/Croatia/

This guest-performance is supported by the  (NON) ALIGNED MOVEMENTS – Strengthening contemporary dance in Western Balkans / NAM project of the Balkan Dance Network of Nomad Dance Academy, co-financed by the European Union and “Culture” Programme of Sofia Municipality.

“How many cubic centimeters is my body allowed to occupy?” is a performance resulted from the collaboration between TRAS company and the choreographer Sonja Pregrad. They joint forces across the idea of a specific physicality of the female body. As an author of the performance Sonja Pregrad builds on her earlier choreographic solo works in which she was focused on the objectivity of the (female) body (“SOLO” and “Oh, my body, I wish you were there”). The title and the structure of the performance, which is actually a catalogue of forces that objectify a woman’s body, are also borrowed from her earlier works.

Pointing out at the body as a subject is inherent to the choreographic and dancing practice. It is always an objectification of the viewer’s gaze, of the choreographer’s gaze, but it is also an object of its own gaze. Body exists as an object of our perception, as something that we are taught to call “body”, as something that we are taught to call “mine”. Generally, the patriarchy sees the female body (firstly) as an object, while the drag genre emancipates this objectivity of femininity with specific voluntary amplification and starts playing with it – reformulate and mobilize it, enriching the viewers’ perception of it.  This is exactly how it happens also on the stage of “How many cubic centimeters is my body allowed to occupy?”. Choreographically the performance interprets the sensitivity and touch of the body, objects and space – represented by the characters of three drug queens. 

Sonja Pregrad is a dance author, performer, and teacher. She acquired MA Solo/Dance/Authorship at Universität der Künste in Berlin and obtained her bachelor’s degree at ArtEZ Arnhem. Her solo works and collaborations with Willy Prager, Silvia Marchig, Marjana Krajac and many others have been performed all over Europe. She is a cofounder and co-organizer of the festival IMPROSPEKCIJE in Zagreb and cofounder of Dance artistic organisation and Antisezona program at Contemporary Art Museum in Croatia. Since 2011, she has been a co-organizer of an international project and an interactive dance magazine TASK with Dance Centre TALA. She performs for Meg Stuart, Boris Charmatz, Sanja Iveković, Isabelle Schad and others. She holds Croatian Theatre Award for the best female performance and the best work, two collective Croatian Dance Union Awards and a special mention at the 26th Slavonian biennale.