ŠPIC-CVAK!:  KATALENA, EDWARD CLUG, VALENTINA TURCU AND DANCERS OF SLOVENIAN NATIONAL THEATER (SNG) MARIBOR BALLET COMPANY

Gallus hall, the most prestigious indoor concert hall in Slovenia, is awaiting the band Katalena for the second time.

In the last year and a half, while promoting their fourth album Cvik Cvak!, they have preformed in venues like New York Town Hall theatre, Einav cultural centre in Tel Aviv, Carinthische Sommer festival in Villach, Mundus festival in Italy, Etnoambient festival in Croatian Solin and two major Slovenian state commemorations, just to mention the most high-profile ones.

This time, Katalena are performing in their expanded version. The guest players, violinist Jelena Ždrale (Godalika, Fake orkestra...) and accordionist Marko Brdnik (Miusow quartet, Solistika...), have both appeared previously on their records.

The evening in Gallus hall will be above all a musical experience, enriched by exquisite dance visualization.

Valentina Turcu and Edward Clug (choreographers and ballet dancers), along with the dancers of The SNG Maribor Ballet Company, are indubitably eminent artists, known to a wider audience. Edward Clug has been the art director of the Maribor national theatre ballet company for the past 6 years, while Valentina Turcu is a multiple-award winning ballet soloist and choreographer.

The collaboration between Katalena and the aforementioned choreographers has actually been building since 2003. In the past years the dancers have presented several Katalena songs at "The gala evening of the original choreographies to the Slovenian music", annually organized by the Slovene ballet artists society. Valentina Turcu received the 1st prize at the 8th competition of the young ballet dancers for the choreography to the song Rožmarin, performed by dancers Evgenija Koškina and Matjaž Marin. In the year 2005 Edward Clug directed and choreographed the evening of Prešeren awards (the Slovenian state cultural awards) and incorporated Katalena in the show. That year he won the prestigious award.  

We can expect the finest mixture of music and dance, combining the traditional and artificial, the simplicity and the sophistication. Špic-Cvak!

A meeting of the folk and the contrived, ancient and modern, simple and sophisticated

It is the contrasts between Katalena and the ballet and choreographic team Valentina Turcu and Edward Clug that inspire the musical and dance performance Špic-cvak!. On stage folk simplicity intertwines with the sophistication of the ballet movement, the hardness of a guitar riff mixes with the softness of a plié – in like manner the old folk songs find expression in new visual and representational worlds. The modern kolednik, traditionally a folk singer whose song ushered spring, is a regular feature of the tabloids, elves chatter away on their mobiles, and the wind no longer shakes the barley except in the minds of men. The story is substituted by a stream of images, just as the fragmentation of modern life shatters the ancient, mythic unity of life. The folk tradition is transformed into the urban; the urban remembers the folk and in this way redeems the long forgotten and the lost. Špic-cvak! traces the outlines of this remembering by bringing together the protagonists of the old songs and their interpreters, who suddenly find themselves at the heart of a tale.

Photos: Photo 1 | Photo 2 | Photo 3 | Photo 4

Photographer: Ivian Kan Mujezinovic

Members of the group Katalena: Vesna Zornik (vocals), Polona Janežič (keyboards, backing vocals), Boštjan Gombač (clarinet, flutes, percussion, backing vocals), Tibor Mihelič Syed (bass, backing vocals), Boštjan Narat (guitar, mandolin, backing vocals), Robert Rebolj (drums, percussion)

Choreographers and dancers of the SNG Maribor Ballet Company: Valentina Turcu and Edward Clug

Dancers of the SNG Maribor Ballet Company: Evgenija Koškina, Ines Petek, Branka Popovici, Blaga Rumenova Stoycheva, Hristina Rumenova Stoycheva, Denes Darab, Sytze Jan Luske, Matjaž Marin, Tiberiu Marta, Sergiu Moga, Gaj Žmavc

Guests: Jelena Ždrale (violin) in Marko Brdnik (accordion)

Sound: Marko Turel

Lightning: Tomaž Štrucl

Producer: Mojca Zupanič

www.katalena.net

Tickets: www.cd-cc.si, 01 2417 299/300

Information: kultura_org@yahoo.com (Mojca Zupanič)