Recyclism & Dancescapes

RECYCLISM

Recyclism is a new dance production by Ognjen Vučinić, created by the Zagreb Dance Company in co-production with the Mediterranean Dance Centre Svetvinčenat. The work was developed as part of the international Danube Dance Alliance project, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme.

Starting from the idea of space as a site of transformation, Vučinić explores what happens to movement, choreography and memory once performances reach the end of their stage life. Inspired by the process of recycling, the work considers how physical, emotional and creative energy is never truly lost, but continuously transformed into new forms. Through the bodies of the performers, these traces are carried into new situations and acquire new meanings.

The performance reuses and reinterprets material from previous productions by the Zagreb Dance Company, as well as from Ognjen Vučinić's own choreographic oeuvre, creating a new choreographic work that reflects on duration, transformation and the possibility of giving performance material a new life.

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DANUBE DANCE ALLIANCE

Recyclism is one of five new dance productions created within the international Danube Dance Alliance project. Throughout 2026, the project brings contemporary dance into abandoned public spaces across Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Bulgaria. It explores the relationship between space, community and movement while developing new ways for audiences to engage with contemporary dance through live performance and virtual reality technologies.

The project places contemporary dance in unconventional locations, including Žlinja in Svetvinčenat, Bentbaša in Sarajevo, the Museum of Yugoslavia in Belgrade, the Coal Mining Museum in Velenje and the Chimney in Trbovlje. The rich histories of these now-abandoned sites inspired five new dance productions and a VR film that connects them into a single artistic experience.

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DANCESCAPES

Alongside Recyclism, the project also produced Dancescapes, a 360° VR dance film directed by Enya Belak. The film connects locations in Trbovlje, Velenje, Belgrade, Sarajevo and Svetvinčenat, creating a unique choreographic journey across diverse landscapes, architectures and histories. Each location served as the inspiration for a new choreographic chapter created specifically for the project.

The project was initiated by the international dance platform Balkan Dance Project in cooperation with the New European Bauhaus on the Danube network and is co-funded by the European Union through the Creative Europe programme.

Project partners: Delavski dom Trbovlje | Zavod Iskriva, iskrišče za razvoj lokalnih potencialov | Festival Velenje | The Collective Foundation | Zagreb Dance Company | Institute for Artistic Dance | Sarajevo War Theatre SARTR
Associated partners: Europäische Donau-Akademie | Donaubuero | Ars Electronica | MOME Budapest | Stiftung HfG Ulm
In cooperation with: Balkan Dance Project | New European Bauhaus on the Danube | Udruženje Živimo Balet Sarajevo | Mediterranean Dance Centre
Partner organisations: Ringside | Pilot Media
The project is supported by: Creative Europe | Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia | Ministry of Public Administration of the Republic of Slovenia | Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia | Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina | National Culture Fund of Bulgaria

^{Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.}