ples gertrud Leistikow, 1917. >

< Vježbe škole Leistikow, 1916. >

26 _ Kretanja 13/14 dance visual art: 

˝MAJA ĐURINOVIĆ The Exhibition and Afterwards Avant-Garde Tendencies in Croatia, Klovićevi dvori Gallery, 2007

he exhibition Avant-Garde Tendencies in Croa- the music of Detoni or Radica, performed at Theatre &TD, tia, conceptually designed by Zvonko Maković and where Mihajlo Arsovski was active as a designer, etc. The- Topened in the spring of 2007 at the Klovićevi dvori se names were present in the exhibition only within their Gallery, included dance for the fi rst time. Maković wanted own areas, but we were not able to “integrate them into a to cover all forms of artistic expression that had developed network of different areas”, which would now be possible.) simultaneously and often interacted with each other thus Avant-garde movements were born in the twentieth opening new ground for creation. It was also his wish to century: it was a world of technology and machines, speed “reconstruct the spiritual and cultural atmosphere in whi- and power that is both impressive and intimidating at the ch the Croatian avant-garde and neo-avant-garde practi- same time; a world of change, motions and actions, a world ce would develop and include all broader European direc- of movement. In the dance world, this is refl ected in the tions of the avant-garde movement”. I was invited to the resistance (and by that I mean both the resistance of spi- exhibition as the author of the section devoted to dance, rit and body) towards the system, institution, theatre and together with Branimir Donat (literature), Nikša Gligo and genre conventions. On one hand, there is trust in the inner Eva Sedak (music), Ljiljana Kolešnik (art critic), Ana Lederer impulse, improvisation and personal expression and on the (theatre), Zvonko Maković (fi ne art), Darija Radović-Mahe- other, the purity of the abstract, geometrical, automated čić (architecture), Marija Tonković (photography), Hrvoje rhythm of the marionette-body. A new dance, one that Turković (fi lm) and Feđa Vukić (design). Even though many requires a truly new man, and not a trained rhythms tea- interesting and inspirational facts came to light during our cher cloned for state parades and ceremonies which much cooperation, joint meetings and individual presentations, creative dance and rhythm education has turned into, but even more questions and issues were raised about the ba- one that focuses on the body as a starting point and basic lance of criteria and international context, as well as the artistic instrument, one that does not recognize nor accept segregation of individual works affi liated to a certain area. its historic position of an inferior, trivial and decorative This left no time or space for concrete possible interacti- expression. ons of us presenters and exhibitors; we tried to keep to our Ever since the efforts of Isadora Duncan through dance own areas at the previously arranged level. It was only af- performances, lectures and discussions before the Europe- ter the exhibition had opened did I discover possible new an artist and intellectual elite, dance has for over a century areas of cooperation. been viewed as an autonomous serious art, without decor (For example, Josip Vaništa designed a unique poster for or libretto; thanks to dance, there is a new era of art – and the Concert in the Museum of Arts and Crafts danced by motion and movement are one of the main characteristics KASP – Komorni ansambl suvremenog plesa/Chamber En- of avant-garde art. I have always tried to emphasize that semble of Free Dance in 1964, an ensemble that danced to dance is a form of basic choreographic expression created

Kretanja 13/14 _ 27 dance visual art:

by an author1. Of course, the problem is that dance is an tes with it,4 while consciously discovering combinations of unstable, fl uid structure whose conventions of genre are quality movements.5 becoming more and more permeable. What remains in the Avant-garde artists are intrigued by and playful in form of documentation are sketches of scenographies, co- using other media and are often the performers themsel- stumes, themes, the music, and that which is important – ves. Marinetti gives instructions for movement in his Ma- the choreography and the movements created in the con- nifesto of the Futurist Dance, but nobody perceives him as cept, structure, quality and performance of the performing a dance theorist because of that; Schlemmer creates cho- bodies – remains alive only through oral or written tran- reographies by trapping the body to serve the costume.6 smissions of what had been seen and remembered. Aga- He does not inscribe the body into space, but describes in, compromise is necessary: without the visual documen- the space with living fi gures, and Picasso designs the decor tation, a drawing, sketch, photo or painting, it is impossible and costumes for Cocteau’s ballet Parade7, where choreo- to even start to imagine the style, character, interpretation, grapher Léonide Massine is undoubtedly the last link in the and the history of dance in general. chain of authors. It is signifi cant that both female and male dancers du- The Russian Ballets and Diaghilev attracted the Euro- ring the 20th century, as conscious artists, especially those pean avant-garde and an audience that adores spectacle with connections to the avant-garde tendencies and whose and connections with famous names8, but if we discuss the style is shaped by attitude2, started not only to think out dance avant-garde of the Russian Ballets, we must mention loud, but also to write about the specifi c concepts of their Nijinski’s The Afternoon of a Faun, not because of Bakst’s personal notions of dance. Isadora’s shift (in the sense of costumes and scenography, but because of the strange and sdvig of the Russian avant-garde twenty years later) ope- static movements, tense moments and erotic scenes that ned some dark depths of subconscious rhythms and the za- shocked the theatre audience. umni language, as well as some new horizons to explore Zagreb did not have a strong ballet tradition to be chall- the theatre body beyond imagination; it caused a fi re and enged by the younger generation in order to build a new cleared the area; after her, anything was possible. Soon af- one. The domestic professional scene is specifi c for its pa- ter, the versatile and broadly educated Rudolf Laban would rallel development of classical ballet (which is actually the lay down the fi rm foundations to a scientifi c and analytic new Russian ballet and the European mainstream) and mo- approach to dance when it comes to choreology, pheno- dern new dance brought by Croatian female dancers after menology, history, sociology, ethnology and anthropolo- their return from renowned European schools, especially gy, modern dance education and dance writings3. Absolu- Vienna as a centre of modernism which was among the te dance does not require any kind of external accompani- fi rst in quality and number, searching for its personal style ment or decoration according to Laban. The body inscribes and expression. Namely, Margarita Froman came to Zagreb itself dynamically into the space, shapes it and communica- with her company in 1921 and started working on forming the national ballet ensemble and introducing famous ballets to audiences. Soon after in 1922 Mirjana Janeček perfor- med solo dance concerts similar to Duncan’s, but with 1 Loïe Fuller, to whom many ascribe greater meaning, has anot- emphasized dramatic expression. The artists present at the her way of discovering the scene, closer to the notions of fi ne art: exhibition in addition to Janeček included Vera Milčinović the magic of effects, illusionism, a view from the outside. Duncan‘s Tashamira, Mercedes Goritz-Pavelić and Mia Čorak Slaven- modernism starts on the inside; one can dance with their eyes closed, and the mirror, without which ballet is unthinkable, becomes 4 Choreutics is a theory of spatial harmony. redundant. 5 Eukinetics comprises the total expressivity of movement based 2 The question of artistic attitude as an important defi ning on factors of space, time, strength and fl ow. characteristic of the avant-garde was raised by Želimir Košćević at 6 In the Triadic Ballet of Oskar Schlemmer, “it is not the dancer a roundtable discussion connected to the exhibition Avant-garde who wears the costume, but the costume wears the dancer”, A. Tendencies in Croatia. Flaker, Avangardni teatar Sergija Glumca, Ex libris, Zagreb 2003. 3 Laban studied architecture, fi ne art, acting and dance; he was 7 To the music of Satie and choreography of Massine, by which friend with the Futurists and Dadaists in Switzerland, he opened Diaghilev started the cooperation of Russian Ballets with the Euro- School for Art that was active during the summers in Ascona and pean avant-garde in 1917. which investigated dance theatre in the open; he analyzed new 8 George Balanchine claimed that nobody in Europe likes dance. pathways of dance, dance drama and comedy, as well as group “They like spectacle, decorum, costumes, connection with the great dance; he opened schools across Europe and published a series of Picasso and Derain, great... People forget dance.” See interview with fundamental works in the theory of dance. L. Botta in Ples kao kazališna umjetnost S. J. Cohen, pp. 218-221.

28 _ Kretanja 13/14 dance visual art:  ska. They are not the only ones who were active in Croa- tia during those golden 1930s, but they were the ones who made the “fi rst steps” and shifts in the specifi c segments of the modern Croatian dance scene and were undoubtedly the carriers of avant-garde tendencies. But if we broaden our perspective to the complete do- mestic cultural scene to a time before the fi rst Croatian female dancers, we will fi nd dance as a topic of writing in the text by Antun Gustav Matoš (1873–1914), Croatian poet, about Isadora’s Parisian concert in 19039, and in the drawings by Anka Krizmanić (1896–1987), Croatian painter, whose constant theme and inspiration were female dancers ever since her education in Dresden (1913–1917). Josip Ko- vačić, who inherited and takes care of the Krizmanić herita- ge, mentions some 800 drawings, graphics and paintings of female dancers in different techniques in black ink and wa- tercolour. Anka Krizmanić sees life as movement and vice versa: movement as life. It is well-known that she fi nished some works of art later by memory and with the help of her sense of lines of the expressive body in action. While in Dresden, she followed and drew the dancer Gertrud Leisti- kow, and later Grete Wiesenthal, Isadora’s student and one Ivan Berislav Vodopja, who helped Šimičić with insight of the fi rst women of Viennese dance expressionism. There into some works by Sergije Glumac,11 brought my attention was also the famous couple Saharov, and Clotilde von Derp to three certain poster sketches. All three were connected herself. At that time, Anka Krizmanić also created her co- to the Jelisava Törne dance school and the fi rst one read: llection of wood carvings entitled Dance. School of rhythm gymnastics and choreographic move- It is obvious that the 1920s prepared the scene for new ment, the second: School of rhythm gymnastics / Laban’s generations to come and rethink dance in a modern way. science of movement, while the third only said: School of This is why Rudolf Laban had great success and stayed in rhythm gymnastics. The fi rst one I saw on the webpage of Zagreb in the spring of 1924 as part of his European tour. the Vodopija antique store resembled the style of the Dan- His ensemble Tanzbühne had members such as Vera Milči- ce Studies of Laban’s dancers that Šimičić wrote about. It is nović, the daughter of Croatian writers Andrija and Adela a sketch of a female dancer done in quick strokes of yellow Milčinović. Laban held a lecture on new dance at the ex- pastel colours on grey paper. The other two are kept in The hibition of the Spring Salon at the Art Pavilion, and his text Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb and show two fi gures “New dance art” was published in Scena10. The entire stay close to Glumac’s scenography projects of watercolour on in Zagreb was so successful that the ensemble, stayed a paper, whose focus is in the futuristic cubist reduction of whole six weeks instead of six days working on a new pro- human form to geometric shapes in a virtual scenic space.12 gramme. Zagreb was the place of a very lively discussion between two sides: the labans and the antilabans. In ad- dition to media coverage and interesting reviews, the stay 11 Sergije Glumac (1909–1964), a graphic artist and sceno- of Laban’s Dance Theatre was covered by Sergije Glumac’s grapher, was educated in Berlin (architecture), Paris (Academie Dance Studies. Sketched with quick strokes of pastels and rue d‘Odessa André Lhotea) and Zagreb. Šimičić noted that the using minimal colouration on small formats of paper, the infl uences of the international theatre avant-garde scene on studies of dancers point towards the conclusion that the- Glumac’s work are more than obvious. He exhibited in New York in se works were created while looking at the dancers. This is the 1920s (International Theatre Exposition), Paris and Barcelona – how the works were described in the book The Avant-Garde which passed unnoticed in Zagreb. The British Museum bought his Theatre of Sergije Glumac by Darko Šimičić. By comparing collection Le Métro in 1930. In Zagreb he worked as an assistant notes on the sketches with the titles of Laban’s programme, scenographer in the Croatian National Theatre. For the play Julius we can conclude without a doubt that it is the same event. Ceasar he fi rst introduced the rotating scene. After the 1950s he was renowned for his poster designs. 9 Pečalbe, 1913. 12 A. Flaker, Avangardni teatar Sergija Glumca, Ex libris, Zagreb, 10 Scena, 21 May 1924, Zagreb. 2003.

Kretanja 13/14 _ 29 dance visual art:

Laban, Rudolf, Život za ples, Zagreb: Naklada MD / Gesta / Hrvatski sabor kulture, 1993. Mercedes Goritz-Pavelić, Zagreb: Naklada MD / Gesta / Čvorak, 2000. Pojmovnik ruske avangarde, ed. by A. Flaker and D. Ugre- šić, GZH and Zavod za znanost o književnosti FF u Zagrebu, 1984 (vol. 1 and 2) and 1985 (vol. 3 and 4). Vizualnost, zagrebački pojmovnik kulture 20. stoljeća, ed. by A. Flaker and J. Užarević, FF, Zagreb, 2003. The Dance Encyclopedia, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967. Ana Maletić, Biografi ja, a manuscript. Mirjana Janeček, materials handed in to Maja Đurinović. Vera Milčinović Tashamira, materials kept in HAZU – De- partment of history of Croatian literature, theatre and mu- sic/Department for the history of theatre. Scena, revija za sve pojave scenskog života, Zagreb, 21 May 1924. It was Törne who fi rst mentioned Mercedes Goritz-Pa- Kretanja, časopis za plesnu umjetnost, Nr. 2, Hrvatski cen- velić to me, who was her student in modern expressive dan- tar ITI UNESCO, Zagreb, 2004. ce classes on Preradović Square in Zagreb in 1924 or 1925. Kretanja, časopis za plesnu umjetnost, Nr. 5, Hrvatski cen- Whether the school later moved (or was located previously) tar ITI UNESCO, Zagreb, 2006. in Dalmatinska 5 in Zagreb, as is shown on one of the po- Cantus, glasilo Hrvatskog društva skladatelja, Nr. 120, Za- sters, as well as the actual time of Törne’s arrival to and de- greb, April 2003. parture from Zagreb, remains yet to be discovered. In seve- Tvrđa, časopis za teoriju, kulturu i vizualne umjetnosti, Nr. ral issues of the magazine World in 1926 and 1927, I found 1/2, Hrvatsko društvo pisaca, Zagreb, 2006. reviews of dance exercises and shows directed by “famous In principio era il corpo… exhibition catalogue L’Arte del dance and rhythm movement teacher” Jelisava Törne, who Movimento a Mosca negli anni ’20, Electa, Milano 1999. also created the choreography. This shows that the time of La Danza delle Avanguardie, exhibition catalogue Dipinti, the design of the poster is obviously the time of Laban’s stay scene e costumi, de Degas a Picasso, da Matisse a Keith in Zagreb, which leads to the conclusion that the fi rst dance Haring, Skira, Ginevra-Milano, 2005. schools in Zagreb dated as far into the past as the 1920s. 

English translation: Sonja Novak

LITERATURE: Avangardni teatar Sergija Glumca, Ex libris, Zagreb, 2003. Duncan, Isadora, Moje uspomene, Publisher Ante Velzek, Zagreb, 1944. Cohen, Selma Jeanne, Ples kao kazališna umjetnost, Za- greb: Cekade, 1988. Đurinović, Maja and Zvonimir Podkovac, Mia Čorak Sla- venska, Zagreb: Naklada MD / Ogranak MH Slavonski Brod, 2004. Edward, Lucie-Smith, Umjetnost danas, Zagreb: Mladost, 1978. Goldberg, RoseLee, Perfomance Art, Thames and Hudson, 1988, reprinted edition, Mladinska knjiga, Slovenija, 1993. Hrvatsko narodno kazalište u Zagrebu 1840 / 1860 / 1992, Zagreb: Croatian national theatre in Zagreb and ŠK, 1992.

30 _ Kretanja 13/14 dance visual art: 

Kretanja 13/14 _ 31 dance visual art:

32 _ Kretanja 13/14 dance visual art: 

Kretanja 13/14 _ 33 Milko Sparamblek:

34 _ Kretanja 13/14 Milko Sparemblek: 

Introductory Notes:

The editorial board of the journal Kretanja (Movements) initiated and orga- nised a symposium on the work of Milko Šparemblek on the occasion of the artist’s 80th birthday. The conference was held at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb on 1 December 2008, the same theatre in which Šparemblek, at the invitation of Ana Roje and Oskar Harmoš, began his dancing career in 1947. This fi rst such symposium gathered admirers of Šparemblek’s work, his associates and friends – not to utter praises and recount a truly impressive biography, but with the wish and need to interpret and reinterpret his works. From the point of view of different sets of instruments related to the source of analysis and generations of authors, the symposium brought together a variety of approaches and insights that, which was evident immediately, barely scratched the surface of this impre- ssive corpus.

Šparemblek staged his fi rst choreographies Quatuor (1957), Les Amants de Teruel (1959), Héros et miroirs (1960) in Paris, in the companies of Milorad Miš- ković (Ballet des Etoiles de Paris) and Ludmilla Tcherina, and his latest ones, Son- gs of Love and Death (2007) and The Miraculous Mandarin (2008), world-wide hits, were recently restaged in Croatian theatres. This is the framework of fi fty years of intensive authorial work during which Šparemblek staged more than a hundred performances and made some forty TV fi lms and programmes; he was the ballet master in Maurice Béjart’s Ballet de XXe siècle in Brussels, director of the Ballet of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Gulbenkian Ballet in Li- sbon, the Ballet in Lyon, and fi nally, briefl y the Ballet of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.

The presentations from the symposium on the work of Milko Šparemblek were collected and printed in a special issue of Kretanja 11 (2009). Here we pre- sent a selection of the texts that we believe will stimulate foreign theoreticians and historians of dance to research the work of this important and Croatian and international dance artist who is still active today.

Maja Đurinović

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< FOTO: Saša Novković >

VJERAN ZUPPA LUDIO DOCTUS on Milko Šparemblek, something completely outside the profession

n modern European poetry some, albeit very rare, po- while creatively focused on the world of dance, and with ets have been called ‘learned’. For instance, Ezra Pound each of his works he has problematically entered the de- I or T. S. Eliot were awarded that special attribute: Poeta manding contemporary stage, penetrating at the same time Doctus, meaning: learned poet. the exceptionally complex world of the body. In Croatian poetry however, those who are altogether The world of the body came to be neglected or dismi- different have always been particularly valued; poets who ssed as a problem by classical philosophical ethics and es- distinguished themselves primarily by ‘natural talent’ and pecially church moralism, and was completely abandoned certain ‘poetic skills’. But not by any particular intellect or by mysticism. In fact, only in the fi eld of aesthetics has the undertakings in such areas of knowledge where mere asso- body – because of its capacity for transfi guration – been ciation with them, it was considered (and still is), might lastingly thematized. have any impact on what was called “the autonomy of the Only at the beginning of the last century, if we may by- poetic word”. In more recent times, for instance, Vlado Go- pass Nietzsche, and thanks to the works of Husserl, Mer- tovac was frequently evaluated in literary criticism as a poe- leau-Ponty, G. Marcel and some, very rare others (e.g. G. ta doctus, a ‘learned poet’, which is exactly why he is large- Deleuze), has the body been entirely seriously and theore- ly underestimated in our literary-historical appraisal. tically centralised. And this primarily due to the fruitful for- Just ten years ago, in a conversation with Milko Špa- mulation: Je suis mon corps (M. Merleau-Ponty), where the remblek (Nemo propheta, interview with A. Juniku and G. thus described ‘I’ equally implies both the distance and the S. Pristaš, Frakcija No 8/1998) I read his, rather offhand, lack of distance from the body. remark that he has “for four years now been proscribed Everything started though with the lesser known obser- from the Croatian National Theatre (CNT) in Zagreb” and vation by Husserl that the cognitive, Cartesian: I think, is that he is “in general, a persona non grata” there. inseparably linked with the motoric of the body itself, and An entire decade has passed since, and the situati- that it should therefore state: I can. on with Šparemblek, including that with the CNT, has not I would hold that literally all of Šparemblek’s dance per- always remained the same. However, Šparemblek was and formances, at least in the last two decades, have been for- has acted always in the same way: exceptionally learned mulated with a deep sense for that subjective problem of

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the body. For the problem of the originary attachment of ‘I is also refl ected in the TV fi lm about Ujević2 (1981), as well think’ alongside ‘I can’. as from the previously mentioned interview in which he hi- A careful viewing of Šparemblek’s most recent and, at storically reliable, and theoretically relevant, says: the same time, most complex performances – Johannes “Classical technique is a great enigma. The question is Faust Passion (2001) and The Songs of Love and Death how it came to be at all. This idealization of the body, up to (2007) – confi rms this entirely. Here, that very important its utmost possibilities, makes an excellent foundation. It is third role within Jean Wahl’s metaphysical, threefold distri- a European invention, and Europe is something very large, bution of the ‘roles of the body’, is fully confi rmed. it has 5000 years of history. People forget something else: It is the role where the body “ensures a metamorphosis Aeschylus is an excellent choreographer. Sophocles was a of ideas into things” (J. Wahl). well-known dancer, an excellent interpreter of female roles. Only when that role of the body – the role of ensuring None of these people spat on it [dance, transl. note] but ra- a transformation of ideas into things – is taken into consi- ther engaged in it. Today the [theatre] director looks upon deration, will Šparemblek’s remark from the already menti- the choreographer and the dancer as inferiors. Yet, I repeat, oned conversation take on its exceptionally serious, critical, when the fi rst performance in the history of the world hap- and not some completely casual, polemical character. pened, we were there.” “Zagreb tradition, for instance, still has balletomanes So when I say that Milko Šparemblek is for now the who clap frenetically when a lady turns three times on one only ludio doctus, that he is the only “learned player” on toe, which, of course, is absurd as this in no way comprises the stage of our dance theatre, then I would gladly add that the art of ballet but is simply a skill.” all that is basic and all that is opulent in Šparemblek stems Since I do not belong among the experts in the fi - precisely from a certain presence of his at that time “when eld of dance art, I must particularly emphasize some of the fi rst performance in the history of the world happened”. Šparemblek’s opinions or point to those performative mo- Hence, it stems from his prehistoric impression of Theatre; ments that the rationality of my claim depends on that Mil- from his Aeschylus, the choreographer; and his Sophocles, ko Šparemblek is completely different from all our other the dancer. dance artists. That is because he is our fi rst, and for now If, however, we leave this story to one side, we still have only, ludio doctus. A learned player. at our disposal at least the concepts of the “basic” and the The concepts ludio or ludius have since Roman times “opulent” in the aesthetic of Milko Šparemblek. signifi ed a player, actor or dancer who “practices acting, The basic which I have in mind here is Šparemblek’s dancing and pantomimic dancing as a craft” (M. Divković, special attitude towards the dance “skill”, then towards the 1899). balletic “idealization of the body, to the end”, and fi nally, And I have correlated this ludio, this ludius, this player towards the “theatre of dance”. and artisan dancer with doctus, learned, because only From the “skill” emerges the body as craftwork. From when these terms are combined can a complete description the classical “idealization of the body, to the end”, con- of Šparemblek’s creative and working persona be given. stantly anew, an ideal body is being announced. And The screen of such a person is drawn from all directions: Šparemblek’s “theatre of dance” counts only on the corpus of course, also from the fact that he used to be a student of of the work. Not on the story, or the narrative, but on the comparative literature which ‘excites him to this very day; semiotic doublet of the concept “body”: on the “texture”; from having been a volunteer in the ballet of Oskar Har- on the fabric of the work itself. moš1; a Zagreb dance volunteer, and also a member of the Thus the economy of the dance performance is always Metropolitan Opera in New York for several years; from ha- formed from the relations of dependence between the ving been a dancer who “goes from one company to anot- three bodies: the dependence of the craftwork and ideal her” but also a ballet director and author of numerous cho- body, and the corpus of the body. All stage metamorphoses reographies. of ideas into things depend on this too. However, the character of ludio doctus is particularly The opulence I have in mind here is primarily in drawn from Šparemblek’s major ballets, which are above all, Šparemblek’s complex and continuous work on the “chore- I would say, his “dramatised refl ections” (P. Sloterdijk). This oact”. I adopt this term from the “credits” of Šparemblek’s TV fi lm produced under the title A Gesture for Tin (1981), and which Milko Šparemblek holds especially dear. 1 Oskar Harmoš (1911–92), a Croatian ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer; director of the Ballet of the Croatian National Theatre (1941–53) [transl. note]. 2 Tin Ujević, Croatian poet (1891–1955) [transl. note].

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I hold that the opulence in Milko Šparemblek’s aesthe- the stage; the theatre and everything theatre. When this is tic derives from the combination of two principal moments. happening, there are no more characters on stage or their The fi rst is the just mentioned choreoact, the main act in “characteristics”. No types or roles. the “fabric” of the dance performance. It is the main ele- That stage is at the same time the stage of a truly deep ment through which Šparemblek forms the very “texture” inner-worldly change. It is a stage of the singular. And only or corpus of the work; its body. the “singular is plural” says Luc-Nancy, very simply. It is The other moment in the combination which leads precisely through such an “emplacement” of the body, that towards Šparemblek’s aesthetic opulence is to be found in its really last aesthetic transfi guration comes about. the already mentioned dramatization of refl ection. Špa- Under the aegis of Milko Šparemblek’s “dance thea- remblek dramatizes it through a special theatrical grasp. tre”, a rather serious contemporary thought about the su- Since this grasp – I do have to say it now – includes nu- bjectivity of the body has also been “carried out” on our merous characteristics of that famous late-Romantic Ge- theatre stage. It was carried out due to the long work and samtkunstwerk, it can be said that Johannes Faust Passion Šparemblek’s enormous creative grasp of the problem. We and The Songs of Love and Death especially are contem- have also acquired signifi cant dance performances by our porary, post-dramatic relatives of the Gesamtkunstwerk. only “learned player”: Ludio Doctus. Here, at its very foundation, is, of course, ballet. However, Yet, what has Milko Šparemblek received from us? That the dancer here in Šparemblek’s post-dramatic relative of is, if he did not become resigned a long time ago to what the Gesamtkunstwerk is not fully “embodied” in any of is stated in the title of the long-ago conversation: Nemo the characters; rather it could be said that in it the dancer’s propheta in patria.  body is continuously being “emplaced” (J. Luc-Nancy). It takes over the whole stage and everything belonging to English translation: Andreja Jeličić

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< FOTO: Saša Novković >

DARKO GAŠPAROVIĆ On Milko Šparemblek’s DRAMATURGY

Accompanying the performance Pjesma i grijeh (Song and Sin), Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka, premiere 7 December 1997

ow the unpredictable dramaturgy of life can get gs, evoked the tumultuous and passionate love episode with entangled even in the most professional and the wife of his benefactor Otto Wesendonk who gave him H most intelligent dramaturgy of theatrical work of shelter in Zurich from 1857 to 1859. These were the years art was proved by the case of the performance of Milko of exile from his native Germany because of his participa- Šparemblek’s Song and Sin that he produced at the Croa- tion in the revolutionary events of the year 1848. Howe- tian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka in 1997. It was ver, from an aesthetical point of view, Wesendonk-Lieder his fi rst production in Rijeka where he came at the invitati- stand for preparation, one could even say in the melodic on of the newly appointed Ballet director Leo Stipaničić. It sense a sketchy fl ing, for the composing of the great ope- should be noted that this was during the crisis period of the ra love song Tristan and Isolde. Seven Deadly Sins, a ballet Ballet of Rijeka which had not received any fi nancing from with singing, developed from the cooperation of composer the city budget for the third year in a row, and was barely Kurt Weill with Bertolt Brecht in 1933, immediately before being maintained with a minimum number of dancers only they emigrated from the Nazi regime to the United States of thanks to the investment of the theatre itself. Under the co- America. Following outstanding operas – The Threepenny mmon, symbolic title the performance linked two comple- Opera and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagony – Weill tely different parts into a meaningful whole: Mathilde by turned to ballet. This was mostly due to his acquaintance Richard Wagner and Seven Deadly Sins by Bertolt Brecht with the great choreographer George Balanchine. This is a and Kurt Weill. It should have been performed as the last story of two sisters, called Anna I and Anna II, or practical premiere of the season in June 1997. We shall explain why Anna represented by a singer and beautiful Anna embodied it did not come to that later, after we have analysed the by a dancer. “We started for the great big cities in search of conceptual texture and dramaturgical implementation of our fortune…” is the fi rst verse of the song at the beginning the project. of this peculiar musical-stage creation. Leaving their home Šparemblek found the inspiration for the fi rst work in to fi nd resources for a house their family needed, the sisters Richard Wagner’s Wesendonk-Lieder, in which the great wander about America and perforce commit all the seven opera reformer, composing fi ve Mathilde Wesendonk son- deadly sins (which are, together with the Prologue and Fina-

Kretanja 13/14 _ 47 Milko Sparemblek:

letto also the seven movements of the work: Sloth, Vanity, na Brandiboura), and the old Mathilde who remembers her Anger, Covetousness, Lust, Avarice, Envy). The Seven De- youth and passionate love with Wagner by a singer (Mire- adly Sins premiered in Balanchine’s ballet troupe, but it was lla Toić, alternating with Eunok Kim). But the two periods not successful and there have only been a few performan- are not strictly separated all the time, because old Mathilde ces from then to this day. constantly communicates with her own past, and in seve- When after careful deliberation Šparemblek suggested ral instances she enters into direct contact with her young the union of these two seemingly completely different, and double. The culmination of the drama occurs when young indeed contrary works – for what can actually link the my- Mathilde, crushed by love pains, seeks shelter in the bosom stique of erotic passion propagated by Wagner with the of her aged double, who is the only person who understan- socially, and in addition politically and radically committed ds her in the state of perfect empathy. In the Seven Deadly author such as Brecht?! – he must have had in mind that Sins the duplication is built into the work itself because We- some dramaturgical connection must exist between them ill and Brecht purposefully created the character of Anna di- nevertheless. Namely, for a master of total theatre, to vided into dancer and singer, designing the acting-singing whom ballet is the primary but by no means the only me- role for Weill’s wife Lotte Lenya. Šparemblek assigned the ans of theatrical expression so he reaches out not only for role of Anna I to Olivera Baljak, an actress from Rijeka, who song but for the spoken word as well, the theatre master in addition to an exemplary acting career also has a pretty for whom the supreme reign of the art of dramaturgy is the mezzo that she had started developing by studying in the condition sine qua non of the theatrical act – and that is private academy of Ino Mirković in Lovran a year earlier. For Milko Šparemblek in the fullness of his artistic being – not- Anna II he invited the prima ballerina of the Rijeka Ballet hing can ever be accidental. So it must be the case here too. Diana Zdešar, who at the same time worked as the assi- Let us then think where this invisible link is. stant to the choreographer, as well as the young ballerina It is diffi cult to fi nd it in the stories themselves. Wagner’s Mateja Pučko, recently engaged by the Croatian National music of Mathilde’s songs of pining in the spirit of Late Ro- Theatre in Zagreb. Having in mind the already mentioned manticism takes us to the unreal world of old things and two-year-long crisis of the Rijeka Ballet, the performance emotions experienced long ago. Everything here is full of was awaited not only as an unprecedented artistic experi- evoking the erotic passion, the same eros and thanatos that ence but also as the revival of the Ballet. in the greatness of opera form also carries Tristan and Isolde. It was then that the unpredictable dramaturgy of life in- On the contrary, Brecht-Weill’s story from the 1930s, the tervened. period of horrible economic crisis and culmination of the po- litical power of totalitarian systems, puts individual destiny ust before the opening night, during one of the last re- in the context of fi erce criticism of the capitalist system that hearsals, due to some unfortunate circumstances, Oli- treats man as a thing who has to fi ght for survival at any J vera Baljak fell from the stage into the orchestral pit cost. At that time Brecht, as a convicted Marxist, unswer- and ended up with a serious hip fracture. She had to under- vingly believed that theatre can – and must – change the go an operation, have a metal rod inserted and face a long world. That is why in his works eros is reduced to bare sex in convalescence. It was clear straight away that she would the function of procuring money, as the God of Capital co- not be back on stage for the entire next season. mmands. The melancholic and decadent world of past love, In the autumn, the second part of Song and Sin had to that has forever remained embedded in the soul and tran- start from the beginning so to say. After the audition, the sformed into an aesthetic experience with song and music, role of Anna I, the practical one, was entrusted to Jozefi - is contrasted with the rough and callous world of Capital na Jurišić, a young singer from Rijeka. Šparemblek himself where there is defi nitely no place for emotions. recounted how he turned this human and theatrical misfor- Let us now postpone for a moment the search for the tune into artistic gain in his interview with Svjetlana Hribar, answer to the question where is the dramatic connection in the supplement Mediteran (Mediterranean) of the Rijeka of these worlds hidden in the dramaturgical idea and stage daily Novi list (New Paper) before opening night, in ear- realisation of Milko Šparemblek, in order to introduce the ly December 1997. Since this paragraph also leads to the already mentioned dramaturgy of life. understanding of Maestro’s complex comprehension of the After having worked with the ensemble for two months, theatrical process, it is useful to cite it in full: Šparemblek fi nalised the performance towards the end of This postponement – improved the performance. Some May 1997. He introduced the duplication of the main cha- time was necessary for the idea to “fall into place” with racter in both components, so that in Wagner the charac- people, that they become accustomed completely, beca- ter of young Mathilde was performed by a dancer (Oxa- use no matter how long the period for the June opening

48 _ Kretanja 13/14 Milko Sparemblek:  was, some time had to pass – especially with regards to the stalgic emotion than with theme. Apart from love, there is dancers, who were faced with a consequential number of a feeling of home, a bygone childhood, and all of this is, unknowns – to overcome the transference from their own as it always exists in the lyrical, happening in the poetical context of usual behaviour and the imposition of somet- evocation. This is the case of fi xation of a moment caught hing new. To change the way of the play, voice, and way for eternity. Although there are still no leitmotivs in sensu of singing – all that hurts. Now that is defi nitely set in the stricto, the melody naturally traverses from one song into people and we can perform. another and thus creates a bridge over which the compo- This might contain the gist of Šparemblek’s theatrical ser will reach the unbroken melody that he will masterfu- poetics. The idea must fi rst “fall into place” with the au- lly develop in his later operas, in The Ring of Nibelung and thor, then with the performers to whom he is transferring Parsifal. In Šparemblek’s dramaturgical idea, which he de- it with patient work on numerous details, and in parallel veloped in the choreography and directing in an exemplary constantly stimulating their creative engagement. This is manner, the classical love triangle – wife, husband, lover – a painful process because it demands a more or less radi- follows the same logical linear story line from the acquain- cal change of behaviour and gradual mastering of the un- tance, beginning of the relationship, its passionate culmina- knowns, and that can be achieved only by a bold break- tion and resigned fi nale, and the more important, nonlinear through from routine as a prerequisite for any creativity. optics which are expressed by the inexhaustible imaginati- When the yearning is fulfi lled, and that is the targeted mee- on through the symbolic staging of scenes. Here the aut- ting point of the author’s creative idea and its total adopti- hor, as a modern devotee of the excellent dance and musi- on by the performers – and it is of course, not enough that cal classic, creatively examines the beauty and harmony of they adopt it mechanically, but with full investment of their classical aesthetics in its modernist mirror and applies this in own creative power and imagination – the process reaches the coherent dramaturgical schedule. its realisation in the performing act. Then that illuminating The music-dance-drama dramaturgy of Brecht and Wei- happiness of creation explodes, that is transferred to the ll in Seven Deadly Sins is not only different, but we dare say, audience, creating a powerful synergetic circle of thoughts even completely contrary. It is built on two parallel story and feelings. lines. The fi rst and principal one is realised on the dance- All three known forms of intelligent cognition are at acting-singing plan and it leads the line of travels and “sin- work here: intellectual, intuitive and emotional. If one of ful” situations of Anna, a subject torn into duality, and the these components is lacking, it is impossible to create total second, subsidiary one is instigated by Anna’s family thro- theatre. Quite often, Šparemblek’s poetics is deemed and ugh situations realised by a quartet of singers. Šparemblek considered as exclusively intellectual, even more intellectu- added a third plan – the dramatic one. He introduced two alistic. By this token, Šparemblek’s theatre would be a hig- clowns in a kind of interplay who interpret some selected hly sophisticated and refi ned (should we say – cold) intellec- passages from Brecht’s poetic opus, and they pertain to his tual game. However, this is not so. Because Šparemblek’s biography and socio-political engagement: from “the man entire artistic being strives to its realisation in the fullness of who came from the black forests”, through an expressioni- intellectual and emotional eros, which, in its turn, fi nds its stic entrance to a Marxist-oriented fi erce critic of capitalism. concretisation in total artistic work. That being works with Thus he once again created a total work of art from the the passion of an indefatigable researcher on the perfect Brechtian paradigm. arrangement of hundreds and thousands of details to reach Here we come to the macro-plan where the connection the essence of One. of two counterpoint parts of the whole can be seen. This The unpredictability of dramaturgy can only delay this is, consequently, the performance work of art as the all- passion, but never prevent it as it was shown on the exam- encompassing theatre of total expression. In this sense, the ple of the performance in Rijeka. chosen paradigm speaks like pars pro toto. To the two dra- maturgical categories, that of the aesthetical topic and that et us go back to the inner, structural dramaturgy of of life, we can now add the third, which has undoubted- two parts of one act. First individually and then we ly entered into Šparemblek’s performance: the artistic and L shall embark on the search for the union into the dramaturgical context of the Rijeka theatre at the end of mentioned One. Needless to say, on the macro-plan, be- the last and the fi rst decade of this century. It is substanti- cause on the micro-plan, as is to be expected, we shall fi nd ally marked by the focus on the theatre of total expression, no common points. with the participation and permeation of all aspects of the- The musical dramaturgy of Wesendonk-Lieder is ba- atrical artistic activity. This stylistic determinant of the new sed on fi ve loosely linked songs – more with the same, no- Rijeka theatre started at the end of February 1990 with Fa-

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brio-Gašparević’s Vježbanje života (Exercise of Life), direc- ving out stellar moments during the last seasons. Althou- ted by Georgij Paro. This line is clearly visible today throu- gh an interesting deliberation of dramaturgical procedures gh some other performances and Song and Sin, but this is could be developed on this example as well, starting from not the occasion or place to further elaborate on it. But it Šparemblek’s parallel positioning of classic-modern (this is here that the participation of Milko Šparemblek should time united in essentially romantic ethos), we yield from a fi nally be determined – not only in the revival of the Rijeka broader elaboration because our goal was to present our Ballet but also of the total repertory of the Croatian Natio- theses on one paradigmatic sample. nal Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc – with this theatrical (double)act as It is obvious that the centre of observation and anal- being huge, in fact immeasurable. ysis of Milko Šparemblek’s art in this text is directed to his dramaturgy. Although it was analysed on only one of many n the 2007/2008 season Milko Šparemblek returned to examples, this suffi ces to conclude in the end: the great in- the stage of the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc ternational choreographer, creatively active even in his ei- I in Rijeka, originally staging Epitaph for Frédéric to the ghties, is at the same time an excellent dramaturge. This is, music of Frédéric Chopin and for the fourth time his no- we can say in the end, self-understanding – because one is table choreography of The Miraculous Mandarin by Bela simply impossible without the other.  Bartók. This was yet anther triumph of the Rijeka Ballet which under the artistic direction of Staša Zurovac, an out- standing choreographer and excellent dancer, has been li- English translation: Jasenka Zajec

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