Dear dance lovers and friends of Monoplay,

Another August is here, and once again we are solo, eighteenth time in a row.

From its very beginning until today, the Festival, which grew quite spontaneously from the desire to engage more deeply with contemporary dance and promote it within the local community, has continued to develop its organizational and artistic capacities year after year. In such a way, what began as a small festival has grown into a significant summer event that brings together dance, theatre, visual arts, multimedia and music artists, critics, educators, and young generations of dancers.

Contemporary dance is not something that is prone to commercial exploitation. This is especially true when it comes to the solo form, the first, primordial, fundamental and historically most important form of contemporary dance. It is also deeply intimate form of communication between the individual and the subject, the space, the audience, and oneself. Anyone who has ever performed under the stage lights knows that nothing can be hidden on stage. The stage itself becomes a magnifying glass, revealing both our strengths and our weaknesses.

This year, in collaboration with the Zadar Puppet Theatre and the Croatian National Theatre Zadar, we are presenting artists from Germany and Croatia, as well as the ever-present Zadar dance scene and students from dance programs in Zagreb and across Europe. This year’s program explores a range of themes: ecology, new and advanced technologies, deep psychological trauma, the possibilities of experimentation, and the alignment between our experience of ourselves and the way we are perceived by others. Each of these themes is approached through the unique focus of every dance artist. The richness of ideas and transparency in performance bear witness to the fact that creation lives within us, around us, and above us. Let us honor creation and give it the space and framework it deserves.

Dancers find it easier to express themselves through their work than through words. External space becomes a reflection of our inner space. This is why it is important to have good, functional and well-kept spaces for cultural expression. Throughout all these years, alongside its many other achievements, Monoplay has managed to achieve exactly that: to make our engaging, well-kept, functional and creative external space a reflection of our inner artistic maturity.

I would like to thank the Zadar Puppet Theatre, because without them, there would be no us, the Croatian National Theatre in Zadar, for supporting and helping us throughout the years, the Ministry of Culture, the City of Zadar, Zadar County, and the Zadar Tourist Board.

On behalf of the festival with its charming name, Monoplay, I would also like to thank all our long-standing colleagues, collaborators, friends, donors, sponsors, husbands, and, of course, you, our dear audience. Our connection is genuine and goes beyond any explanation.

Thank you for your support, and welcome to Monoplay!

Artistic Director of the Festival,
Sanja Petrovski