The dance-performative research project Exquisite Corpse is part of a series of projects by young (though not necessarily) authors produced by Emanat that explore stage language. The aim of these explorations is to break the concentration of creative processes that focus exclusively on the product and redirect them towards the development of performing language and a reflection on the issues of WHAT and HOW in relation to artistic creation. In collaboration with Cankarjev dom, a public presentation will be performed using freely the surrealist play principle of the “cadavre exquis” (the exquisite corpse) to reflect on the structure of the presentation, the development of the performative language or the working methodology developed through the research process. Pia Mačerol and Burja Podlesnik will present their movement research.
Production: Emanat Institute
Co-organisation: Cankarjev dom
Financial support: Ministry of Culture RS
Tickets: https://vstopnice.cd-cc.si/en/izbrano-telo/tickets-225224.html
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The author begins her research from a point of silence, which she consciously and purposefully interrupts with her body. When she speaks of silence, she refers to the absence of music as a basis or condition for movement. For her, silence is both a prerequisite and an invitation to explore her own loudness—an exploration she hopes will also resonate with the voices of the audience. She views silence as a challenge that propels her—almost like a throw—into space. There, she engages with the exploration of physically sounding capabilities of her body. She investigates how different physical proposals generate a variety of sounds, spoken and unspoken voices—and vice versa. One of her research approaches involves placing her body—or specific parts of it—in relation to spatial surfaces and everyday objects that she introduces into the space. She develops her performative language through (structured) improvisation, currently focusing on repetition and bypassing, which gradually become perceptible through the persistence of time.
Pia Mačerol (2000) is a dancer, creator, performer. She received her secondary dance education at the Secondary Preschool Education, Grammar School and Performing Arts Grammar School Ljubljana, majoring in contemporary dance. She studied at the New Education for Contemporary Dance (NEFCD) program at the Swedish school Härnösands Folkhögskola. She graduated in June 2025 from the Bachelor of Dance program at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem. As an author, she created the solo Mouthwash, which she presented at the experimental event The Eve of Imbolc organized by 187 Nights Rotterdam, co-created the duets I’m Counting On You and Attached, and the group work Good Job.
Movement research, performance: Pia Mačerol
Mentoring: Loup Abramovici
Lighting design: Veronika Hana Grubič
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The movement research is based on the deconstruction of movement, which is realized through the principles of push and release. The push of the ground triggers movement paths within the body and acts as a guide, while the release of the established path hinders it. The simultaneous presence of both actions is reflected in the constant demolition and re-establishment – deconstruction and construction of the body. Like an upside-down hanging doll, dependent on the movement of strings. The author is interested in the added presence of movement initiations with various parts of the body that do not primarily originate from the push of the ground and their influence on the already present momentum, fall and suspension in the body's movement. The research acts as a preliminary to the author's future choreographic work Men in Underwear.
Burja Podlesnik (2001) is a dancer and choreographer. After studying contemporary dance at the Secondary Education School, Gymnasium and Art Gymnasium in Ljubljana, she continued in Sweden in the NEFCD (New Education for Contemporary Dance) program and graduated from ArtEZ University (Bachelor of Dance) in Arnhem, the Netherlands, in 2025. With her solo Among the dark pines, she received the award for best dancer at the Opus 1 international festival of young dance artists in 2019 and during her studies she delved into choreography with the following works: solo Snippet, group work Leftovers and duets In My Room and On the Mat. With a critical response to current reality, she strives to transform the space given to things without space and to give sound to things that otherwise remain silent.
Movement research: Burja Podlesnik
Performance: Oscar Magnusson
Lighting design: Veronika Hana Grubič
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