A PLATFORM FOR PERFORMING ARTS
Slovenian ITI Centre
A PLATFORM FOR PERFORMING ARTS
Slovenian ITI Centre
About ODER - STAGE and ITI
ODER in English translation STAGE is a space of collaboration in performing arts
Non-governmental performing arts platform is the seat of
the International Theatre Institute in Slovenia.
partner NETWORK
Week of Slovenian Drama Festival and Preseren Theatre Kranj
Association of Slovenian Ballet Artists and
Ballet Through Lines Web Platform
Association of Dramatic Artists of Slovenia
Slovenian Theatre Institute
Maribor Theatre Festival
Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, University of Ljubljana
ABOUT ITI WORLDWIDE
We are a proud member of the largest international organization for the performing arts.
ITI was created on the initiative of the first UNESCO Director General, Sir Julian Huxley, and the playwright and novelist, JB Priestly, in 1948, just after the Second World War. This was the beginning of the Cold War when the Iron Curtain divided East and West. The founders of ITI aimed to build a cultural organization for the performing arts aligned with UNESCO’s goals on culture, education, the arts, mutual understanding and peace. It should focus its endeavours on improving the status of all members of the performing arts professions. They envisaged an organization that created platforms for international exchange and engagement in the performing arts education for beginners and professionals alike and using the performing arts for mutual understanding and peace.
THE GUEST HOUSE
A PLATFORM FOR CURRENT INTERNATIONAL TOPICS
The Guest House is a platform where we discuss current international topics through arts, creation, resilience, and humanity, and the venue where we host creators from different communities and real-life experiences. A platform where an open space for debate and exchange is created enables respectful dialogue and opens the perspectives of the artist's roots, work, and struggles.
OUR HOST,
THE PRESEREN THEATRE KRANJ AND
THE WEEK OF SLOVENIAN THEATRE FESTIVAL,
IS A MEMBER OF OUR PARTNER NETWORK
Activities
THE GUEST HOUSE
2 April 2025
55. Week of Slovenian Drama Festival
Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenia
SUSTAINABLE THEATRE
Round table
(Zoom Event, on-site and Online)
Our starting point of the event entitled SUSTAINABLE THEATRE – A Challenge of
Our Time, was inspired by the book "Sustainable Theatre: Theory, Context, and Practice" by Iphigenia Taxopoulou,
2 April 2025
55. Week of Slovenian Drama Festival
Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenia
SUSTAINABLE THEATRE
Round table
(Zoom Event, on-site and Online)
Our starting point of the event entitled SUSTAINABLE THEATRE – A Challenge of
Our Time, was inspired by the book "Sustainable Theatre: Theory, Context, and Practice" by Iphigenia Taxopoulou, a leading expert in culture and environmental sustainability, is currently a foundational work that has been in development for over three decades. The author has approached her research from numerous angles, exploring essential topics such as international perspectives, the climate and environmental impacts on cultural policy, tru artistic leadership, organizational ethics, infrastructure, activities, individual and institutional practices of sustainable creation, education, touring, and international collaboration. She also sheds light on how the climate crisis affects narrative—both on stage and in a broader sense.
What is the role of art at a time when numerous concepts, including creativity itself, are confronting the climate and environmental crisis, the collapse of values, wars, and political upheavals? Why should we even care about the role of the artist and art in the context of global environmental and political changes that increasingly impact the lives of each of us? What is the right balance, what are the biases, and how significant is the challenge of the concept of sustainability? We will pose these and many other questions to seek answers, open up thinking, and support the practice of sustainability in theatre within our cultural space.
Guests:
Iphigenia Taxopoulou (Greece), founder and General Secretary of the European theatre network mitos21, associate at Julie's Bicycle (UK), sustainability consultant, lecturer, and educator
Lučka Kajfež Bogataj, renowned Slovenian climatologist, full professor at the Faculty of Biotechnology, Head of the Chair for Agrometeorology, and member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Geneva
Laura Sedgwick (UK), producer at Theatre Green Book and Production Associate with independent producers Smith & Brant Theatricals
Adam Bureš (Czech Republic), sustainability expert at the Czech National Theatre in Prague, lecturer at the Prague Theatre Academy, and member of the sustainability forum within the Opera Europa network
Mike Van Graan (South Africa), playwright and producer in the field of social justice
Tamara Bračič Vidmar (Slovenia), Producer, Head of Public Relations, and Head of Greenstage Project for Slovenian activities
Moderator: Tatjana Ažman, dramaturge, head of the Slovenian Centre ITI and Director of the Cultural Institute Oder/Stage, Ljubljana
The event will be hybrid and conducted in English. The Festival's Web and Social Media pages will announce possible livestreaming.
Collaboration between
Slovenian Centre ITI,
Cultural Institute Stage Ljubljana, and the Week of Slovenian Drama Festival Kranj
THE GUEST HOUSE
4 April 2024
54. Week of Slovenian Drama Festival
Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenia
SALT OF THE EARTH
Panel
(on - site)
This time, the Round Table, entitled Salt of the Earth, will unfold the stories and experiences in the Middle East, aiming to underline the importance of the arts.
Our guests at the venue were
Ofira Hening and Ramzi Maqdisi
4 April 2024
54. Week of Slovenian Drama Festival
Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenia
SALT OF THE EARTH
Panel
(on - site)
This time, the Round Table, entitled Salt of the Earth, will unfold the stories and experiences in the Middle East, aiming to underline the importance of the arts.
Our guests at the venue were
Ofira Hening and Ramzi Maqdisi.
The talk host was Tatjana Ažman.
Collaboration between
Slovenian Centre ITI,
Cultural Institute Stage Ljubljana, and the Week of Slovenian Drama Festival Kranj
THE GUEST HOUSE
4 April 2023
53. Week of Slovenian Drama Festival Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenija
THE VOICE OF THE NEW BELARUS
Round table
(Zoom Event, on-site and Online, Streamed Online)
Parallel to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the systematic repression of democratic processes has been happening in Belarus for years. These processes, among other
4 April 2023
53. Week of Slovenian Drama Festival Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenija
THE VOICE OF THE NEW BELARUS
Round table
(Zoom Event, on-site and Online, Streamed Online)
Parallel to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the systematic repression of democratic processes has been happening in Belarus for years. These processes, among other things, weaken and destroy the working conditions for many artists and intellectuals who have been leaving the country to create new lives for themselves with the hope that they will one day be able to return home. Many truths remain hidden until we start talking about them, writing them down, or documenting them in another way. Such knowledge must circulate in the art world so that it connects and empowers us to implement human rights. One of the projects that have been created with the intent to speak up is Insulted. Belarus. The American John Freedman and his wife, Russian actress and director Oksana Mysina, created the Worldwide Readings Project. They shot the documentary Voices of the New Belarus, based on Andrei Kureichik's eponymous play, and prepared a shorter version called Love is Stronger than Fear, which at the time of the event won the Grand Prix at the 14th Atlantis International Internet Short Film Festival in New York. The event took place in person in Kranj and on Zoom. With it, we wish to open the space for theatre colleagues who, with their work, are keeping their culture and language alive, albeit no longer at home, and support their future efforts.
Program:
- Insulted. The Belarus Worldwide Readings A project was presented by John Freedman, a writer and translator who has worked in Moscow since 1988 and was a theatre critic for the Moscow Times between 1992 and 2015.
- Presentation of the film Love Is Stronger Than Fear - the short version of the film Voices of the New Belarus by Oksana Mysina and John Freedman.
- Nadzeya Luchanok's introduction and a statement dialogue about her father, who has been imprisoned in Belarus since 2021.
Playwright and screenwriter Andrei Kureichik, author of the play Voices of the New Belarus, revealed his experience working collaboratively with Oksana and John and his work and activities in the US.
- FOCUS BELARUS PLAYWRIGT - Contemporary Belarusian author Diana Balyko was on-site. A dialogue with her about her present living and working situation, a presentation of her work, and a focused future.
Collaboration between
Oder/Stage – Cultural Institute for Performing Arts / SC ITI, People's Embassies of Belarus in Ljubljana, the Association of the Belarusian Diaspora in Slovenia, and The Week of Slovenian Drama Festival in Kranj, Slovenia
PAST ACTIVITIES 2017 - 2022
2020 – 2022 INTERNATIONAL ZOOM EVENTS COLLABORATION
31 March 2022
52. WEEK OF SLOVENIAN DRAMA FESTIVAL Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenija
READING CANKAR
Round table
(Zoom Event, Streamed Online)
Ivan Cankar, the "undiscovered Central European Ibsen," was promoted abroad in English translation. Round table, streamed online.
With: Jure Gantar (Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada), Andreja Kovač
31 March 2022
52. WEEK OF SLOVENIAN DRAMA FESTIVAL Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenija
READING CANKAR
Round table
(Zoom Event, Streamed Online)
Ivan Cankar, the "undiscovered Central European Ibsen," was promoted abroad in English translation. Round table, streamed online.
With: Jure Gantar (Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada), Andreja Kovač (artistic director, Crane Creations Theatre Company, Mississauga, Canada), Vijay Padaki (Bangalore Little Theatre Foundation, Bangalore, India), and Kay Brattan (artistic director, Little Lion Theatre, London, UK). Moderator: Tatjana Ažman (Slovenian Centre ITI); coordinator: Rok Andres
Collaboration between Slovenian Centre ITI, International Playwrights’ Forum ITI, Crane Creations Theatre Company (Canada), and Week of Slovenian Drama Festival. Supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.
MORE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmOF19gu9fc
11 November 2021
51. WEEK OF SLOVENIAN DRAMA FESTIVAL Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenija
CREATORS OF CHANGE:
Women Playwrights During the COVID-19
A discussion in an open dialogue about the new contexts women artists worldwide create daily.
With: Simona Hamer (Slovenia),
August Melody Andong (President of Women Playwrights International, Philippines), Rosemary Johns (Vice-President of Women Playwrights International, Australia),
Ximena Carrera (Chile),
Dessa Quesada-Palm (Philippines),
Melodie Reynolds-Diarra (Australia),
Elnaz Sheshgelani (Iran / Australia)
Moderator: Tatjana Ažman (SC ITI);
coordinator: Rok Andres (SC ITI)
Round table, Zoom Event, Streamed Online.
Collaboration between the
Slovenian Centre ITI,
International Playwrights’ Forum ITI,
WPI (Women Playwrights International), and the Week of Slovenian Drama Festival. Supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.
MORE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmOs0PTBxlo&t=371s
4 February 2020
Cankarjev dom Ljubljana
OLYMPUS FESTIVAL
Dr Constantina Ziropoulou, Professor of Theatre Studies, member of the
IPF was invited to give a lecture to outline the modern directing approaches of Ancient Greek theatre, as viewed within the framework of the current cultural and economic developments in Greece, and presented significant landmarks in the history of the revival of ancient Greek theatre until the present day.
The initiative of Staša Mihelčič,
vice president of IPF,
Secretary General of SC ITI.
In collaboration with Cankarjev Dom Ljubljana, SC ITI, and IPF,
19 – 21 October 2019
Maribor Theatre Festival
4th ITI EUROPEAN REGIONAL COUNCIL
The Maribor Theatre Festival was presented to an open audience, followed by a meeting of the European Centre's representatives. It was co-organized by SC ITI (Staša Mihelčič, Rok Andres, and Tatjana Ažman), European Regional Centre ITI (Fabio Toledi), ITI Worldwide (Tobias Biancone, Chen Zhongwen), and Maribor Theatre Festival.
14 – 16 December 2018
Slovenian National Theatre Drama Ljubljana
MASTERCLASS FOR ACTORS
By Apostolos Apostolides (Cyprus)
A complete 3-day program for 25 participants.
SC ITI,
Slovenian Association of Dramatic Artists,
Slovenian National Theatre Drama Ljubljana.
15 – 29 October 2018
Maribor Theatre Festival
NEAP YOUNG EMERGING ARTISTS EXCHANGE PROGRAM
The Maribor Theatre Festival hosted a Masterclass facilitated by a student from
The Accademia Teatro Dimitri.
Collaboration between the Slovenian Centre ITI and the Swiss Centre ITI.
23 October 2018
Maribor Theatre Festival
THE CHALLENGES OF ARTISTIC FREEDOM
Symposium and Round Table
Prominent specialists and guests discussed current themes of evaluating and treating artistic (or the artist’s) freedom, mainly focusing on various forms of violation, (self-)censorship, or the restriction of activity, creation, and expression. Guest participants Dr. Darko Lukić – keynote speaker (Croatia); Dr Thomas Engel (German Centre ITI and founding member of the ITI ACAR); Dr Thomas Irmer (German Centre ITI, member of the ITI ACAR); Dr Srirak Plipat (executive director of Freemuse); Tomasz Kireńczuk (Poland); chaired by Tatjana Ažman and Rok Andres (SC ITI).Co-organized by the Slovene Centre ITI, the German Centre ITI, the ITI ACAR, and the Maribor Theatre Festival.
6 December 2017
Lili Novy Hall - Cankarjev dom
BODY LANGUAGE:
PANTOMIME - ANDRÉS VALDÉS,
THE PRIZE WINNER AND HIS STORIES
The World Mime Organisation awarded mime and teacher Andrés Valdés for outstanding contribution to the art of pantomime, followed by the reflection on Cuban poetry - interpreted by a Mexican actor, writer, and director Carlos Pascual and the talk with the artists conducted by the dramaturge Staša Mihelčič. SC ITI, World Mime Organisation, Association of Dramatic Artists of Slovenia in cooperation with Cankarjev dom Ljubljana.
14 – 23 July 2017
ITI WORLD CONGRESS
Segovia, Spain
Congress program
of the Slovenian delegation
Guest performance Madam Bovary, directed by Yulia Roschina, Slovenian National Theatre Nova Gorica; Guest performance Gathering of the Birds, directed by
Nina Rajić Kranjac, Academy for Radio, Film, Television and Radio Ljubljana; Participation of the Slovenian member of the UNITWIN, Aleš Valič; Young practitioner representative Lea Kukovičič; Workshop by Alida Bevk;
New Honorable member of the ITI,
Henrik Neubauer.
PAST ACTIVITIES - 2016
2020 – 2022 INTERNATIONAL ZOOM EVENTS COLLABORATION
2020 – 2022 INTERNATIONAL ZOOM EVENTS COLLABORATION
March
2020 – 2022 INTERNATIONAL ZOOM EVENTS COLLABORATION
2020 – 2022 INTERNATIONAL ZOOM EVENTS COLLABORATION
2020 – 2022 INTERNATIONAL ZOOM EVENTS COLLABORATION
4 JULY 2020
World Mime Chat No 3
LADIES OF THE STAGE -
PRIDE, PREJUDICE & CORONA
Women artists from around the globe participated in the series of online discussions led by the World Mime Organisation.
August 202O - Online
15th SAINT MUSE THEATRE AWARDS
SC ITI member Tatjana Ažman
was a guest juror for the online festival edition, categor
4 JULY 2020
World Mime Chat No 3
LADIES OF THE STAGE -
PRIDE, PREJUDICE & CORONA
Women artists from around the globe participated in the series of online discussions led by the World Mime Organisation.
August 202O - Online
15th SAINT MUSE THEATRE AWARDS
SC ITI member Tatjana Ažman
was a guest juror for the online festival edition, category Music Theatre.
20 November 2020
NEAP FEST BRASIL ONLINE 2020
GLOBALIZATION:
WHAT ARE THE POSSIBILITIES
FOR A DIALOGUE WITH THE ART
Zoom Talk Slovenia - Brasil
The second edition happened between November 13 - 28, virtually: the NEAP FEST gathered artists, theatre companies, and festival producers from different countries and continents from home.
9 December 2020
IAPAR INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
PERFORMING ART IS CAPITAL
Zoom Masterclass
The Masterclass theme was finding relevance in art today as one of the most critical challenges. What exactly are transformation and connectivity,
and what are our opportunities?
Conducted by Tatjana Ažman SC ITI.
14 September 2021
3rd Mitambo International
Theatre Festival Online
THE SHOW MUST BE ONLINE: #STAY@HOME,
PANDEMIC PROOFING INNOVATIONS
20 December 202O
MIME ART & EDUCATION FACING CHALLENGES OF TODAY
An online Event was organized by the National Academy for Theatre and Film "Krastyo Sarafov" (NATFA) in Sofia to celebrate 30 years of mime education
at the NATFA.
Supported by the WMO and ITI-WMO Physical Theatre Working Group.
THINKING AND RETHINKING BALLET
In 2021, The Slovenian Ballet Artists' Association and The Slovenian Centre ITI launched a web page section, and talks streamed on YouTube with guests from around the World. This exceptional ongoing cooperation between the two organizations fosters the dialogue between art and society with its diversity and international reach
Team of producers:
Tomaž Rode, Nataša Berce.
and a host Tatjana Ažman.
The Ministry of Culture of
the Republic of Slovenia supports them.
27. 5. 2021
ROBERT DEKKERS (USA) is a choreographer, artistic director, and ballet ensemble Post: Ballet (USA) founder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGQjgmU-aRo
27. 9. 2021
GEORGETTE GEBARA (LEBANON), is Lebanon's legend and prima ballerina, ambassador of arts in Lebanon, pedagogue, and founder of professional ballet education in her country.
She is one of the first ITI members to receive the "Honorary Member" title during the Xiamen Congress 2011. She served as Secretary of the International Dance Committee of ITI and was a Technical Advisor for the Executive Council.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QO8trLRVgI
16. 2. 2022
MIHAELA DEVALD ROKSANDIĆ (CROATIA), Croatian ballerina, principal dancer of
The Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL2IagAz0ic
7. 3. 2022
CHASE JOHNSEY, an American ballet dancer from Florida (USA), was awarded dancer (Dance Magazine 2008 – 25 to Watch, English National Dance Awards 2017 -
Best dancer), founder of Ballet Barcelona.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezCowW_sTYE
15. 6. 2022
ALASTAIR MACAULAY (UK), the leading critic of the Financial Times, the leading dance critic at Times Literary Supplement and New York Times, a contributor to Dance Magazine, Ballet Review, Dancing Times, …, academic teacher (Royal Academy of Dancing, UK), curator (New York City Center),
and book author.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5vOy9FikrQ
5. 12. 2022
JAŠ OTRIN (SLOVENIA/GERMANY), a former principal dancer in many important European ballet houses and a founder of OtrinArtManagement, a platform for performing and fine arts artists, is presently based in Germany.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSpc2L9aE6c
23. 1. 2023
JENNIFER HOMMANS (USA), a famous book author, revealed the backstage of her work on a recently published influential book about George Balanchine entitled
Mr B., George Balanchine's Twentieth Century.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-fAJnKOtrI
26. 9. 2023
SZILARD MACHER (HUNGARY), ballet dancer, pedagogue, and choreographer, talks about his experience as a dancer. Still, mainly, he describes the situation in ballet education and pedagogy from the perspective of the present situation in Hungary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-emdj5wXMOQ&t=9s
28. 11. 2023
MÁRIO RADAČOVSKÝ (SLOVAKIA) joined the Slovak National Theatre Ballet in 1989, becoming a soloist quickly. In 1992, he received an offer to dance in Jiří Kylián's Netherlands Dance Theatre in The Hague. In 2018, he finished a master's in choreography at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He began to create as a choreographer in 2002 at the Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montreal. Since the 2013 season, he has been the artistic director of The Ballet of the National Theatre Brno.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=day509Zl2Y0&t=3214s
3. 1. 2024
GABRIELE HASLINGER (AUSTRIA), Gabriele Haslinger was six years old when she was accepted at the prestigious ballet school of the Vienna State Opera, 14 when she received her employment contract to the Vienna State Opera Ballet, and 21 when Rudolf Nureyev (Soviet-born ballet dancer and choreographer, 1938 – 1993) specifically chose her of all ensemble members as his partner for a series of roles – at a time when she had not even reached her soloist status yet. Gabriele was acclaimed for her virtuosity and elegance and for making the most technically demanding roles seem effortless and gracious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My-mLqkWLXM&t=3201s
4. 1. 2024
HELEN PICKETT (USA), a California-born choreographer, has created more than 30 ballets, most recently Eventide (Boston Ballet), Games (Ballet West), and Camino Real(Atlanta Ballet, where she is the resident choreographer). We discussed different and her work's beautiful points of her career as a da, dancer, actress, filmmaker, and pedagogue, as well as how she views the present art community struggles and opportunities
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGmSjNh_aGs&t=2s
Events Photo Gallery
SC ITI LEADERSHIP AND BOARD MEMBERS
Tatjana Ažman /
President /
Acclaimed dramaturg of the
Slovenian National Theatre Opera and Ballet Ljubljana,
theatrologist and playwright,
Director and Artistic leader of
Oder - Stage, Cultural Institute for Performing Arts, Ljubljana
Dr Rok Andres /
Vice President /
Dramaturg, Critic and
Artistic Director of Šentjakob Theatre Ljubljana
Staša Mihelčič /
Secretary General /
Dramaturge and Theatre Project Leader at
Cankarjev dom, Cultural and Congress Centre Ljubljana
Karmina Šilec
Conductor, Director-Author, Composer,
Artistic Director of
Carmina Slovenica and
New music theatre Choregie
Neda Rusjan Bric
Director, Actress, Playwright,
Leader of winning candidate city and
Artistic leader of European Culture Capital Nova Gorica – Gorizia 2025
Nataša Berce
Critic, Publicist, Dramaturge,
Chief Editor of Ballet Through Lines Web Platform at
Association of Slovenian Ballet Artists
Matjaž Farič
Director and Choreographer,
Artistic Director of
Institute Flota and
Front@ Festival
Aleš Valič
Actor and Professor at
Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and TV,
University of Ljubljana
Lea Kukovičič
Theatre Director,
Performer and Dramaturge
Nina Kuclar Stiković
Dramaturge and Playwright
Jakob Ribič
Dramaturg, Young Researcher at
Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and TV,
University of Ljubljana
Simon Stanojevič /
Arts Administration Support /
Sociologist and Art Historian