Dutch Design Week 2021, Eindhoven (NL)Photo Nicole Marnati
Video Urh Pirc
Music production Marko Milas
Performers Ema Crnić, Ema Kani, Ines Borovac, Nino Bokan, Una Matija Štalcar Furać, Vid Vugrinec
DJ Bruno Bolfan
Production Adriana Pavelić
Even though traditional Croatian folkdances are rarely still danced outside of the stage, bodies are ethnographic archives of movements and behaviours that are inherited across many generations of family, culture and society. Through performative design research in a collaboration with the dance therapist, the author identified the embodied gender and social norms embedded in the Kolo (a basic folkdance popular among Slavic people).
It was then re-choreographed with a woman (kolovođica) as leader and based on movements that express vulnerability, sexuality and self-expression. Techno music and tie-dyed embroidered clothing contemporise the project to today’s rave aesthetic. Challenging the often conservative and patriotic field of heritage, the project expresses the need and ability to evolve rather than discard cultural traditions.
︎︎︎listen to the track
