Dance festival Monoplay kicks off today

The 14th edition of the renowned dance festival Monoplay again takes place in Zadar from the 23rd to the 28th of August. 

About this year’s Monoplay

Sunny Zadar is again a centre of contemporary dance art, dialogue, and creative expression. Organised by the Zadar Dance Ensemble, the festival will feature top domestic and international artists and a rich program. 

Monoplay, for the 14th year in a row and until the 27th of August, brings virtuous contemporary dancers, a rich, dynamic, and interactive off program to Zadar. 

The festival begins energetically with a real Dalmatian ‘Bestia’ by Zadar artist Josipa Štulić who explores who we become within our four walls when others are not looking. 

Slovenian artist Jurij Konjar communicates one of today’s hot topics – our (un)sustainable relationship with nature – through an expressive dance performance. ‘B.O-Biodegradables’ asks a simple question – are you for or against nature?

On the third day of the festival, Nataša Kustura will take the stage. Through the transformation motif, she will examine the body’s skills and come to terms with the historical and contemporary meanings inscribed in the female body. 

Friday, the 26th of August, is reserved for freedom of movement and dance dialogue with the past. Stošija Zrinski from London, with solo ‘Travelogue’ dance, asks a question that we all face: how do we free ourselves from the burden of the past to build the future and adapt to the new when the old is inevitably still within us?

The festival’s last day is reserved for three solos by the award-winning Hungarian dance company Hodworks, which will undoubtedly change how the audience experiences the theatre. 

The unique feature of the off program of this year’s festival is the MONOstage, the Monoplay stage intended for the audience. On Friday, the 26th of August, visitors can perform, tell, sing, dance, act out their stories and life anecdotes, and show their talent. 

It’s not easy to perform. That’s why all those who climb the MONOstage will get a gift package from the festival’s friends, local entrepreneurs, Brlog brewery and OPG Matulić.

The Monoplay festival is produced in partnership with the City of Zadar, the Ministry of Culture, the Kultura Nova Foundation, Zadar County, the Tourist Board of the City of Zadar, the Zadar Puppet Theater and the Zadar National Theater. The partner of the festival is BRLOG cooperative brewery. The media sponsor is HRT3.

Find out more: https://monoplay.eu/?lang=en