Iztok Kovač is a choreographer and founder of En–Knap. Following the international success of his solo How I Caught a Falcon (1991), he became one of the key figures in the development of Slovenian contemporary dance. He founded En–Knap Group, Slovenia's first permanent contemporary dance ensemble, and serves as artistic director of both En–Knap and the Španski borci Cultural Centre. His works have toured internationally for more than three decades. Additionally, his artistic practice includes six dance films, international pedagogical work, guest choreography and the direction of major national events in Slovenia. During the Covid period, he initiated Stage360, developing dance works in virtual reality.
The central tension that generates and shapes all others revolves around a simple question: who is the choreographer, and what role does she or he play in a contemporary dance performance? Is the choreographer a solitary creative genius, an autonomous artistic mind who conceives and composes a work from beginning to end? Or is the choreographer primarily a coordinator, establishing the conditions and rules through which the creative energies of autonomous collaborators can interact? Although Iztok Kovač has often argued that “the era of choreographers, composers and producers as autonomous minds is coming to an end, and that the selection of collaborators is becoming increasingly important”, his new work does not offer a one-sided answer to this methodological and ethical dilemma. Instead, it pursues a third path: an analytical exploration of the question itself.