Dah in Montenegro
The Balkans are a place that all-too-often falls into the realm of a liminal space, those places in between places. Because of its location and unique geography in Europe, it has historically been very difficult to pass through, and left to the mental rooms marked unknown. When there is any unknown, there is an equal move toward creating and inventing what might happen there, and the Balkans have become subject to these inventions for centuries. Montenegro is one of the more picturesque places, perhaps, but they’re all made for pictures. Some pictures are conceived in different lights and different shadows.
But for tourism, it’s been a very accommodating place, and has fallen back into favor in recent years. This brings more people from all over the world, who can see for themselves what happens here. Any of the cozy Montenegro hotels can be a respite from the busy world at large, or it can also be a perfect doorframe that opens up into other, unimagined worlds. For this, there is theatre. Montenegro does have a wonderful reputation for this form that is always on the verge of becoming something else, with festivals like HAPS every year. Companies from all over the world come to perform, exchanging cultures and dreams, and sometimes history sneaks in.
There is nothing sneaky about Dah Theatre , but there is every level of mystery that the deep sea can offer. They come through Montenegro quite frequently, and this offers a brilliant chance to see their work near their native Yugoslavia. Jadranka Andelic and Dijana Milosevic began the great work that’s become this force in world performance during the time of the great war. It began as an act of protest, and an offering to the citizens for an entertainment that could speak to them, and offer something that might lift them out of themselves.
Since then, they’ve been performing all over the world, as well as offering extensive workshops and residencies . The work is always ethereal and at the same time grounded in history. Using some of Grotowski’s methods for developing physical theatre, they’ve made their own style with a magnificent beginning, and a very breathable middle. It’s worth the trip into liminal space to discover the origins of a contemporary soul.