Nedeljski dnevnik: "Dance heals, connects and sows good"

Katja Petrovec - Nedeljski dnevnik, 9th October 2024

With the performance Why Me, Katja Vidmar and Albert Podrekar raise public awareness of multiple sclerosis, and at the same time donate all proceeds from the tickets sold to charity

Katja Vidmar and Albert Podrekar are certainly one of the most kind-hearted couples. She is a dancer who uses dance to create stories full of passion, emotions and messages that draw attention to socially important topics, he is a producer and photographer who makes sure that their performances come to life on stage and reach people. In the Katja Dance Company dance studio in Ljubljana, which has become their second home, they spend their days, all afternoons and weekends, and combine dance and artistic expression with charity, as they donate all proceeds from the performances to charity. A logic that is difficult for many to understand today.

"I know, it's hard to understand," confirms Katja, "but that's what we decided." Why? Because we get a lot back. Sometimes the reimbursement is a smile, a hug and gratitude, and there is not enough of that in our society. When we see that we have helped someone, it is a reward for us, even if it is not material. All the dancers are volunteers, we donate all the performances, and we invested own funds in this space so that we can rehearse and create. Before that, we were moving from one gym and room to another, then we had a rented hall, when it was demolished and an apartment block was built there, we took the risk and bought our own studio. We love to be here!"

After creating three performances Life is a value, Project X and The Book, as well as five dance fairy tales, their latest play, Why Me, focuses on multiple sclerosis and the life of Tadeja Polanšček, who is fighting this disease. With it, they raise funds for the Let's Know Multiple Sclerosis association, warn, raise awareness and, above all, break down prejudices.

A teacher and passionate dancer

Dancing has been Katja's passion since childhood. "It was probably placed in my cradle," she replies, her distant relative Meta Vidmar was the pioneer of modern dance in Slovenia. "She had a dance studio in Vidmar's villa in Rožna dolina, and I used to meet her as a child when my father and I visited relatives," she says.

At first, Katja trained ballet and jazz ballet, then she joined the Make Up dance group, which many people still remember from the Nedeljskih 60 shows, and the girls also danced on Melodija morja in sonca. From there, her path continued in two directions, one continued to focus on dance, she also founded her own dance studio, the other continued to study general linguistics and Slovenian.

"I like being a teacher," she replies, "and both are intertwined in my life. So, with the students at the Secondary Medical School in Ljubljana, we do dance performances, for example, we made a performance about the first nurse in Slovenia, Angela Boškin, we made a film about Franja Hospital, and some students even dance in my performances. I also present a lot of what I create to them, because it is educational for them, so I often choose topics that will help them later in life. The show Life is a value talks about cancer, Project X about refugees and ecology, The book encourages reading, and Why me exposes multiple sclerosis.

Since not everyone understands dance, Albert and I have such a system that video projection, text and dance take place on stage at the same time. So even those who don't know the dance can finally say that they understood everything. I am happy that the students get an insight into life not only through professional books, but also through art, so that maybe they will turn to the theater in adulthood. I have tremendous support from the school in my work."

Important topics

The dance performances they create with Albert are always colored by socially important themes. "Certain things are not talked about enough, but they need to be talked about," Katja firmly believes. Even before she connected with Albert, she created her first play Woman, which talks about the role of a woman from her birth to her death and in which she highlighted violence against women. Even then, she donated all proceeds from the shows to safe houses in Slovenia. The show's honorary patron was Vlasta Nussdorfer, former human rights ombudsman and advisor to the President of the Republic of Slovenia, who encouraged her to do another show. After that, they started collaborating with Albert and creating special dance, theater and multimedia performances.

"Our first performance was Life is a value. I was faced with the subject of cancer, as both my father and both grandmothers and great-grandmother died of this disease in a very short time. I wanted my father to see this show, but unfortunately he didn't. This shook me very emotionally, but then I realized that I have to continue dancing and thereby help others, because the money from these performances is donated to the Mali Vitez foundation, which helps those who survived cancer at a young age and have consequences later because of it. It's a kind of redemption of sadness for me too, because through the performance I channel my energy into something useful. We have already danced it 41 times, which is really a phenomenon for an amateur group. All the dancers are at work in the morning, but in the afternoon we dance and create together. I am immensely grateful to them for taking the time to do charitable things."

Why me

With the performance Why me, Katja and Albert want to raise awareness about the disease, which is strongly present in our society, but in reality many people do not really know about it. It stars Tadeja Polanšćek from Murska Sobota, who has been battling multiple sclerosis for many years. "She was so brave that she shared her story with us, we recorded it and while Tadeja tells it, dancer Sara Brčvak and I dance her life. Through Tadeja's narrative in the play, we follow how the problems and symptoms began, what her life was like before the disease, that she was a physiotherapist, that she still teaches future physiotherapists, how she fights the disease, what she took from it and what she gave. We learn how she brought the family together, how others accept her and how difficult it may be for someone to understand that she is physically disabled, but she enjoys life, the sea, food, flowers, conversation, and friends just like everyone else. Tadeja is very involved in this show, it's actually her show, and we both want it to have as many repetitions as possible, because that way we'd help raise as much money as possible. At the same time, with every performance, we show that people with multiple sclerosis live among us and have no different longings, wishes and dreams than healthy people."

Katja admits that it was really difficult to portray Tadeja's story. "The moment I realized that I would have to dance without arms and legs, it became a problem, because both are essential to dance. But then I designed the choreography in such a way that I dance as much as possible with mime and through it show all her hardships, spasms and pain that she experiences. Sara dances Tadeja before her illness, I dance Tadeja when she got sick. We are one intertwining, which shows how Tadeja's illness distracts him from himself, he does not want it, but on the other hand he faces it and accepts it because he has no other choice. Peter Capuder joins us in the play, who portrays Tadeja's husband, who is also her personal assistant and always present in her life."

With the performance Why Me, Katja and Albert touch people who are directly or indirectly related to multiple sclerosis, and those for whom only the performance and Tadeja's story lift the veil of this disease. They are touring Slovenia with her, already this weekend the performance will be in Grosuplje, then in Dolsko, in Postojna and at the Secondary Medical School in Ljubljana, and they want to bring her to other places as well.

"We are looking for municipalities and theaters that want to cooperate with us, so that we can then donate as much of the proceeds from the tickets sold as possible. Most of the theaters and municipalities really work for us, and we work with some of them wonderfully. We really did something that has added value. Everyone, including Vlasta Nussdorfer and Barbara Toplak Perovič, our honorary sponsors, and Barbra Drnač, who is our media sponsor with the show Parade of Dance, said that the show was something special, and when you hear something like that, you are really proud," he admits Katja Vidmar.

During this time, she and Tadeja became close friends, and Katja says that she is simply impressed by her positivity, energy, courage and smile. “It's amazing how despite everything life has taken from her, she still gives and reminds us not to rant. That everything is given to us, but she is not, but she accepts it and lives on, while we sometimes forget how lucky we are to be healthy."

But they also inspire Katja and Albert, who with their actions and work contribute to a warmer and more authentic society. For some individuals, their charity also changes their lives, for the better, easier and more beautiful, encourages others to think and makes them better people. This is what drove humanity.

"If I can help, it's a reward for me," says Katja, "and I know that I've done a lot of good in my life."