Velika Gorica, Zagreb, Croatia – 2015 video

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Audience Location

The audience will gather on the waterside of the small lake Ježevo and will accompany dancers to the main stage in the center of the village .

Date and Time

June 20, 2015. Starts at 17, main stage 19:45 pm

Water Locale

Lakes Čiće and Ježevo

Choreographers

Gordana Horvat Mahne, BA, MA, MA-DMT, CMA, KMP is graduated from the School for Rhythmics and Dance (1970) taught by Ana Maletic who was student of Rudolf Laban. As professional dancer Gordana was educated in Germany at the International Sommer Akademie des Tanzes in Koln with B. Jones, V. Farber, M. Hinkson, MacKayle, H. van Manen, in London with Lisa Ullmann at the Dartford College of Education, and in New York with Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. As soloist of “Studio for Contemporary Dance“ and member of International music group ” Viva“ (with last name Omeragic-Mestanagic) she performed in Croatia, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Russia.
Since 1985 she has been a specialist, trainer and supervisor for teachers for Stimulation by Movement, based on Rudolf Laban’s movement theory with children with hearing impairment within Verbotonal Method of academic Petar Guberina – SUVAG. She obtained her MA in Dance Movement Therapy (1993) at the Laban Centre/City University in London, and BA and MA degrees from the Faculty of Philosophy (1978) Zagreb, Croatia. She also holds a Certification in Kestenberg Movement Profile Analyst and she finished the Advance Tutorial and Workshop Training in the Movement Psychdiagnostic Inventory. She completed her CMA certificate with her project “Personal Experience of Breathing Seen through LMA/BF Approach – Talking Body”.

History of Site and Related Water Issues

The small village Čiće is situated on the outskirts of town Velika Gorica. Its historical traces date from early 12th century when christian order ofh ospitaliers got land from king Bela IV and there they formed one of their preceptories. During Turkish invasion that land was heavily destroyed. Much later, noble family Erdödy renewed town Zelin and villages around it. 1872 noble family Thurn und Taxis bought vast properties in Turopolje region, built new factories and employed peasants from Novo Čiče as industrial workers. There was constructed even an horse powered tram connecting factory with villages. after WWII those properties were nationalized. Lake Ježevo is located 2 km eastwards from lake Čiče, near the village Novo Čiče. It was founded during sixties due to grovel extraction. Today there are some plans to convert it to sport and recreational center.

Music

The electronic music will be composed by Croatian composer Vladimir Bodegrajac and Vjekoslav Nježić. The music will be original and written solely for the purpose of choreography.

The Performance

Our performance at Lake Ježevo, by Gordana Omeragić and Jasna Čižmek Tarbuk, was delayed due to a great storm which lasted two hours, but we still had an audience of over 300!
Our 21 dancers began by gathering water at the banks of Lake Čiće. Then we walked through the village to our performance site, amongst the village’s Celebration of Midsummer, with folk dancing and making local fish food specialties. We used live music (Djembe). We explained the concept of Global Water Dances before the dance began.
Our surveys showed that 68% circled that they would like VERY much to participate in another event like this. The remaining 22% also stated that they positively would like to return!!
“It was really interesting to work on this project, especially because the message was so important. Working on Global Water Dances made me think about the global problems that we are facing today as well as about adequate usage of our water sources. I think our dance managed to get across our message about our precious water sources. My parents who watched the performance said that it was quite interesting to see something like that since they’re not used to seeing choreographies with such focus on the global problems. The music was great and the whole experience was unforgettable. Our performance was a part of celebration of Ivanje in the village Čiče and it made it even more special since there were also a lot of different dancers and performers. The weather was quite bad, the rain was pouring but that didn’t stop us from having a great time and dancing with all of our hearts. The most thrilling moment was when some people from the audience joined us in our simple dance moves in the end.“ Klara Lovrečki, dancer.
The event was accepted enthusiastically by the local people, who were proud to become a part of a global project.

Directions to the Site of Performance

From town Velika Gorica: local bus 304 or 20 min. walk
From Zagreb: 30 min. by bus 268 from central Railway station to Velika Gorica, and then as described.

Email for more information

[email protected]

How can I get involved?

The event will be incorporated in local
Midsummer celebration of the summer solstice which originate from pagan ritual ceremony. That way our dance will be shown to the broader group of visitors and will have a significant social visibility. That way all local media will announce and accompany the event.