Danube Dance Alliance: Recyclism, dance miniatures & VR premiere of Dancescapes - 5.7.2026.
Throughout 2026, the international project Danube Dance Alliance brings contemporary dance into abandoned public spaces across five cities in the region. Through performances, new choreographic works and virtual reality, the project explores the relationship between space, community and movement, creating new ways for audiences to encounter contemporary dance.
One of the project locations is Svetvinčenat, where on July 5 audiences will experience an evening bringing together the premiere of a new Zagreb Dance Company production, dance miniatures by international choreographers, and the premiere of the VR film Dancescapes.
PROGRAMME
19:00 – Recyclism, premiere of a new work by Ognjen Vučinić, Žlinja
19:30 – Dance Miniatures, choreographies by Maša Kolar, Aleksandar Saša Ilić, Nik Rajšek and Branko Mitrović, Žlinja
20:00 – Dancescapes, premiere of the VR film directed by Enya Belak, first screening, MDC
20:45 – Dancescapes, premiere of the VR film directed by Enya Belak, second screening, MDCThe evening continues with an informal gathering of artists, partners and audiences, accompanied by music and additional programme activities developed within the Danube Dance Alliance project.
RECYCLISM
Recyclism is a new work by Ognjen Vučinić, produced by Zagreb Dance Company and the Mediterranean Dance Center. Starting from the idea of space as a place of transformation, Vučinić explores what happens to movements, choreographies and memories after performances complete their stage life. Inspired by processes of recycling, the work examines how physical, emotional and creative energy is not lost, but rather transformed from one form into another. Through the dancers’ bodies, these traces are reworked into new situations and acquire new meanings.
The performance incorporates material from earlier Zagreb Dance Company productions as well as from the artistic oeuvre of Ognjen Vučinić.
Choreography: Ognjen Vučinić
Created with and performed by: Lara Kapeloto, Iva Katarinčić, Silvija Musić, Linda Tarnovski
Music: Melita Lovričević
Costumes: Ana Fucijaš, Zdravka Ivandija Kirigin (from The Devil’s Garden)
Production: Zagreb Dance Company, Mediterranean Dance Center San Vincenti
Supported by: Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, City of Zagreb, Istria County, Municipality of Svetvinčenat
DANCE MINIATURES
As part of the programme, audiences will have the opportunity to see short dance works choreographed by Maša Kolar, Aleksandar Saša Ilić, Nik Rajšek and Branko Mitrović, performed by dancers from Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Created within the Danube Dance Alliance project, these miniatures bring together artists from across the region and present excerpts from full-length productions developed in the partner countries throughout the project.
DANCESCAPES
The final part of the programme is dedicated to the premiere of Dancescapes, a 360° VR dance experience directed by Enya Belak that brings together five choreographers and nineteen performers on a journey through sites across the Adriatic-Balkan region.
The film connects locations in Trbovlje, Velenje, Belgrade, Sarajevo and Svetvinčenat, creating a unique choreographic composition between landscapes, architecture and the histories embedded in these places. Each location served as the inspiration for a new choreographic segment created specifically for the project.
According to director Enya Belak, Dancescapes is an escape into dance, an ode to silent spaces and forgotten presences, where movement reactivates places that have lost their original function. Through music, light and choreography, the film connects different communities and opens new perspectives on the past and future of the spaces we inhabit.
Director: Enya Belak
Choreography: Nik Rajšek, Aleksandar Saša Ilić, Ognjen Vučinić, Branko Mitrović, Maša Kolar
Cinematography: Igor Crnković
Music: Marjan Crnković
Sound Recording and Mastering: Ivo Vičić
Artistic Board: Mojca Majcen, Petra Valentić, Aleksandar Ilić, Nik Rajšek
TICKETS
Admission is free of charge.
Due to limited capacity, free tickets for the Dancescapes VR film screening must be reserved in advance via the Entrio platform.
Get your free tickets for the 5 July screening at 20:00: LINK
Get your free tickets for the 5 July screening at 20:45: LINK
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Danube Dance Alliance brings together partners from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Bulgaria with the aim of developing new models of collaboration between contemporary dance, local communities, cultural heritage and new technologies.
The project places contemporary dance in unconventional locations, including Žlinja in Svetvinčenat, Bentbaša in Sarajevo, the Museum of Yugoslavia in Belgrade, the Coal Mining Museum in Velenje, and the Chimney in Trbovlje. The rich histories of these now-abandoned spaces inspired five new dance productions and a VR film that connects them into a shared experience.
The project was initiated by the international dance platform Balkan Dance Project in collaboration with the New European Bauhaus on the Danube network and is co-funded by the European Union through the Creative Europe programme.
Project partners: Delavski dom Trbovlje | Zavod Iskriva, iskrišče za razvoj lokalnih potencialov | Festival Velenje | The Collective Foundation | Zagreb Dance Company | Institut za umetničku igru | Sarajevski Ratni Teatar SARTR
Associate partners: Europäische Donau-Akademie | Donaubuero | Ars Electronica | MOME Budapest | Stiftung HfG Ulm
In collaboration with: Balkan DANCE Project | New European Bauhaus on the Danube | Udruženje Živimo Balet Sarajevo | Mediterranean Dance Center
In partnership with: Ringside | Pilot Media
Realised with the financial support of: Creative Europe | Ministry of Culture of Slovenia | Ministry of Public Administration of Slovenia | Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia | Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina | National Culture Fund of Bulgaria
Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.