Ethnically and Culturally Inspired Music
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Marija Vitas, Magazin Etnoumlje, WMAS, Serbia
“Stunning percussion of the body. Powerful and with the enchanting energy and passion...”
Ines Wagn...
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ABOUT
Alice in WonderBand was founded in 1998 in the hills of Fruska Gora, near the city of Novi Sad, the provincial capital of Vojvodina, and since then, the band has been performing and educating audiences in Serbia and the neighboring region. We are the only artists from the Balkans who have been developing a very specific type of performing arts: a unity of music, theater, dance, movement, and acrobatics with the special art of body music and body percussion. We have been learning from international body percussion artists and developing this technique, which uses the body as a rhythmical instrument.
Alice in WonderBand is a lifelong project of musicians and theater performers Ana Vrbaski and Marko Dinjaski. We have been partners on stage as well as in private life for 23 years, which gives our relationship a very unique dimension. We are parents of Alisa (19) and Vid (21) and now have the chance to devote ourselves to our artistic (theater for children, youth, and adults, and music) and pedagogic work (workshops of body music), since our children have grown to be adults and live on their own in the city of Novi Sad.
Alice in WonderBand has been around for some time, each step of our journey being valuable because we had the opportunity to be an art lab, absorb different influences, and create freely, open to different suggestions. This is why our artistic expression is so rich and diverse, and we have the opportunity to perform at completely different events (such as the Nišville Theater Festival, Ethno.com Festival, Barski Ljetopis, Milano Clown Festival, Bitef Polyphony) and reach out to audiences of all ages, education, and professions. We have performed in Germany, Italy, France, Austria, Turkey, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, and many stages in Serbia.
Reduced - sublimated, that's exactly what art is. Creating an entire orchestra with only two people's bodies is a challenge. This attracts us because it is very basic and direct, and therefore communicates with the audience.
The Rika Taka, a new Balkan rhythm project, gave us the opportunity to become more familiar with the heritage of the Balkans. The more we learned about it, the more we realized that the connections between the Balkan countries were numerous, which opened up doors to a sense of cosmopolitanism. We hope that each of our performances succeeds in conveying the same idea to the audience, as our similarities should connect us.
With the concert, which we started performing two years ago, we have toured so far in Germany, Serbia, and Montenegro. German audiences love Balkan music, and in Montenegro, we felt at home. We also performed parts of the concert in Turkey, in Gaziantep, at the Social Circus Festival, in front of a large number of children, primarily of Syrian descent. It is interesting that the audience reacts similarly, from the youngest to the oldest: they enjoy the rhythm and melodies, clap with us, and participate in the performances. Balkan music is a treasure – we've just arranged it our way and enjoy every performance.
We haven’t found a label, agent, or manager yet, since we are still focused on the recording and production of the audio and video material. We are hoping to have more opportunities when we perform in front of an international audience at WOMEX or some other major festival.
Life in nature and life in the city overlap, and it is certainly necessary to participate in city life as a contemporary artist. With our way of life, we have more opportunities to hear the silence, which is valuable today, as well as to face challenges that people living in cities do not know. This is precisely what empowers us to be successful independent artists, which is difficult, almost impossible in Serbia today. The beauty of nature and freedom also makes our art special.
Alice in WonderBand are:
Marko Dinjaski (body percussion, singing, didgeridoo; drum and percussion samples; musical arrangement)
Ana Vrbaski (body percussion, singing; keyboard and bass samples; musical arrangement)
Visnja Obradovic (singing; musical arrangement)
Goran Vujicin (sound design, music production)
Alice in WonderBand is a lifelong project of musicians and theater performers Ana Vrbaski and Marko Dinjaski. We have been partners on stage as well as in private life for 23 years, which gives our relationship a very unique dimension. We are parents of Alisa (19) and Vid (21) and now have the chance to devote ourselves to our artistic (theater for children, youth, and adults, and music) and pedagogic work (workshops of body music), since our children have grown to be adults and live on their own in the city of Novi Sad.
Alice in WonderBand has been around for some time, each step of our journey being valuable because we had the opportunity to be an art lab, absorb different influences, and create freely, open to different suggestions. This is why our artistic expression is so rich and diverse, and we have the opportunity to perform at completely different events (such as the Nišville Theater Festival, Ethno.com Festival, Barski Ljetopis, Milano Clown Festival, Bitef Polyphony) and reach out to audiences of all ages, education, and professions. We have performed in Germany, Italy, France, Austria, Turkey, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, and many stages in Serbia.
Reduced - sublimated, that's exactly what art is. Creating an entire orchestra with only two people's bodies is a challenge. This attracts us because it is very basic and direct, and therefore communicates with the audience.
The Rika Taka, a new Balkan rhythm project, gave us the opportunity to become more familiar with the heritage of the Balkans. The more we learned about it, the more we realized that the connections between the Balkan countries were numerous, which opened up doors to a sense of cosmopolitanism. We hope that each of our performances succeeds in conveying the same idea to the audience, as our similarities should connect us.
With the concert, which we started performing two years ago, we have toured so far in Germany, Serbia, and Montenegro. German audiences love Balkan music, and in Montenegro, we felt at home. We also performed parts of the concert in Turkey, in Gaziantep, at the Social Circus Festival, in front of a large number of children, primarily of Syrian descent. It is interesting that the audience reacts similarly, from the youngest to the oldest: they enjoy the rhythm and melodies, clap with us, and participate in the performances. Balkan music is a treasure – we've just arranged it our way and enjoy every performance.
We haven’t found a label, agent, or manager yet, since we are still focused on the recording and production of the audio and video material. We are hoping to have more opportunities when we perform in front of an international audience at WOMEX or some other major festival.
Life in nature and life in the city overlap, and it is certainly necessary to participate in city life as a contemporary artist. With our way of life, we have more opportunities to hear the silence, which is valuable today, as well as to face challenges that people living in cities do not know. This is precisely what empowers us to be successful independent artists, which is difficult, almost impossible in Serbia today. The beauty of nature and freedom also makes our art special.
Alice in WonderBand are:
Marko Dinjaski (body percussion, singing, didgeridoo; drum and percussion samples; musical arrangement)
Ana Vrbaski (body percussion, singing; keyboard and bass samples; musical arrangement)
Visnja Obradovic (singing; musical arrangement)
Goran Vujicin (sound design, music production)
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