Quartet

UPCOMING DATES:

13.02.2027 – AINSI Theatre, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Choreography and video directed by: Magdalena Reiter

Performed and co-created by: Jerca Rožnik Novak, Beno Novak

Video design: Sandi Skok

Music: August Adrian Braatz

Set design: Urša Vidic, Maruša Mali

Costume design: Pia Gorišek

Light design: Mojca Sarjaš

Photography: Darja Štravs Tisu, Urška Batistič

Produced by: Mirabelka

Co-produced by: Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana

Partners: KUD Qulenium, Adrain film

The performance is co-financed by: Ministry of culture of the Republic of Slovenia, City of Ljubljana – Department of Culture.

Premiere: 10.12.2023, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana

Past dates:
• 8 , 9 March 2024: Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana
• 12 September 2024: Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana
• 10 May 2025: 12. Biennale of Contemporary Dance in Slovenia , Gibanica 2025 – main programme; Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana
• 11 August 2025: Tanzwerkstatt Europa, Munich, Germany
• 5 September 2025: Platforma Festival, Maribor, Slovenia
• 30 October 2025:
Zagreb Dance Center,Croatia

Quartett is a performance for two dancers and two cameras. This research excursion is dedicated to the inner and outer architectures of our relationships. The cameras monitor the action live, acting as a mirror and voyeur; they emphasize and change what is already visible and reveal what is hidden.

The primary processes of construction of the choreography and the performance itself are reduction, duplication and montage. Reduction to the most basic elements of relationship, movement and physical proximity. Walking, touching, looking, all of which make up the score of the quartett.

The gaze of the duo, the gaze of the cameras, the gaze of the spectator. And the play, as the essence of a relationship and of the very act of performaning arts. The play of possible combinations of reduced and re-expanded elements. The central point between the body and the two-dimensional image is the play of opposites between pleasure and violence, coexistence and alienation.

The fabricated story, shown from different perspectives, reveals itself to the public and invites to follow the construction of the stage reality itself.

Excerpts from reviews:

Her work is an exciting crossing of boundaries between dance, performance, and moving image.The opening, in particular, is impressively well done, marked by enormous technical and dance precision. 
It is visually striking to follow the two in their movements while at the same time seeing the film images in the background. Through the clever play with distances, camera positions, and angles, thrilling scenes emerge again and again in the overall view.
Michael Schleicher, 12.08.2025, ,Merkur.de

We are witnessing more and more windows through which you can see yourself entering through the door on the opposite side. Because this is all about perceptual spaces.The feeling of distortion has much less to do with the distortion of the image itself (e.g. with the technical processing of the video) than with the distortion of the one’s inner world. A well-thought-out choreographic process that draws the viewer’s feelings into the intimate feeling and perception of the “characters”. 
Radhani Pernarčič, Neodvisni, 19.01.2024

The performance Quartet by choreographer Magdalena Reiter turns out to be a striking fusion of stage reality and recording technique, which duplicates, reproduces and even emotionally nuances the various sequences of the dancing couple, seemingly deepening the reality through the recording technique, and recreating a cinematic vision.
Daliborka Podboj, Parda plesa, 20.01.2024