The Moment Before
Video projection and live dance performance with Slovenian artist Sanja Nešković Peršin
Saturday, October 28, 2023
5—6 pm
$10 General Admission
$8 JAC Members, Students, and Seniors
Using performative film and live performance, artist Sanja Nešković Peršin creates a sensual cacophony, exploring the longing and the trauma that accompanies the pursuit of excellence.
The Moment Before is a collaborative piece of visual and live performance art from three Slovenian artists that incorporates the viewer’s experience into the performance; creating an interactive piece of contemporary art. Two of the artists will travel from Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, to Jamestown for the performance: Sanja Nešković Peršin, dancer and choreographer, and Atej Tuta, video artist. Blaž Peršin, the director of Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana, who was instrumental in bringing this performance to Jamestown, will also be in attendance.
The hybrid video and dance performance premiered in Ljubljana, Slovenia in late September 2023.
The performance was born from Peršin’s research about the limitations of the human body and an exploration of continuous repetitive movements. The Moment Before is situated immediately preceding any discernible event or occurrence, or the absence thereof. It creates a suspended moment of anticipation where the linear constraints of time dissipate, permitting a journey through past, present, and the speculative future. The dance performances are created in 15 minute vignettes, repeated throughout the evening.
The Moment Before premiered at NOT Art Space in Ljubljana in late September.
Sašo Kalan – Music
Yasmin Martin Vodopivec - Text and Curator
It is supported by the Department of Culture, Municipality of Ljubljana.
About the Artists:
SANJA NEŠKOVIĆ PERŠIN is an artist, choreographer and performer. After completing her studies at the Ballet and Music School in Ljubljana, she studied Ballet at the Rosella Hightower Ballet School in France. As a recipient of international scholarships, she attended various master classes and ballet workshops in Vienna and New York. She was a renowned ballet soloist with the Slovenian National Theatre Opera and Ballet in Ljubljana, where she served as Choreographer and Artistic Director of the Ballet between 2014 and 2019. She has participated in many dance and theatre productions by renowned contemporary Slovenian and foreign stage directors and choreographers. She has also presented her own work at numerous international festivals. In 2019, she received the Župančič Award of the City of Ljubljana for outstanding achievements in the field of arts and culture. In her latest projects, she explores and intertwines elements of performative and visual art through the reflection of intimate space and time.
ATEJ TUTTA (b. 1981) is an artist and filmmaker based in Venice. He holds a master's degree from the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice; he then was associate professor at this institution, from 2009 to 2014. In the realm of visual arts, Atej Tutta has engaged in numerous artistic collaborations, both as artist, and co-curator, or consultant for various art exhibitions spanning between Venice and Ljubljana. Some of these collaborations include Elaborare il lutto – Arte orfana della specie, For(w)art, Prof. Rodčenko, Divided God, arTVision, Bruce Nauman: Contrapposto Studies. Among his works as an artist, he realised Threshold, Footprint, Fuoriscala.
In the realm of performing arts, Atej Tutta, in partnership with the performer and philosopher Bara Kolenc, showcased their Metamorfoze 3°: Retorika at the 53rd Theatertreffen in Berlin. Furthermore, he has collaboratively produced various theatre pieces with director Eduard Miler, such as Antigona, Terror, Scandal in St. Florian Valley, Kazimir in Karolina, and Salomè. These projects have been displayed in the main National Theatres in Slovenia. Atej Tutta collaborated with choreographer Jeroen Verbruggen for the ballet Orphic Hymn and as scenographer and filmmaker at Balet 100 for the centenary anniversary of the Opera and Balet in Lubiana. His artistic vision also contributed to a video installation for the Slovenian opera Samorog, in partnership with director Vinko Möderndorfer.
Atej Tutta is a versatile artist with an open spirit for collaboration with thinkers from diverse disciplines, allowing for a continuous regeneration of codes and approaches to the creative process.
Supported by: Municipality of Ljubljana, Department of Culture