We have already bitten off and chewed more than half of September! No time for writing (still), so this is a short Balkan body music report. The beginning of the month was reserved for the fourth edition of the New Balkan Rhythm festival, and then we rushed off to a seven-day residency in Leisnig, to participate in the large orchestra of the cultural railway station Bahnhof Leisnig. At the moment we are occupied with gathering threads after the festival, as well as preparing for an eventful autumn.
The first performance awaits us at the Hudba sveta Žilina festival on October 9 in Slovakia. For the first time the two of us will have the opportunity to perform songs from the new album that we recorded with our colleagues. Niška banja (Baths of Niš), Igraj kolo jabuko (Dance the wheel, apple), Dokonanje (Being idle), we’ll also perform with the songs from the first album. Ana will play the piano, which brings a new sound to our interpretation, and is a way to introduce the voice of the orchestra into the performance of two people.
Two days after that, on October 11, we are in Budapest at the PONT fesztival, where we lead a workshop for children and parents. This year’s festival is dedicated to Serbian cultural heritage, and we will present Serbian folklore.
From October 13, we are chosen as resident artists in Munich, as part of the AIR-M (Artist in Residence Munich) program. We will collaborate first of all with Andreas Schantz, a long-time friend and colleague, with whose duo Esel:com we toured Bavaria on two occasions, in 2017 and 2018. Andreas is a circus artist, a member of the association Clowns without Borders (Clowns onhe Granzen) and we look forward to exploring the connection between body percussion and juggling. We are preparing two new songs for our next album, with the trio De Bavarian Immigrants, and with fellow artists from Bahnhof Leisnig, Kathryn Doehner and Christoph Schoenbeck. Concerts and workshops await us in Munich, Langenzenn, Eberharting, Ortenburg.
On October 26 we are looking forward so much to our concert with Vilma Talvitie in Tampere! The concert is just after the closing of the WOMEX program, and we hope to meet there dear friends from the world music community, as well as local audience. The Nordic frost will collide with the Balkan fire and the magic of music and movement will arise.
The traditional and author’s songs are revitalized stories that take us on the road around the world. Energetic stage performance, the joy of improvisation, and strong non-verbal and physical communication and interaction between the band members and the audience create an intense, yet heartwarming atmosphere. Serbian Balkan body music duo and Finnish performing artist and singer-pianist already collaborated at the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival last year and in Bahnhof Leisnig this May.
Residence in Leisnig and concert of the Bahnhofs Orchestra
An amazing week is upon us! We had so much fun with random body music workshops, we covered the legendary song Niška banja, and learned sixteen more songs from as many different countries. Concert by the orchestra of the Railway Station in Leisnig (Bahnhof Leisnig Orchestra) is an annual project of the independent cultural center in East Germany. During the seven-day residency, forty international musicians learned, arranged and practiced seventeen compositions from different countries around the world (Japan, Holland, Germany, Portugal, Finland, Ireland, USA, Georgia, Palestine, Greece, Brazil, Persia, France, Scotland and Serbia). Part of the program also included local amateurs, a choir, an orchestra and a percussion group.
This orchestra gathers this year for the sixth time, and the cultural center Bahnhof Leisnig is truly a unique place where love, understanding and togetherness reign. We are sure that you will feel a part of it in the photos and recordings from the concerts.
Photo: Mahshid Torkan, Christian Danneberg, Daria Mischuk
The fourth international body music New Balkan Rhythm festival
The fourth New Balkan Rhythm festival thundered through three cities, Sremski Karlovci, Belgrade and Sremska Mitrovica, and our association Open Circle Novi Sad celebrated its tenth anniversary. In addition to the concerts of the quartet turned sextet Slavyk, the show Mirror with sound and the student presentations Smoke, Fluttering and Duet, we also enjoyed the Danube and the Sava rivers, walked through Karlovci guided by dear friends from the Tourist Organization Sremski Karlovci, saw the remains of the ancient capital Sirmium, learned something about Roman culture in the Balkans area and enjoyed Vojvodina hospitality and delicious food. OK, the team of organizers definitely didn’t do all of that, but our guests from Poland did 😉
While we are waiting for the footage from the concerts and performances, you’ll have to take our word for it that it was great. There was a lot of coverage in Serbian media, and you can check it out in the Serbian article here.
We are grateful to our partners, Polish Institute in Belgrade, National Academy of Dramatic Art Krakow, Dance Theater Department Bytom, Rozbark Theater, Tourist Organization of Sremski Karlovci, Pokret gorana Vojvodine, SirmiumArt Cultural Center and Dadov Theater. Preparing something lovely with Polish guests in Serbia next spring!
European Folk Day – premiere of the live performance of Niška banja
As every year, we participate for the third time in the European Folk Day, giving a small contribution premiering the video of Niška banja song, recorded at the concert of Bahnhof Leisnig Orchestra. Join us on September 23 at 7 PM to enjoy the music we created with the wonderful international crew of talented musicians and artists. Enjoy! And don’t forget to subscribe, like and share 😉
Balkan body music in the media
Find our new and old music on the radio show Folk und Welt of Grit Friedrich on MDR Kultur radio station, in the September episode as well as in the August episode with the premiere of the song Dodole, which will be on the next album of Alice in WonderBand, a collaboration with Polish artists Julia Lewandowska, Łukasz Malok and Sabina Letner.
10/04 – 12/23 AIR-M, Residency with Octopus Theater, Munich, Germany
10/09 Hudba sveta Žilina festival, Žilina, Slovakia
10/11 PONT Festival, workshop for kids, Budapest, Hungary
10/17 Concert with De Bavarian Immigrants, Montessori Eberharting, Germany
10/18 Workshop, Montessori Eberharting, Germany
10/26 Tampereen Ylioppilasteatteri, concert after WOMEX with Vilma Talvitie, Tampere, Finland
11/14 Kulturhof Langenzenn, concert, Langenzenn, Germany
11/21 Weiherhaustheater, concert with De Bavarian Immigrants, Ortenburg, Germany
11/22 Weiherhaustheater, workshop, Ortenburg, Germany
11/27 Open studio, Ebenboeckhaus, presentation of the residency with Andreas Schantz, Munich, Germany
11/28 Freies Musikzentrum, concert, Munich, Germany
11/29 Freies Musikzentrum, workshop, Munich, Germany
Reverberations of August…
August, after these intense weeks, seems like prehistoric times! We recorded another song for the new album Zašto zlato blidi (Why does the gold fade away) with Vladimir Mićković, artist from Mostar. This song surprised us the most with its free form, improvised transitions and interesting text in the Hvar Renaissance dialect. We can’t wait to finish recording the whole album and start mixing it, finally. We have a lot of chores for the winter!