On February 4, the "Jordan Hadji Konstantinov-Jinot" theater in Veles will be the first host of the national tour of "Schwindel", the first performance of the series created within the project "Dance.Transformator - Rethinking the local dance community" of the Culture and Art Center. "Beatrix."

After the visit to Veles, performances are also planned at the Youth Cultural Center in Skopje on February 6, NU Culture Center "Aco Shopov" in Shtip on February 8 and in the National Theater "Anton Panov" in Strumica on February 9.

The performance "Schwindel" is the result of a one-month dance residency of the choreographer Tobias Draeger from Hamburg, Germany, who was selected as the first choreographer in the program of "Dance.Transformator" through an open call that received 86 applications.

He, together with six dancers: Dejan Bitrovski, Teodora Ezhovska, Sara Tasevska, Nina Petrushevska, Elena Stojkoska and Ilina Kostovska, have been working on this creation for the past three weeks, which will now be shown in four cities in North Macedonia.

The term "Schwindel" comes from the German language and has a double meaning, namely "deceit" and "dizziness". The choreographer, drawing from his background in osteopathy and contemporary performance, combines both practices, committed to exploring and addressing the phenomena of dizziness and exhaustion as a consequence of the fast-paced lifestyle we face today.

Performance deals with the analysis of how people deal with various emotional and life stages, dealing with despair, injury, vulnerability on a physical and emotional level, but also with how the boundaries between states are crossed.

"Dance.Transformator" is a one-year project of the "Bitrix" center, which aims to ensure the continuity of the work of the local dance community, creating a context for work and cooperation, both between the local constituents of the scene and with international partners.

The project is supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in North Macedonia and the Agency for Development and Cooperation of Switzerland.

The artistic director of the project is Ivana Balabanova, and the project coordinator is Angela Stojanovska. The financial manager is Pavel Maslov, and the creative team consists of: Ana Stojanovska (graphic designer), Tomislav Balabanov (web developer), Martin Mihailov (video), Anja Kalin (photography), Antonia Jordanoska Guginska and Maja Gyureska (costume design), Martin Manev (set design) and Martin Dimitrijev (light designer).

(The text was published in "Cultural Press" number 165, in the print edition of the newspaper "Free Press" on February 4-5, 2023)