ADDITIONAL OFFER
Friday, 20 February 2026 at 8:00 PM, Karantena
Jerneja Fekonja and Felix Rapela: Presentation of a work in progress
During their artistic residency in Maribor, Jerneja Fekonja and Felix Rapela are developing a new dance performance. Their process is based on movement research, collaboration, and the exchange of ideas. They will present their work in progress to the participants of WDS, offering insight into the creative process and the open questions that emerge along the way.
Jerneja Fekonja graduated from BCDA in Hungary in 2019. She is a contemporary dancer with international experience across Europe. She works as a performer as well as a choreography assistant and rehearsal director, including at institutions such as the Opera and Ballet Ljubljana (in co-production with SNG Drama Ljubljana), Theater Bremen, and projects such as TanzTrialog (Germany).
She has led workshops and taught at Tanzplattform Rhein-Main Antanzen in Frankfurt (DE), Melting Pot Noi Re-Creăm (RO), Roxy Ulm (DE), EinTanzHaus Mannheim (DE), Tanz Graz (AT), Art Space Stift Millstatt (AT), PTL Ljubljana (SI) and others. She has also worked as website manager and production assistant for the film platform Dance Masterclass. Jerneja has created and performed with numerous artists, including Francesco Scavetto, Marco Torrice, Nuria Gui Sagarra, Andrea K. Schlehwein (NETZWERK AKS), Unusual Symptoms collective, Andreja Podrzavnik Rauch, Willi Dorner, Eléonore Valère Lachky, Boston Moving Arts Productions, Max Levy, and more. Her works have been presented in Germany, Sweden, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Belgium, Romania, Spain and Hungary.
Félix Rapela began his journey of body research with kung-fu, later continuing with circus acrobatics. He discovered contemporary dance while studying Scenic Arts with a focus on Circus at UNSAM in Buenos Aires in 2014. In 2018, after completing his studies, he moved to Brussels, where he co-founded the Les Sudakas collective. He has worked in Le Lac des Cygnes with the French company L’eolienne, with Jordi Vidal’s company, and as a dancer in the film Bolero, choreographed by Michèle Anne De Mey. He is currently performing in Landfall by Erika Zuenelli (Best Show 22–23, Prix Maeterlinck de la Critique). He is currently also part of the creation Corps Tendres by Lucie Yerles, an interactive circus performance exploring the sense of touch.
FREE ENTRY
Saturday, 20 February, 2026 at 20.00, Sodni stolp - Minoriti
Beno Novak: RUMBLE, a dance performance
Duration: 50 minutes
The performance is part of the pre-festival events PLATFORMA BEFORE PLATFORMA, within the framework of the 20th Platform of Contemporary Dance (MOJA KREACIJA Institute, Maribor) and the 41st Winter Dance School Maribor (JSKD).
Autorship, Choreography and Performance: BENO NOVAK
CO-AUTHORS:
Dramaturgy: URŠA ADAMIČ
Music: ELVIS HOMAN
Light Design: BORUT BUČINEL
Costume Design: TINA PAVLIN
Outside eye: KRISTÝNA PELDOVÁ
Producer: KATJA SOMRAK
Technical Assistance: ALJAŽ ZALETEL
Production: PLESNI TEATER LJUBLJANA - Avtorski opus I / Author’s Opus I
The Platform of Contemporary Dance is supported by the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Maribor.
GROM is a personal initiation into a new phase, marked by a series of transformations in which ancient layers dissolve into something new and unknown. The dance performance is conceived as a personal ritual, inviting the audience to enter as both observers and participants. In his choreographic research, Beno Novak works from the corporeality and origins of dance, driven by a fascination with contemporary embodied experience. The central point of departure is the very origin of dance, its physicality and its impulse. Exploring these origins has awakened an interest in contemporary corporeality and in what the author perceives as the embodied experience of his Slavic ancestors. The primary inspiration is the figure of the Kurent, a symbol of transition, transformation, and endurance, acting as a mediator between the human and the divine. The performance weaves ritual elements with the author’s personal experiences, raising questions and blurring the boundaries between reality and illusion.
Notice: There is nudity in the performance.
Beno Novak completed his Master’s degree in Embodied Research at the University of Antwerp (2025), following his undergraduate studies at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (2016) and further training at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, and The Place in London.
He has danced for many different companies and with many renowned artists such as Gary Clarke Company, Jason Mabana Dance, James Wilton Dance Company, Deborah Hay, Etienne Guilloteau, Alix Eynaudi, Matej Kejžar, Paul Blackman & Christine Gouzelis, Zsuzsa Rozsavolgyi, Magdalena Reiter, and others. Many of his works are made in collaboration with other artists, such as the duet 400 Rabbits with Marina Abib, the solo Owe by Junior Mufutau Jussuf, ::Nature::Dialog:: by Dragana Alfirević, Body Concert with Ana Romih and others. In 2023 an international jury awarded him the first prize at the Biennial of Slovenian Contemporary Dance Gibanica for the collaboration project Rising 2.0 with musicians Boštjan Simon and Elvis Homan. He is the artistic and executive director of the Summer Intensive Portugal Festival and the Kaleidoscope Festival in Slovenia. One of his main commitments is to share, teach and develop his Zero Space Method. His work is a constant exploration of personal experiences expressed through strong physicality mixed with sensitivity, fragility, strength and exhaustion.
ENTRY: in-kind contribution
Sunday, 22 February 2026 at 8:00 PM, Karantena
Showing of work created in dance classes and workshops
FREE ENTRY
