Concert Rika Taka, New Balkan Rhythm of Alice in WonderBand presents world music from the Balkans in innovative musical arrangements, performed with body percussion and singing.
It represents cultural heritage in a direct, breathtaking and extraordinary way.
World music from the Balkans
Songs from Serbia, North Macedonia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Albania, Turkey, Greece, describe the world and culture of the Balkans, which all people, including minorities from this area share not just by geography.
The music in the concert connects all the countries of the area. Many of those have a history of political disputes. The world of the Balkans is described with its world music, rhythms and beats, illustrating that the people of the region have a real connection, aside from the political turmoil.
Performances: Barski ljetopis (Studio Petović), Ethno.com festival (Vodenis Media), Body Rhythm Hamburg festival (Georg Tedeschi), A to Jazz festival (Rumina Georgieva), ARLEMM (Dragan Zabunović)
“I raise my imaginary hat, …this is really a new sound in Balkan world music.”
“Amazing band. Or a miracle of a band.” Amir Misirlić
“… they brought their new musical expression to perfection and to a high artistic value.” Dragutin Matošević, Barikada.com
“The Alice in WonderBand duo are constantly chasing through exciting landscapes of art, creativity, ideas and projects like a rushing train… always original and inspiring.” Marija Vitas, Magazine Etnoumlje, World Music Association, Serbia
Ergen dedo (Bulgaria)
“The turning point in their career has happened in 2011, when the landmark of (their) work became the theater, that is, in 2013, when (they) started expressing themselves with the simplest means, voice and body percussion, so „body as an instrument“ has become an appropriate determinant of what they are creating now and their artistic expression has become significantly reduced. This does not mean less effective and expressive, on the contrary.” Oliver Đorđević, Magazine Etnoumlje, WMAS, Serbia
“…the recapitulation and reorganisation or disintegration not known until now of this (Balkan) tradition…” Branimir Lokner, TMMzine
About Alice in WonderBand
Alice in WonderBandwas founded in 1998 on Fruska Gora in North Serbia and since then the band has been performing world music and educating audience in Serbia and neighboring region. The only artists in this part of Europe who have been developing very specific type of performing arts: it is a unity of music, theater, dance, movement and acrobatics with special art of body percussion.
They have been working with international body percussion artists and developing this technique which uses body as a rhythmical instrument.
Alice in WonderBand is a lifelong project of musicians Ana Vrbaski and Marko Dinjaski, who are partners on stage and in private life for 26 years, which gives their presence and relationship on stage completely new dimension.
The singer Ana showed the richness of her vocal… from deep velvety lower tones to pure heights – in various expressions, they were confident and convincing in her performance. Zuzana Vachova, mojakultura.sk
Performances in Barski ljetopis (Studio Petović), Ethno.com festival (Vodenis Media), promo photos (Igor Stević), A to Jazz festival (Rumina Georgieva), FestivalNO (Tsvetomira Ivanova), ARLEMM (Dragan Zabunović), WanderBlack (D festival)
Photographs: Aleksandar Alempijevic, Karusel festival, Cacak, 2021; 4KMedia Studios Hungary, European Forum on Music, 2023
World music concert Rika Taka New Balkan Rhythm Performed by Ana Vrbaski i Marko Dinjaski Musical arrangements/Composition Alice in WonderBand Choreography Visnja Obradovic, Marko Dinjaski, Ana Vrbaski Sound design by Goran Vujicin Costumes by Jelena Nedeljkovic; Lutkart Hair style by Budislav Vlajkov / Beastic Produced by Open circle Novi Sad Performance duration is 60 to 90 minutes.
New Balkan Rhythm festival, Sremski Karlovci, 2023
A to Jazz festival, Sofia, Bulgaria, 2023
Announcements
2024 12/06 Specto school, Poznan
2025 06/05 – 06/08 Ethno Port festival, Poznan, Poland 07/22 – 07/25 AlkantaraFest, Catania, Sicily 10/03 – 23/12 AIR Munich, artistic residency with Octopus Theater, Munich, Germany 11/28 Freies Musikzentrum, concert, Munich, Germany 11/29 Freies Musikzentrum, workshop, Munich, Germany
Selected performances
2024 10/03 Gwangju Busking World Cup, Gwangju, South Korea 09/22 St. Gallen, Switzerland 09/18 Radio Proglas session premiere, recorded at Maraton hudby, Brno, Czech Republic 09/06 Večeri udaraljkaša, concert, Križevci, Croatia 08/31 New Balkan Rhythm festival, Sremski Karlovci, Serbia 08/23 Hidepark Nitra, Spectaculum production, Nitra, Slovakia 08/24 Zvuk for Modra, Spectaculum production, Modra, Slovakia 08/18 Zvuk for Štiavnica, Spectaculum production, Banska Štiavnica, Slovakia 08/17 World Music Festival Bratislava, Slovakia 08/13 Hudební léto na hradbách, Přerov, Czech Republic 08/11 Smolenice Castle, Slovakia 08/10 Maraton hudby, Brno, Czech Republic 07/26 Musical Picnics concert series, Trenčin, Slovakia 07/20, 07/21 Trefpunt festival, Ghent, Belgium 07/13 Kaustinen Folk Music Festival, concert with Vilma Talvitie 07/11Kaustinen Folk Music Festival, concert, Kaustinen, Finland 07/06 Folkest World Music Showcase, San Daniele Del Friuli, Italy 06/15 Concert at Sommer in Rosenheim, Germany 06/01 Concert with CISI, Kontakt, Krakow, Poland 05/28 Teatr Rozbark, Bytom, Poland 05/18, 05/19 Music Meeting festival, Nijmegen, Netherlands 04/27 Balkan Trafik festival, Brussels, Belgium 04/24 Zorica, Ljubljana, Slovenia 03/26 Bytom and Novi Sad: Mirror with sound, work-in-progress performance, residency supported by Culture Moves Europe program, Teatr Rozbark, Bytom, Poland 03/16, 03/17 Kiss Musical Comedy, Teater Rozbark 03/05 Celica, Sozvučja svetov, Ljubljana, Slovenia 03/02 Zadruga Zelenica, Zagreb, Croatia 02/13 Kafe Scherz, Bratislava, Slovakia
2023 11/18 House concert with Vilma Talvitie, Sremski Karlovci, Serbia 10/30 Casa Comum, Porto, Portugal 10/27 WOMEX, World Music Association of Serbia reception, La Coruna, Spain 10/14 Vinoskop, Skopje 10/07 Charity concert, Svoj svet Association, Novi Sad 09/09 BALKAN:MOST Festival, Veszprem, Hungary 09/01 Knin, Croatia 08/25 New Balkan Rhythm festival, Sremski Karlovci, Serbia 08/15 Dom kulture, Srbobran, Serbia 08/08 Music A cafe, Nitra, Slovakia 08/07 Smolenicki zamak, Smolenice, Slovakia 08/05 Piešťany Street ART festival, Slovakia 08/04 Piešťany Street ART festival, Slovakia 08/02 Radio FM, live concert, Hudba sveta radio show, Bratislava 07/18 ARLEMM, Arilje, Serbia 07/08 Gabrovo, Bulgaria 07/06 A to Jazz festival, Sofia, Bulgaria 07/02 DombosFest, Mali Iđoš, Serbia 06/30 D festival, Dojran, Macedonia 06/18 Street performers festival, Tirana, Albania 06/13 Dani lavande, Bačka Topola 06/11 Crnorečje u pesmi i igri, Boljevac, Serbia 06/09 European Music Forum, MOST Music programme, Budapest, Hungary 05/28 Body Rhythmfestival show, Hamburg, Germany 18/05 OKC Abrašević, Mostar, Bosnia 04/30 Statue Fest, Loznica, Serbia 04/19 Dorćol Platz, Belgrade, Serbia 04/14 Cultural center Mesnička, Zagreb, Croatia 04/11 Bulevar Books, Novi Sad, Serbia 03/18 Prulček, Ljubljana, Slovenia 03/17 FUNK (E.T.N.O. production), Koprivnica, Croatia 03/16 Pučko otvoreno učilište, Pazin, Croatia 03/01 Vukovar, Croatia 02/10Silosi, Beograd, Serbia
2022 12/23 Daruvar, Croatia 12/22 Bulevar Books, Novi Sad, Serbia 09/22 New Balkan Rhythm festival, Sremski Karlovci, Serbia 08/27 Trznfest, Trzin, Slovenia 08/06 Floating castle festival, Castle Snežnik, Slovenia 06/04 Body Rhythm festival show, Hamburg, Germany 02/13 Močvara klub, Zagreb, Croatia
2021 10/23 Ethno Fusion Fest, Belgrade, Serbia 08/02 Karusel festival, Čačak, Serbia
2020 17/06 Artist Lockdown, online ticketed event 13/06 Stay Home Music festival, online live stream on Facebook 13/01 Doček, Novi Sad, Serbia
2019 02/23 concert in Meta Theater, Munich, Germany 09/28 Ethno.com festival, Pančevo, Serbia
2018 10/11 Freies Musikzentrum e.V. München, Munich, Germany 02/05 New year’s meeting of Kulturforum Rosenheim, City Gallery Rosenheim, Germany 02/04 Cafe Kurkuma, Hallein, Austria
2017 09/28 Festival Week of foreign cultures, Serbian cultural centre, Paris, France
