Funny, hysterical, powerfull, gloomy – Eve is all. She takes on all roles and identities she finds in herself, wears them as a fitting jacket, to just as easily then throw them in a corner.
All About Eve is a dance solo in which the androgynous dancer Miriam Garcia Mariblanca plays all the female lead roles unmercifully strong. A prelude to the new theater production The Bold, The Bound & The Brittle, which premieres on February 18, 2016 at Theater De NWE Vorst, Tilburg (NL).
CREDITS
Choreography – Jelena Kostić Dance – Miryam Garcia Production – Stichting Kostić, coproduction DansBrabant
Type: Dance
Intimate thoughts, a painful story, vulnerability, turmoil. With our fragility and intimacy tucked away under the surface we survive untouchably in our social context.
The short solo performance of ELETTRA zooms in on every man’s small secrets. The slightest jerk of a finger, a breath of air, everything that holds emotion. Hardly visible but mesmerizingly present in dance phrases and motion.
This production was created in 2011
CREDITS Choreography & concept – Jelena Kostić Dancer – Miryam Garcia Mariblanca Composers – Rob van Rijswijk and Jeroen Strijbos Dramaturgic advice – Thomas Falk Costumes – Natasja Leenders Light – Sjors de Bruin Camera – Reinout Steenhuizen Video editing – Nenad Serafijanovic Graphic design – Natasha Radosavljevic
Many thanks to: Station Zuid, Productiehuis Brabant, Theaterfestival Boulevard, Tom Sikkers Productions and Michael Wahlen
Type: Dance
Encounter five outspoken characters that are overcome by an overwhelming urge for change: protest. In this situation of revolt a sense of euphoria coexists with the feeling of defeat. The extremely delayed threat of a close group, right before the eruption. Harmony and chaos. Deliberacy, alternated with impotence, forces them to make choices.
This performance offers a glimpse of this conflict: a metaphor of contemporary society. MARCH exposes the place where one will be challenged to the core, up to the point where the adrenaline starts rushing and you go beside yourself; where the rebellion breaks from within…
This production was created in 2010
CREDITS choreography & concept – Jelena Kostić In collaboration with dancers Ann-Christin Zimmermann, Vincent Morelle, Judit Ruiz Onandi en Francesco Barba Composers – Jeroen Strijbos and Rob van Rijswijk Set – Simon Haan and Saša Ivanović Artistic advice and rehearsal director – Thomas Falk dramaturgic advice – Guy Cools and Lou Cope Vocal coach – Nataša Mihaljinac and Wiebe Gotink Costumes – Natasja Leenders Light designer – Ate-Jan van Kampen Publicity – Laura Graat and Femke Cuijpers Production leader – Florain Verheijen Production assistant – Leon van Egmond and Yola Parie Light engineer – Pim Mans Graphic designer – Nataša Radosavljević Photography – Miloš Gazdić
CREDITS choreography & concept – Jelena Kostić In collaboration with dancers Ann-Christin Zimmermann, Vincent Morelle, Judit Ruiz Onandi en Francesco Barba Composers – Jeroen Strijbos and Rob van Rijswijk Set – Simon Haan and Saša Ivanović Artistic advice and rehearsal director – Thomas Falk dramaturgic advice – Guy Cools and Lou Cope Vocal coach – Nataša Mihaljinac and Wiebe Gotink Costumes – Natasja Leenders Light designer – Ate-Jan van Kampen Publicity – Laura Graat and Femke Cuijpers Production leader – Florain Verheijen Production assistant – Leon van Egmond and Yola Parie Light engineer – Pim Mans Graphic designer – Nataša Radosavljević Photography – Miloš Gazdić
Type: Dance
Penelope takes you with her on a quest and through a personal journey reveals the power that lies in tradition. She observes our customs and analyses them. Forcing us to question our own habits, she in fact operates as a guide, camera and audience all at the same time. Life, dreams and expectations versus origin, superstition and instinct.
She leaves us a choice between surrendering or breaking from traditon. Everyone recognizes nostalgia, but behind those strong ties to the past can lurk a trap: fanaticism
Press
“Yell Penelope flies on happy lightness”
Omroep Brabant
“Yell Penelope is fierce, yet warm and witty”
Brabants Dagblad
CREDITS choreography & concept – Jelena Kostić In collaboration with dancers Ann-Christin Zimmermann, Vincent Morelle, Judit Ruiz Onandi en Francesco Barba Composers – Jeroen Strijbos and Rob van Rijswijk Set – Simon Haan and Saša Ivanović Artistic advice and rehearsal director – Thomas Falk dramaturgic advice – Guy Cools and Lou Cope Vocal coach – Nataša Mihaljinac and Wiebe Gotink Costumes – Natasja Leenders Light designer – Ate-Jan van Kampen Publicity – Laura Graat and Femke Cuijpers Production leader – Florain Verheijen Production assistant – Leon van Egmond and Yola Parie Light engineer – Pim Mans Graphic designer – Nataša Radosavljević Photography – Miloš Gazdić
CREDITS choreography & concept – Jelena Kostić In collaboration with dancers Ann-Christin Zimmermann, Vincent Morelle, Judit Ruiz Onandi en Francesco Barba Composers – Jeroen Strijbos and Rob van Rijswijk Set – Simon Haan and Saša Ivanović Artistic advice and rehearsal director – Thomas Falk dramaturgic advice – Guy Cools and Lou Cope Vocal coach – Nataša Mihaljinac and Wiebe Gotink Costumes – Natasja Leenders Light designer – Ate-Jan van Kampen Publicity – Laura Graat and Femke Cuijpers Production leader – Florain Verheijen Production assistant – Leon van Egmond and Yola Parie Light engineer – Pim Mans Graphic designer – Nataša Radosavljević Photography – Miloš Gazdić
Type: Dance
In preparation of her full-length production A MOOD FOR DEEP LONGING (premiere November 28, 2013) Jelena Kostić made a solo for a male dancer in which a deep-rooted belief in something larger than yourself is the focal point.
In the dance solo A SHORT ODYSSEY | MAN you meet a man who is lost in an inner conflict. His desire for freedom is overpowering , but he is constantly confronted with the promises he made in the past. His dedication is strung together by commitments and disruptions. Will this lead him to the abyss or will he choose to take a leap into the unknown? In A SHORT ODYSSEY | MAN desire and destruction come together in passionate dance and the simple truth and melancholy of traditional Eastern European music.
This production was created in 2013.
CREDITS
choreography & concept – Jelena Kostić in collaboration with dancer – Blazej Jasinski Composers – Jeroen Strijbos en Rob van Rijswijk Dramaturgic advice – Thomas Falk, Lou Cope and Pietjan Dusee Light designer – Ellen Knops and Pim Mans
A Short Odyssee is a production by Kostić Foundation, co-produced with DansBrabant and in cooperation with Strijbos&VanRijswijk
Type: Dance
In the dance solo A SHORT ODYSSEE | WOMAN you meet a woman on a journey full of wanderings and trials. She is seduced, trapped, hunted and deserted. Her dedication is strung together by many alienating years. Will the oath she once pledged last now she is no longer the same?
In A SHORT ODYSSEE promises and threats come together in a passionate dance and the simple truthfulness and melancholy of traditional Eastern European music.
Press
“Her A SHORT ODYSSEY | WOMAN is an impressive choreography. A feminist approach is undeniable, but this solo full of surprising movement ideas is without political intrusiveness.”
Kölner Kultur
CREDITS
choreography & concept – Jelena Kostić in collaboration with dancer – Judit Ruiz Onandi composers – Jeroen Strijbos en Rob van Rijswijk dramaturgic advice – Thomas Falk, Lou Cope en Pietjan Dusee light designer – Ellen Knops en Pim Mans
A Short Odyssee is a production of Kostić Foundation, a coproduction with DansBrabant and in collaboration with Strijbos&VanRijswijk.
Type: Dance
Violent images of a recent attack can devastate or confuse a person. The recognizable sound of a song from a bygone childhood can take someone back to a time full of security within seconds. Subconsciously everyone uses their personal values and experiences to give their own meaning to reality. These interpretations color perception and sometimes lead to a fixation on their own thoughts. But is blind faith really the best counsellor?
A MOOD FOR DEEP LONGING takes a critical look at the implications of undoubted choices and a resounding ‘yes’. Promises and threats come toge-ther in a dance theatre performance full of live chanting, fierce dance and wistful traditional Eastern European music. With four energetic dancers and live vocals by Iris (Iritchka) Ficker, the Serbian – Dutch choreographer Jelena Kostić (1976) takes you on an odyssey through the human mind. Sometimes playful, sometimes meaningful, but always original and with a radical physicality.
Press
“Powerful dance, with clear body language and facial expression”
– Ugenda
“Dazzling dance, bordering on theatre”
– Theaterkrant
“Holding its breath in suspense the crowd watches the bizarre world of Jelena Kostic …. Singer Iris (Iritchka) Ficker pulls us straight into the depth with her Balkan blues …. Kostic creates a surreal amalgam of contrasting elements.”
– Het Parool
CREDITS
choreography & concept – Jelena Kostić in collaboration with dancers – Judit Ruiz Onandi, Pauline De Laet, Blazej Jasinski, Ayberk Esen and Angelle Peters (understudy) Live vocals – Iris Ficker composers – Jeroen Strijbos and Rob van Rijswijk With vocals and music recorded in Belgrade, Serbia by – Nataša Mihaljinac, Marija Novaković, Marina Bogdanović, Katarina Gojković and Vladimir Simić set design – Simon Haan costumes – Elisabeth Kinn Svensson artistic advice and rehearsal director – Thomas Falk dramaturgic advice – Lou Cope and Pietjan Dusee light designer – Ellen Knops publicity – Laura Graat production leader – Florain Verheijen production assistant – Leon van Egmond and Yola Parie lighting engineer – Pim Mans graphic designer – Nataša Radosavljević photography – Luka Kaše and Nikola Kostić video edit – Marjan Rubeša camera – Vladan Janković
A Mood for Deep Longing is a production by Kostić Foundation, co-produced with DansBrabant and in co-operation with StrijbosvanRijswijk.
Supported by – NFPK, city of Tilburg, Foundation Jacques de Leeuw, Prins Bernhard cultural fund and SNS REAAL fund
Type: Dance
An equally vulnerable as powerful duet on the theme ‘Embrace’. Two dancers clash and rub, let shyness and age behind them, to end up within each others arms and find themselves and the other.
In our time to act vulnerable often is directly related to (seeming to) be weak. Jelena thinks this is unfair and for this performance (which will premier in the TilburgvoorCultuurNACHT) she will battle with the prejudices against vulnerability and (declining) vitality.
CREDITS Concept – Jelena Kostić Co-choreographed by – Thomas Falk Dance – Blazej Jasinski en Jelena Kostić Music – Dyane Donck
Type: Dance
In THE BOLD, THE BOUND & THE BRITTLE a portrait of our current time is made, live on the theater floor. A new piercing performance by choreographer Jelena Kostić, with unrestrained dance and sudden music.
Two powerful women play their personal, destructive, comfortable and erotic moments until they are redundant. They leave behind the conflict between the brittle and the obscene.
Hinging on a past both distant and nearby, THE BOLD, THE BOUND & THE BRITTLE opens the door to a space where we all step out of our uniform. What remains is our own delicate humanity.
This production was made in 2016
Press
“At their most vulnerable two women show what a female body is capable of. A tour de force that demands respect. (…) With this amazing duet The Bold, the Bound and the Brittle convincingly shows what Kostić and her dancers have to add to the field of dance.”
– Theaterkrant
CREDITS
Choreography & concept – Jelena Kostić In collaboration with the dancers – Judit Ruiz Onandi & Noëmi Wagner Music composer – Dyane Donck Lighting design – Ellen Knops Costumes – Biljana Grgur & Jolanda Hendriks Dramaturgical advice – Thomas Falk & Lou Cope Repetitor – Thomas Falk Photography – Jochem Jurgens Graphic design – Natasa Radosavljević
A coproduction of the Kostić Foundation with DansBrabant, with financial support of Jacques de Leeuw Foundation, November Music and the City of Tilburg.
Type: Dance
Dancers populate the playing field. They each have a clear goal in mind, but the road to it is filled with obstacles, both physical and mental. A poignant performance about the need for flexibility, perseverance and cooperation.
In HOW IT ENDS the dancers are not only confronted with each other, but also with life-size dominoes. In this way the Dutch-Serbian choreographer Jelena Kostić brings the spontaneity and capriciousness of life to the dance floor. In the most literal sense of the word, the blocks, with their unpredictable behaviour, throw up obstacles.
Free Running
Jelena Kostić uses the body as the ultimate narrative instrument in a dance language full of contrasts and emotions. For HOW IT ENDS she found inspiration in free running, a genre within urban dance in which the dancers relate to different obstacles and elements in their environment.
Personal experiences as a motor
The starting point for HOW IT ENDS was Jelena’s interest in the workings of focus and tunnel vision, something she herself has often had to deal with in her career as a dancer and choreographer. Perseverance, trial and error, getting up, starting all over again and sometimes giving up. As part of her research for this performance, Jelena spoke with not only professional athletes and dancers, but also with women in top positions. These concrete, personal stories were the driving force behind a performance that is ultimately about universal and recognisable human experiences.
Version for two dancers
HOW IT ENDS premiered with four dancers in March of 2020, shortly before the lockdown. Because of the corona measures the performance has been adapted for two dancers. This entails the shift of focus from group dynamics to the dynamics between two individuals, who are ultimately dependent on each other.
Press
“The production is an ode to people at play. With blocks, they can occupy themselves endlessly.”
– Theaterkrant
CREDITS
Choreography – Jelena Kostić Dancers – Noëmi Wagner, Blazej Jasinski [in the version for 4 dancers also: Pauline De Laet and Anne Roeper] Dramaturgical & artistic advisor, concept development – Lou Cope Artistic advisor & repetitor – Judit Ruiz Onandi & Thomas Falk Composer – Dyane Donck Set design – Ascon de Nijs Lighting design – Dominique Pollet Costume design – Biljana Grgur Art work / campaign design – Nataša Radosavljević & Nikola Kostić Communication & PR – Laura Roling Production – Andrea van Bussel Business manager – Petra de Haan
Supported by: Fonds 21, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Fonds Podiumkunsten, BNG Cultuurfonds, Gemeente Tilburg en Provincie Noord-Brabant
