Borna Babić & Eliana Stragapede: AMAE NO KŌZŌ - performance 4.7.2026.
Eliana Stragapede and Borna Babić, choreographers, performers, and founders of the dance company Paper Bridge, return to the Mediterranean Dance Center with AMAE NO KŌZŌ, a full-length work partially developed during their residency at MPC.
4 July 2026 at 20:00
Mediterranean Dance Center, Svetvinčenat
ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE
AMAE NO KŌZŌ explores the intricate dynamics of co-dependency in human relationships, the longing to be passively loved and the need to surrender to another person’s care and indulgence.
In search of a deeper understanding of this profoundly human need, the performance also examines how emotional bonds are shaped by external influences and social structures. Moving between stepping beyond one’s comfort zone and retreating into protection, the work navigates the tension between attachment and autonomy.
Through different forms of relationships, the performance uncovers universal patterns of co-dependency and questions the forces that keep people together or drive them toward escape. AMAE NO KŌZŌ opens a space for reflecting on the complexity of human connection and the personal and collective nature of dependency in today’s world.
CAST & CREDITS
Concept, choreography and performance: Eliana Stragapede and Borna Babić
Dramaturgy: Margherita Scalise
Music: Nenad Kovačić
Voice: Teresa Campos
Original music: Lola Beltràn
Light design: Joaquín Hernández
Production: Paper Bridge
Special thanks: RV, Akira Yoshida and Mathieu Minjoulat-Rey
Supported and funded by: Abril en Danza, Associazione RIESCO, Ultima Vez, TWAIN Centro Produzione Danza, Mediterranean Dance Center San Vincenti, Associazione Tersicorea, Zinnema Brussels, CCC Escorxador, Arniches Theater, OtraDanza.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Eliana Stragapede (Italy, 1996) and Borna Babić (Croatia, 1994) are a choreographic duo, dancers, and teachers based in Brussels. Together they lead the dance company Paper Bridge, founded in 2025. Both graduated from Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam and began their professional careers collaborating with Marina Mascarell and Club Guy & Roni. Over the past years, they have worked with numerous internationally renowned choreographers and contemporary dance companies. After working with Tanzmainz in Germany, Eliana Stragapede joined the dance theatre company Peeping Tom in 2020, performing in Triptych, while continuing collaborations with Club Guy & Roni in the Netherlands. Since 2019, Borna Babić has collaborated with Ultima Vez / Wim Vandekeybus and has also worked with Olivier de Sagazan.
Their work AMAE received the first prize for choreography at the Copenhagen International Choreography Competition 2022, alongside production awards from Nederlands Dans Theater and Holstebro Dansekompagni. At the Rotterdam International Choreographic Competition 2023, the work also received partnership awards from Codarts and Dansateliers. In 2025, Eliana and Borna were commissioned to create a new work for NDT2 as part of the Up & Coming project, and also choreographed for Bayerisches Staatsballett in Munich, sharing the evening with international artists including Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, curators of the programme. In 2026, they will create a new work for Xiexin Dance Theatre in Shanghai.