Saša Asentić & Collaborators
DIS DIS CONTACT
DIS DIS CONTACT is the performance in Saša Asentić’s “Dis-Project” series, which has been bringing together disabled, Deaf, and non-disabled artists since 2017 to critically examine ableism in dance. Following “Dis_Sylphide” (2018) and “Dis Contact” (2023), this new piece, created for Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, continues with further examination of “Kontakthof” by Pina Bausch and the reclamation of historical justice by exploring the anti-ableist struggle as inherently anti-fascist and anti-capitalist.
Through Marko Bašica’s critical analysis of music in Kontakthof, Snježana Bulatović’s empathetic observations on the portrayal of mental health conditions, and the powerful intervention of Natalija Vladisavljević, Jelena Stefanoska, and Snježana Bulatović in the representation of women, DIS DIS CONTACT challenges opressive mechainsms and exclusionary narratives in dance history.
The title’s Latin prefix, dis-, reflects the work’s ethics and aesthetics—rooted in care, solidarity, and accessibility—while confronting the absence of disability perspectives in dance.
Concept and artistic direction: Saša Asentić
Choreography, artistic collaboration, and performance: Natalija Vladisavljević, Jelena Stefanoska, Snežana Bulatović, Dalibor Šandor, Marko Bašica, Frosina Dimovska, Alexandre Achour, Olivera Kovačević Crnjanski and Saša Asentić
Light: Anja Sekulić
Technical direction: Rastko Ilić
A production by Saša Asentić in co-production with Theatre de la Ville and Olympiade culturelle.
“Dis Dis Contact” is part of the research project “Aesthetics of Access and Politics of Memory” at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts.
Some choreographic and performance materials used from “Dis_Sylphide” and “Dis Contact” were originally produced in these performances in coproduction with Kampnagel Hamburg, HELLERAU - European Centre for the Arts Dresden, Mousonturm, SOPHIENSÆLE, Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Théâtre de la Ville-Paris; funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe; supported by the NATIONALE PERFORMANCE NETZ Coproduction Fund for Dance, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
