10/08/2023
MN Dance Company is actively preparing for the European Capital of Culture 2025 Nova Gorica - Gorizia and in these days in Nova Gorica welcomes 21 contemporary dancers from Europe and America, working under the artistic direction of Nastja Bremec Rynia and Michal Rynia in the framework of an international residency. Tonight at 20:30 they will show the resulting dance production and the first part of the triptych To the moon and back in the amphitheatre of Kromberk Castle, while on Tuesday evening the audience could enjoy the premiere of two short films by the MN Company and a series of short films selected as the audience's choice at the 2022 San Francisco Dance Film Festival in Europe Square. The international dance residency, featuring dancers from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Finland, Sweden, the U.S. and Slovenia, offered young people the opportunity to work with distinguished and experienced contemporary dancers Nastja Bremec Rynia and Michal Rynia. Five dancers from Italy are the recipients of the scholarships awarded by MN Company to the best dancers at the WhatWeAre International Festival in Udine (Italy) in May, organised by the dance and ballet association ADEB - Associazione Danza e Balletto Udine. MN Company is a partner of this festival and regularly collaborates with this association in the field of ballet and contemporary dance in teaching and performance. On Tuesday evening, the dance film evening at the border attracted numerous lovers of dance and contemporary movement to the Europe Square. The MN Company's two new films, Faded and Layers, were received with enthusiasm. In addition to choreographers Nastja and Michal, as well as camera assistant Aljaž Novak and special effects assistant Gorazd Prinčič, cinematographer Fabris Šulin was also present. A global dimension of contemporary dance on the big screen was offered by a selection of films from the largest dance film festival, the San Francisco Dance Film Festival, which also presented a global dimension of contemporary dance on the big screen. At Monday's press conference, Rynia dancers also introduced the permanent MN Dance Company Borderless dance ensemble, with which they will present one of the main programme events in 2025- a performance at the Solkan Quarry. The ensemble was formed after a dance audition in March 2023, in which 800 dancers from around the world participated, and now consists of Eri Nishibara (Japan), Noemi Capuano (Italy), Luka Vodopivec (Slovenia), Pere Sansaloni Servera (Spain), Nastja Bremec Rynia and Michal Ryinia. Besides these dancers, the ensemble also includes four Erasmus dancers: Paula Garcia (Sweden), Marie de Silva (Germany), Maria Cecere and Erica Modotti (Italy) and Luca Marchi from Gorizia. Otherwise, the summer was quite active for them: the premiere of To the Moon and Back was followed by a tour to Veszprém, Hungary, the current European Capital of Culture. Perpetuum mobile was performed in Budva at the Adriatic Dance Festival, and Step Out of My Shadow, a joint performance with Dance Theatre Ljubljana, was performed in Piran at the Primorska Summer Festival. After the residency, they are already working on a new production, The Distance, which will premiere on October 11 at the cross-border festival Visavi on the big stage of SNG Nova Gorica.
