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Publikacije / Publications



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Ksenija, Xenia – Londonska plesna leta Ksenije Hribar 1960–1978


Rok Vevar


Preden je Ksenija Hribar (1938–1999) s svojimi mladimi sodelavci leta 1985 ustanovila Plesni teater Ljubljana, je med letoma 1960 in 1980 živela in delala v Londonu. Po dveh zelo različnih plesnih šolah je leta 1967 prvič nastopila z ansamblom, ki si je spomladi 1970 nadel ime London Contemporary Dance Theatre, za katerega je ustvarila dve koreografiji, kot plesalka je v njem nastopila v več kot 40 koreografijah in v teh letih sodelovala z nekaterimi najmarkantnejšimi figurami sodobnega plesa 20. stoletja.
            Koreografinja in plesalka Ksenija Hribar (1938–1999) je bila med letoma 1953 in 1960 članica baletnega ansambla SNG Opere Ljubljana. Leta 1960 je prvič odpotovala v London, kjer je do leta 1962 obiskovala baletno šolo znamenite pedagoginje Marie Rambert. Po vrnitvi v baletni ansambel ljubljanske opere je začela opuščati željo po plesni karieri, ko jo je aprila 1965 v Ljubljani obiskal britanski baletni ljubitelj G. B. Wilson in ji predal novico, da se v Londonu odpira plesna šola Marthe Graham, nad katero se je Hribarjeva navdušila po ogledu filma Plesalčev svet (1957) v ljubljanski Operi septembra 1962, ko je ameriška koreografinja prišla na gostovanje v Zagreb in Beograd. Hribarjeva je nemudoma odpotovala v London in se v šolo vpisala še pred njeno uradno ustanovitvijo. Med letoma 1965 in 1968 je obiskovala London School of Contemporary Dance (kasneje London Contemporary Dance School), leta 1967 pa je postala članica ansambla, ki si je spomladi 1970 nadel ime London Contemporary Dance Theatre. V tem ansamblu je plesala v več kot štiridesetih koreografijah, delala z vrsto vrhunskih sodobnoplesnih koreografov tistega časa, sodelovala je pri vrsti alternativnih sodobnoplesnih predstav, avgusta in septembra 1970 je ansamblu LCDT pomagala organizirati prvo mednarodno turnejo po SFR Jugoslaviji. Z ansamblom je plesala do septembra 1974. Po študiju teatrologije na Viktorijini univerzi v Manchestru se je na začetku leta 1980 vrnila v Ljubljano, kjer je sredi 80. let ustanovila Plesni teater Ljubljana.
            Monografija Ksenija, Xenia – Londonska plesna leta Ksenije Hribar 1960–1978 osvetljuje koreografinjino in plesalkino britansko plesno zgodbo, ki je bila zaradi njene prezgodnje smrti domači javnosti znana zgolj fragmentarno. Knjiga je nastala na temelju daljše raziskave, v kateri je avtor zbral več tisoč dokumentov o življenju in delu te markantne osebnosti, opravil intervjuje s koreografinjinimi britanskimi sodelavci in znanci ter v razpoložljivem kontekstualnem gradivu izbrskal umetničin glas. Biografska študija bralca popelje skozi vznemirljiva in pionirska plesna leta britanske prestolnice, ko je London postajal globalni kulturni fenomen. Ksenija Hribar se je tam srečevala z vrsto ključnih imen baletne, plesne in kulturne zgodovine 20. stoletja, spoznavala nekatera enciklopedična plesna imena na njihovih začetkih ali delala z umetnicami in umetniki, ki so že na prehodu iz 60. v 70. leta na področju sodobnega plesa uživali mednarodni ugled. Ksenija, Xenia – Londonska plesna leta Ksenije Hribar 1960–1978 je na področju sodobnoplesne zgodovine prva tovrstna domača biografska študija.
            Knjiga je nastala v sozaložništvu Zavoda Maska, s pomočjo JSKD in NDA Slovenija. Je sad Začasnega slovenskega plesnega arhiva, ki ga je Rok Vevar ustanovil 2012 in ga aprila 2017 preselil v MSUM.
   
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Ksenija, Xenia – The London dance years of Ksenija Hribar 1960-1978


Rok Vevar


Before Ksenija Hribar (1938-1999) established the Dance Theatre of Ljubljana in 1985 with her young collaborators, she lived and worked in London from 1960 until 1980. After two very different dance schools she first performed in 1967 with the ensamble, which in the spring of 1970 was named London Contemporary Dance Theatre, and for which she created two choreographies. As a dancer, she performed in more than 40 of its performances, collaborating with some of the most striking figures of contemporary dance of the 20th century during those years.     
            Choreographer and dancer Ksenija Hribar was a member of the ballet ensemble of the Slovenian National Opera Ljubljana from 1953 until 1960. In 1960 she traveled to London for the first time where she studied at the ballet school of the respected pedagogue Marie Rambert until 1962. Upon her return to the ballet ensemble of the Ljubljana Opera she had begun to give up her desire for a career in dance, when the British lover of ballet, G.B. Wilson, visited her in Ljubljana in April of 1965 and shared the news that Martha Graham would be opening a dance school in London. Hribar had been enthusiastic about Graham upon seeing the film A Dancer's World (1957) at the Ljubljana Opera in September 1962 when the American choreographer visited Zagreb and Belgrade on tour. Hribar immediately traveled to London and enrolled in the school even before its official establishment. Between 1965 and 1968 she attended London School of Contemorary Dance (later, London Contemporary Dance School) and in 1967 became a member of its ensemble, which in the spring of 1970 was named London Contemporary Dance Theatre. She danced in more than 40 productions of the ensemble working with an array of well-respected choreographers of contemporary dance of the time, collaborating on an array of cutting-edge performances of contemporary dance, and in August and September 1970 helped LCDT organize its first international tour in SFR Yugoslavia. She danced with the ensemble until September 1974. Upon completing theatre studies at Victoria University of Manchester she returned to Ljubljana at the beginning of 1980, establishing Dance Theatre Ljubljana in the mid-eighties.    
            The monograph Ksenija, Xenia – The London dance years of Ksenija Hribar 1960–1978 sheds light on the British part of the dance story of the choreographer and dancer who was, because of her early death, locally not very well known. The book is based on lengthy research during which the author collected thousands of documents about the life and work of this striking personality, conducted interviews with the choreographer's British collaborators and aquaintances and in the context of the available material, seeked out the artist's voice. This biographical study takes the reader through the exciting and pioneering times of the British capital, just as London was becoming a global cultural phenomenon. There, Ksenija Hribar encountered a number of individuals who were influential in ballet and the history of dance and culture of the 20th century, got to know some of the encyclopedic personalities of dance who were then only beginning, or worked with artists who were already internationally recognized at the end of the 60s and early 70s. Ksenija, Xenia – The London dance years of Ksenija Hribar 1960–1978 is the first such Slovenian biographical study in the field of contemporary dance history. 
            The book was copublished by Zavod Maska with the help of JSKD (Javni sklad republike Slovenije za kulturne dejavnosti / Republic of Slovenia – Public Fund for Cultural Activities) and NDA Slovenia. It is the fruit of the Temporary Slovenian Dance Archive, which was established by Rok Vevar in 2012 and was given a home in April 2017 at the MSUM (Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova).

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