DIS GISELLE is an audio performance in Serbian spoken langauge that describes “Жизела / Giselle”, a dance piece by Jelena Stefanoska. Typically used as an accessibility tool, audiodescription here becomes an artistic method, developing the aesthetics of access and making dance and choreography accessible to blind and partially sighted audiences.
Through voice, music, and sound choreography, the performance translates dance into sound, transforming the body's movement on stage into an immersive auditory experience.
Stefanoska’s “Жизела / Giselle” reinterprets the tragic ballet character through contemporary dance, drawing parallels between Giselle’s fate and her own life in a society governed by restrictive norms that hinder dignity and happiness.
DIS GISELLE consists of four audio scenes based on various danced, written, and narrated content that Stefanoska proposed during rehearsals as descriptions and enactments of Giselle's and her own emotions and physical states. These include values that Stefanoska highlights as important human qualities: honesty, loyalty, and forgiveness, as well as those that bring joy, satisfaction, and meaning to life, such as connection with nature, passion for personal (artistic) expression, the need to love and be loved, and above all, the desire to live with dignity.
Concept, text, and artistic direction: Saša Asentić
Artistic collaboration: Jelena Stefanoska and Olivera Kovačević Crnjanski
Voices: Jelena Stefanoska, Frosina Dimovska, and Saša Asentić
Collaboration on audiodescription: Violeta Vlaški and Boris Dončić
Consultation on the accessibility of visual content: Emmilou Rössling, Violeta Vlaški, and Boris Dončić
Selection of motifs from the libretto, music, and choreography of “Giselle”: Jelena Stefanoska
Story, song, description of the body, movement, and costumes: Jelena Stefanoska
Recording, editing, and sound design: Rastko Ilić
Musical improvisation in the fourth scene: Dunja Crnjanski
Collaboration on vocal performance of original songs: Mirjana Raić Tepić
Care about access needs in the rehearsals and shows: Olivera Kovačević Crnjanski, Nataša Murge Savić, Saša Asentić
Production: Per.Art
