ENCOUNTER WITH ONESELF is a contemporary dance performance created by Anđela Bugarija and Kristina Lisica, accompanied by a photo exhibition by Antonio Stipinović. Similar to subtitles following a film, the exhibition follows the performance, sketching out the (necessary) stripping down in order for the relationship with oneself to succeed. Through dance, film and photography, the performer explores how to observe, develop and use one’s own resources to maintain a balance between mental and physical health. When we can no longer find ourselves in our own body, perhaps it is time to return to it. The body is the site of encounter, a permeable membrane where experiences settle and memories are stored. Information is silently recorded in our senses, yet it can overwhelm and deceive us if we misinterpret it. Mental noise creates a false self. The past and expectations of the future pull us away from the present. Let us become witnesses to our thoughts and emotions, guardians of a body that is both fragile and powerful. Let us lose our faces, rub our eyes, shake our limbs – allow ourselves to feel even the tiniest piece of skin that wraps our inner world.
Concept and choreography: Anđela Bugarija and Kristina Lisica
Performer: Kristina Lisica
Music and sound design: Predrag Ćosić
Costume design: Paula Zoričić and Natali Radelić
Photographer: Antonio Stipinović
Video recording and editing, intro music: Matija Lukman
Lighting and sound technician: Leon Barčić
Poster and trailer design: Ivana Dokoza
Production: U.O. Irida 2023
Anđela Bugarija, independent dance artist (Zadar, 1990), holds a degree in Contemporary Dance from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. She works as a project author, choreographer, and performer. Active in both the national and international dance and circus scenes, she has a rich portfolio of original and collaborative works, as well as extensive experience in pedagogy through educational dance intensives. She creates within the frameworks of the artistic organizations Škvadra and Irida.
Kristina Lisica (Zadar, 1992) began her dance journey with the Zadar Dance Ensemble and continued her development through workshops in contemporary dance, circus acrobatics, and yoga. She holds a degree in Contemporary Dance (performance) from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb and is currently furthering her education in dance movement psychotherapy. Her artistic practice explores bodily expressiveness through solo performances, site-specific work, and collective creation. She is active as a performer and author in projects in Croatia and abroad, co-founder of the artistic organization Os, and a collaborator with Irida, where she helps create works that connect movement with space, intimacy, and community.
Irida artistic organization was founded in 2019 in Sv. Filip i Jakov with the aim of developing original dance practices and interdisciplinary projects that connect contemporary dance with film, music, photography, and other art forms. The organization is led by dance artists Anđela Bugarija, Lucija Mikas, and Kristina Lisica. Irida operates through site-specific performances, works for theatre and gallery spaces, and holds educational workshops in which it puts a strong emphasis on engaging the local community.
