Author: Nora Čulić Matošić.

My journey with Beyond Fronta project started in September 2024 Krakow with a week-long residency hosted by Krakow Dance Theatre. Alongside other fellow critics and colleagues, I enjoyed my time and learned a lot from our dear mentors Alicja Müller and Pia Brezavšček. This was one of the few opportunities I had since starting this journey to educate myself on the art of dance, its history and critical writing. However, I would be amiss in saying that the dance criticism in Croatia is non-existent or stagnant. In the last two years, I’ve witnessed a slight but important development on the Croatian dance scene with more visibility, fruitful productions and education towards more critical discourse.

Audience at the Beyond School event – Ljubljana, Slovenia – 19 March 2025. Photo by Nada Žgank.

My first stop was in Ljubljana for the Beyond School event in March 2025. Hosted by Bunker and its wonderful team (honourable mentions to Tamara Bračič Vidmar and Ajda Koloini), the event gathered dance students from academies of Croatia, Poland and Hungary. Since, I haven’t had much experience with foreign productions, it was interesting to see student’s presentations which all differed in style and aesthetics. I liked seeing the local production from the Ljubljana’s high school of arts, department of contemporary dance. It’s always nice to see how each country invests in dance, not only as part of culture, but as education too. As someone who grew up dancing as her after school activity, I believe dance helps kids develop motoric abilities as good as any other sport and physical activity.

The next stop was Dance Week Festival in Zagreb with a programme rich in activities and performances. Since I’ve lived here for almost a decade, I loved seeing the local dancers and artists engaging with international guests and hear their thoughts and opinions on Zagreb’s dance scene and infrastructure.

My last two stops overlapped a bit so organizing the two trips, one to Ljubljana for Drugajanje festival and the other to Budapest for Sissi Dance Week, was a bit stressful but nothing overly serious or traumatic. I loved the latest edition of Drugajanje because of its versatile offer of performances and the focus on introducing Slovenian high schoolers to contemporary arts. It was a great opportunity to visit other Slovenian towns like Kranj and Celje where I’ve never been. I find the idea to host the festival in multiple cities across the country and not just the capital inspiring, as it works on decentralizations of the art in the capital like it’s the case in Croatia, although there are changes happening there too.

Nowhere Like Here (chor. Francesco Scavetta) – Budapest, Hungary – 18 Nov 2025. Photo by Gábor Dusa

That November 2025, just a day after I got back from Ljubljana, it was time to go to Budapest for the first time. Special thanks to Andrea Medvegy for recommending me the hotel I stayed in and being available for any questions about the festival. The Sissi Dance Week festival had a diverse programme, not much as Zagreb’s did, but I found there was more audience’s interest in attending the performances and discussions after them.

As of finances, the sum I’ve received was more than enough sufficient for all three of my travels. I didn’t face any major adversity when it came to travelling. Mostly I enjoyed travelling by train from Zagreb to Ljubljana and around Slovenia. As per accommodation, I looked into affordable options that were still in the centre or close to my friends I’ve made on my travels.

The most important part of the scholarship was working on my criticism writing with wonderful Pia Brezavšček, her editing tips and comments helped me improve my writing and focus more deeply on the movement and performance as a whole, all while taking in the emotional aspects of the performances too. This knowledge and experience I’ve conducted over the last year will most definitely influence my writing and critical thinking when it comes to dance.

Nora Čulić Matošić’s critical reviews created within the Beyond Front@: Bridging Periphery project:

• Sounding the alarm times three – All’arme (part of 42nd Dance Week Festival Zagreb)
• Beyond School: friendship beyond borders
• Are You a Cucumber or a Pickle? – Dirty Dancing (part of 14th Sissi Dance Week Budapest)
• A Performative Hospitality – Nowhere Like Here (part of 24th Drugajanje Festival and 14th Sissi Dance Week Budapest)