New Balkan Rhythm festival is the first body music festival in Serbia and the region. International participants attended workshops of Max Pollak, Anna Llombart, Ben Schuetz, Marko Dinjaški and Ana Vrbaški – Alice in WonderBand.
Read more about the first New Balkan Rhythm festival in Sremski Karlovci!
Feel the rhythms of Latin America, Africa, Europe and the Balkans pulsating through your body!
Program of the New Balkan Rhythm Festival
Combine dancing, making music, movement and singing into one
Anna Llombart (Spain) – dancer, choreographer and lecturer, artistic director and choreographer of the dance group Woodbeats, combines traditional Spanish music and contemporary artistic expression.
Anna’s workshop, Introducing Iberic rhythms: sorteao and agechao will honor the tradition and connect it to the contemporary dance.
Throughout Spain and Portugal there are several folkloric dances and songs which shape the way in which percussion instruments are played in order to support the dance. The instruments used were often kitchen tools, like a pan, an almirez (mortar – a little metallic bowl with a pestle – used to smash and grind) or very simple hand made drums like the pandero cuadrado (square drum from a small village called Peñaparda in Salamanca). In collaboration with Aleix Tobias, leader of The Iberic Percussion Orchestra Coetus, Anna created this workshop to embody two of the most played and danced rhythms in the iconic place of Peñaparda: agechao and sorteao.
Max Pollak (USA / Austria) – step dancer, body percussionist, singer, choreographer, winner of the Hoofer and Flobert awards, combines African-Cuban, Austrian and American tradition, performs with symphony and chamber orchestras around the world. Max Pollak is one of the most respected personalities in the world of percussive dance and the world music genre today.
In his workshop, Rhythm voyage with Max you will dive into his composition Samba Do Barba. It is a piece dedicated to the memory of Fernando Barba, musical genius, body music pioneer and founder of the iconic ensemble Barbatuques. Like all of Max’s work, this piece is a confluence of influences: sounds, rhythms and movement inspired by traditions from Brazil, West Africa, the Balkans, the USA, and Austria.
The process of learning the individual parts and researching their traditional origins provides fascinating insights into the colorful variety of inspirations. The main goal is to have a profoundly positive emotional experience together, creating music and dance, celebrating the gathering of open minds and our mutual support in learning about each other.
Ben Schuetz (Germany) – drummer and body percussionist, founder of the international body music festival Body Rhythm in Hamburg, studies traditional music of South America, in addition to a broad education in Western, classical music and popular genres.
Discover a wealth of styles and rhythms that Buenos Aires, the New York of South America, has to offer – besides tango – in the workshop The Rhythms of Argentina and Peru. Chacarera rhythm that Ben offers in the workshop is a mixture of African 6/8 and European 3/4.
With Ben you’ll learn body percussion rhythms and songs with Argentinean and Afro-Peruvian roots. Music games and exercises will round off the workshop. We’ll also get to know some nice improvisation tools and create a collective performance.
Marko Dinjaški and Ana Vrbaški are duo of music and theater performers called Alice in WonderBand. Their workshop is the Irregular Rhythms of the Balkans. The odd rhythmical patterns of songs from Balkans are deeply rooted in the music tradition and are a heritage Serbian artist contribute.
Song Dodole is connected to the pre-Christian tradition of Slavs. A very popular Macedonian song Jovano, Jovanke represents the most well-known rhythm from the Balkans, seven eights.
The movement is rooted in the rhythmical patterns and flows naturally from the movement of the feet, stomping. The choreographies are a reminder that the artists bring to modern audiences about the importance of the development of society in relation to ecology and sustainability, underlining the deep correlation of nature and tradition and heritage.
There will be ten workshops during three days, a chance to perform in Open stage event and to participate in the presentation of the workshops.
The festival will include a four day artistic residency of five international artists from the field of dance, music and theater. They will explore and blend traditional music with contemporary art expression and techniques, making unique international performing art pieces that will be presented at the closing event of the festival.
The place where we offer accommodation and food is Ecological center Radulovacki, a hostel in the center of Sremski Karlovci. Food can be vegan and vegetarian, as well. There is an opportunity for a boat ride on the Danube that Pokret gorana Vojvodine, the ecological association that resides there, offers.
Sremski Karlovci are a beautiful small town situated on the bank of Danube, just outside National park of Fruska gora, with various cultural and historical landmarks. Sremski Karlovci are also famous for honey, grapes, wine and brandy (rakija).
Feel the atmosphere of Vojvodina and Sremski Karlovci: Zu Tisch Vojvodina was filmed for ARTE TV with Alice in WonderBand artists, Ana Vrbaški and Marko Dinjaški, who live near the National park of Fruška gora, just outside of Sremski Karlovci, for 24 years.
Accomodation and food: Ecological centre Radulovacki in Sremski Karlovci and Four Lions Inn
Partners: Tourism organization of Municipality of Sremski Karlovci, Pokret gorana Vojvodine, Primary school 23. oktobar, Special primary and secondary school Milan Petrović Novi Sad, RTV Vojvodina, 9Design, MrV production
Sponsors: Veritas Winery Sremski Karlovci * Pyramid Ing doo * CHW Instal * MIL-Gradnja 1991 DOO * devvote
For everything you want to know, feel free to contact us.
More about the festival, teachers, venue, accommodation, food find in our newsletters!
Newsletter one – The campaign has begun!
Newsletter two – About Anna Llombart and her workshop and the festival program
Newsletter three – About Max Pollak and the accommodation in ecological canter Radulovački hostel
Newsletter four – About Ben Schuetz’s workshop and the little town of Sremski Karlovci
Newsletter five – About Marko Dinjaski and Ana Vrbaski and their work; presenting Open space evening performance at the festival