We opened the festival with 14 works from 13 countries. Through social media formats and pop hits, Francesca Santamaria explored toxic positivity. She was joined on stage by Heung Won Lee, whom we first encountered at the Teatri Riflessi festival in Sicily. Slovenian dancer and choreographer Nik Rajšek, who works in the Netherlands, completed the opening stage programme with the premiere of Kink. We continued the evening on the dance floor with DJ Cianid.
On the second and third festival days, Inka Romani, Rebecca Margolick, Charles Brecard, Ching-Ying Chien and Andrea Costanzo Martini took to the stage. In selecting dance films with our partners Moovy Tanzfilmfestival and COORPI – La danza in 1 minuto, we sought works that move beyond familiar ideas of dance and reveal movement as a choreographic force in unexpected places. In the Oder360 gallery, VR works brought audiences closer to the performers through a different experience of their movement and space. Many of these works were created in collaboration with Moving Balkans.
Through conversations with Greta Pieropan, we explored dance and artistic creation across different media. Greta Griniūtė and Rebeka Bratož Gornik joined us as special guests for the film premieres. We closed the festival with our first-ever Late Night Movies programme — a bold exploration of intimacy and desire, with a special focus on the films of Greta Griniūtė.
Charles Brecard and Ching-Ying Chien (whom we also organised a regional tour to Rijeka, Maribor and Zagreb for) led workshops for En–Knap Group dancers and the local dance community.
Alongside the performing artists, we were joined by representatives of Teatri Riflessi from Sicily, COORPI from Turin, ULTRA Screendance Festival from Udine and HKD na Sušaku from Rijeka, partners in the VR programme, as well as partners from the Moving Balkans and Pan-Adria networks. Representatives of the Spanish and Dutch embassies and the Italian Cultural Institute joined us to support and meet the representative artists.
Our special thanks go to Mateja Demšič and the City of Ljubljana for joining us and for the opening address. Thank you to all the artists, partners and audience members who helped shape NaKnap’s second edition — for your curiosity, conversations and the evenings we shared!
