Saša Asentić: Dis Giselle performance
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
The performance lasts approximately 45 minutes with no break. The performance exists in three language versions: English, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian and Persian. The performance will take place several times over three days. On Friday, following the English premiere, there will be a round table conversation moderated by artist Saša Asentić.
See program below.
In the audio performance and installation Dis Giselle, Saša Asentić explores how accessibility tools can become both an aesthetic and political gesture. When sight is not the determining factor, sound can become a crucial element in experiencing dance. Dis Giselle places accessibility at its centre – not as an addition, but as the artistic expression itself.
The work is presented at MUNCH in three language versions: English, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, and Persian. Asentić describes his practice as being “disability-led”, where collaboration and allyship is essential. Dis Giselleis developed in collaboration with the artists Jelena Stefanoska and Mandana Kouros. The work is part of Asentić’s PhD research fellowship at Oslo National Academy of the Arts.
In an audio choreography in four scenes – created for blind, partially sighted, and sighted people – dancer Jelena Stefanoska gives a new interpretation of Giselle, the tragic heroine of the famous Romantic ballet. Stefanoska weaves in her own stories, poems, and fragments from magazines and music – from pop to ballet. In the Persian version, Mandana Kouros enriches the work with added references to Iranian pop and traditional culture.
Dis Giselle challenges established notions of the body in dance. By making accessibility into an artistic language, Asentić centres disabled bodies and minds and makes visible how ideologies and social norms shape our understanding of art, dance and disability.
The result is a poetic and political audio journey that allows the audience to experience dance – not with their eyes, but through listening and imagination.
Would you like to read the tex in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian?
(PDF)
Would you like to read the text in Persian?
(PDF)
PROGRAM:
Friday March 20th
17:30 Doors open
18:00 English premiere
19:00 Round table conversation with Q & A
Saturday March 21st
12:30 Doors open
13:00 Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian premiere
15:00 English version
17:00 English version
Sunday March 22nd
12:30 Doors open
13:00 Persian premiere
15:00 English version
Saša Asentić (b. 1977, Derventa/Bosnia-Herzegovina, former Yugoslavia) is a non-disabled choreographer, researcher and cultural worker, based in Oslo. Asentić works in the field of contemporary dance, performance, and disability arts. His artistic practice is based on the principle of solidarity, and resistance against cultural oppression and indoctrination. Allyship and long-term collaborations play a crucial role in his work. Since 2007, his artistic work has been presented internationally in major venues and festivals of contemporary performing arts in Berlin, New York, Paris, Tokyo, Vienna, Tehran, Athens, Moscow, and other cities. Asentić is an initiator of Per.Art organization, which gathers a group of disabled and non-disabled artists that challenge and counter ableism in dance and culture since 1999. Asentić is currently a PhD researcher at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts.
Mandana Kouros (b. 1991, Houston/USA) is a multidisciplinary artist and performer with Down syndrome, based in Tehran, Iran. She holds a degree in Screenwriting from the Soroush Applied Scientific Institute in Tehran. Kouros’ work moves between painting, poetry, sculpture, and performance, seeking to reveal the dialogue between body, image, and emotion. A central concern in her artistic practice is advocating for the inclusion of artists with Down syndrome, ensuring their active presence and creative participation in the arts. She is collaborating with Tan.Arts collective in Tehran. Her performance Liberation was presented at the Dis Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia in 2022.
Jelena Stefanoska (b. 1982, Novi Sad/Serbia) is a dance artist with Down syndrome, based in Novi Sad, Serbia. She has been a member of the organization Per.Art, since 1999. Stefanoska has performed in different Per.Art productions at festivals, theatres, and museums across Serbia, Germany, Slovenia, Italy, Montenegro, and Japan. She has participated in dance laboratories in Hamburg in Germany; Maastricht in Netherlands, and Rovereto in Italy, as part of a Europe Beyond Access project. She also took part in an online screen choreography called DIS_move. Beyond dance and choreography, Stefanoska creates drawings, paper collages, and costume designs. Along with Saša Asentić, and in collaboration with Olivera Kovačević Crnjanski, she co-created her dance performance Žizela / Giselle (2021). Stefanoska is also a performer and artistic collaborator in the audio performance Dis Giselle (2026).
Commissioned work by MUNCH
Co-produced by MUNCH with Per.Art
Concept and artistic direction: Saša Asentić
Artistic collaboration: Jelena Stefanoska, Olivera Kovačević Crnjanski, Mandana Kouros, Leila Jalalian, Miad Nohekhan
Text: Saša Asentić with Jelena Stefanoska, Mandana Kouros
Voices: Jelena Stefanoska, Mandana Kouros, Frosina Dimovska, Saša Asentić
Collaboration on audio description: Violeta Vlaški, Boris Dončić
Consultation on the accessibility of visual content: Emmilou Rössling, Violeta Vlaški, Boris Dončić
Selection of motifs from the libretto, music, and choreography of “Giselle”: Jelena Stefanoska
Recording, editing, and sound design: Rastko Ilić
Musical improvisation in the fourth scene: Dunja Crnjanski
Collaboration on vocal performance of traditional songs: Mirjana Raić Tepić
Care for access needs in the recording sessions, rehearsals and shows: Olivera Kovačević Crnjanski, Nataša Murge Savić, Leila Jalalian, Miad Nohekhan, Saša Asentić
MUNCH:
Curator: Katrine Elise Agpalza Pedersen
Project Manager: Jonas Juelsrud Vebner and Ingeborg Husbyn Aarsand
Producer: Sara Kazimierski
Public Programme Coordinator: Marie Saxeide
Technical Manager: Lasse Baklien
Head of Sound: Eivind Sten Johnsen
Sound Technician: Synne Stenersen
Light Technician: Anders Skinstad
PR & Marketing: Selena Sefany, Hanne Marie Os and Elise Finstad
Text Editor: Hanna Hille Stoltenberg and Rob Young
Head of Discursive Programme: Tove Aadland Sørvåg
Translation to Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian: Saša Asentić, Jon Kværne
Translation to Persian: Miad Nohekhan, Amir Mirzai
Would you like to listen to an audio flyer about Dis Giselle in English?
Would you like to listen to an audio flyer about Dis Giselle in Persian?
Would you like to listen to an audio flyer about Dis Giselle in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian?
