Darko Radosavljev: Salaš – a working tale

In the organizer's words:

World premiere

For the dancer and choreographer Darko Radosavljev, growing up in his family was characterized by stories of situations and people that were not physically tangible for him due to loss or a life at a distance. Although the stories and myths of his family were very present, he himself could not become part of these stories or have his own physical experiences in them. With the work Salaš - a working tale, he dedicates himself to intensive artistic research into the myths of work and physicality with which he grew up and develops them choreographically into a solo evening. In Serbian, Salaš stands for a field hut in which workers live. Darko Radosavljev's paternal family lived in one of these huts until they had built up enough material security to move to the village. Salaš thus stands for a specific biographical location of his family. On the other hand, since he never lived there himself, Salaš also stands for a projection and a place of desire. The solo performance invites us to develop thoughts and fantasies about physical work and family community and to constantly re-imagine these spaces. Last but not least, this also creates a specific and queer perspective on physical work and family participation. Between performer and spectator, this imagined and imaginary Salaš becomes a shared opportunity to rethink narratives and actions and to (re)write family history.
Darko Radosavljev (he/him), born in Serbia, works and lives as a choreographer and dancer in Essen and Berlin. He studied dance and choreography at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen and at P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels, as well as art and politics at Goldsmiths University of London and London School of Economics. He was the first dance scholarship holder of the German National Academic Foundation from 2010-15 and in 2018 received the entry-level grant from the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe for his solo work Seascape. His works have been shown at the Liverpool Biennial, Performing Arts Festival Berlin, Act! Bilbao, Tanzfabrik Berlin, Uferstudios Berlin, tanzhaus nrw and Pact Zollverein. Radosavljev was a member of the Folkwang Tanzstudio ensemble from 2017-23 and has worked with Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, Boris Charmatz, Reinhild Hoffmann, Xavier Le Roy, Susanne Linke, Nevin Aladağ and Michiel Vandevelde, among others.

Duration: approx. 60 min.

In German, English and Serbian with German and English surtitles. The play is also understandable without language skills.

Supporting program
Sat 04.05. Talk following the performance