Yuri Korec
Profile
Juraj (Yuri) Korec gained his first dance experience and received classical ballet education at the Anton Cíger Elementary Art School in Kežmarok. Later on, as a student of the Otto Bruckner Hotel Academy in Kežmarok, Korec was a sports dancer at an international level. After high school graduation, he studied at the Department of Dance Art at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava and performed with the Bralen Dance Theatre. It was around this time when he started teaching contemporary dance technique and dance improvisation, which he has continued doing until today. In his last year of college, he worked for the Dance Studio Theatre in Banská Bystrica. In 2002, Korec completed his master’s degree and founded the DAJV association for contemporary dance with Marta Poláková in Bratislava. The establishment of the association was a significant landmark in the development of Slovak contemporary dance.
In 2004, Korec started working as a freelance artist and was active mainly abroad. His first contract covered collaboration with Editta Braun & Schauspielhaus Salzburg (Austria). Since then, he has worked on the international scene and his collaborations include such dance companies as the Ventura Dance Company (Switzerland), Retina Dance Company (Belgium), Jean Abreu Company (United Kingdom), Cocoondance Company and Stephanie Thiersch/Mouvoir (Germany), cieLAROQUE/Helene Weinzierl (Austria), and Stephanie Schober & Dance Company (United Kingdom). Korec lived alternately in Brussels, London, and Salzburg.
He started to make art and perform under the pseudonym Yuri Korec in 2000 – this marked the beginning of a more focused approach to creating devised projects. Korec’s most significant works include ph-neutral (2005), a dance production made with Tarek Halaby and Andrej Petrovič that premiered as part of the BXLBravo at the Kaaitheatre in Brussels; new bit-new beat (2006), a solo production that premiered at the tanz_house Festival 06 in Salzburg; and beat it (2009), a dance production that was first performed at the Long Dance Night in Salzburg as a result of a coached project for dance studios graduates, done in collaboration with Helene Weinzierl.
The dance movies Day (2004), created together with Andrej Petrovič and Jozef Vlk, and DARKROOM (2007), done in cooperation with Peter Bebjak, were presented at international festivals Napolidanza (Italy), Artfilm (Slovakia), Cinedans (Netherlands), ArtFilmFestival Assolo (Italy), Antimatter (Canada), Zlatá Praha (Czech Republic), Festival International du Film sur l’Art (Canada), and others. The most successful dance film so far has been voiceS (2010), created in collaboration with Peter Bebjak and co-produced by D.N.A. Production and Helene Weinzierl/CieLAROQUE. The movie was awarded several international prizes.
Korec’s other work includes the multimedia dance production entitled h a b i t a t, produced by the Tanzplan Dresden, Semperoper Dresden, and Palluca Tanz Schule Dresden. He later choreographed several other dance productions that premiered abroad, for example, the solo dance work Zero (2013), created in cooperation with Matan Levkowich and Helene Weinzierl, or the dance production 20/20 vision or from-BREAK-on, produced by CieLAROQUE/Helene Weinzierl, Austria.
At present, Korec focuses mostly on his own, devised work. Under the brand Yuri Korec & Co., he has produced such dance titles as d-BODY-m (2017), A Solo for More than One Body (2018), Non-solo (2018), and Habibi 2196-18 (2018). During the COVID-19 lockdowns, he returned to the work A Solo for More than One Body and created its new, digital version (staged live and online via Zoom) entitled SNPJT.online (2020). His last works so far include Sapiens Territory (2020), a production for seven dancers based on their shared, long-term international artistic research, as well as the production A Story (2024).
In 2018, he completed his doctoral study at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. At present, he teaches contemporary dance, performance, and new approaches to movement there.
He also works as a Rolfing® therapist.
Yuri Korec & Co. is a project platform and artistic brand of the choreographer and performer Juraj Korec. Korec established the platform to facilitate various artistic collaborations, which can produce diverse works of contemporary dance. The first feature work produced under this brand was the 2017 dance production d-BODY-m. Since then, the platform has produced several works, such as the performance lecture A Solo for More than One Body (2018), the solo performance Non-solo (2018), or the group performance Sapiens Territory (2020). The themes of the works produced by Yuri Korec & Co. focus on the phenomenon of the presence of the human body, its physical potential, its emotional diversity, and its interaction with the surrounding world. Korec not only analyzes and names the phenomenon of presence in his theoretical work – he also explores its various aspects and presents the result to the audience in original stage productions.
Korec’s creative approach is characteristic for its experimentation with the possibilities and boundaries of defining movement forms. When interacting with other art media, movement contributes to the exploration of the relationship between the performers and recipients of the artwork. Korec conceptually sets his projects within the social and societal reality of his home environment. The artistic collaborations of the Yuri Korec & Co. association are produced by the civic association Skrzprst, which – in addition to doing educational activities in contemporary dance and new approaches to movement – also cooperates with the youngest generation of dancers.
The production d-BODY-m, choreographed by Yuri Korec, premiered on the 8 October 2017 at the Arteatro Theatre in Bratislava. The staging approach relied on a deconstruction of movement, which is known from postmodern theatre projects. There were two performers on stage: a man (Lukáš Bobalík), who was naked, and a woman (Eva Priečková), who was dressed in ready-made clothes. The man was constantly (even when he was not moving) at the peak of the intensity and potential of action, while the woman was static, depersonalized in her movement. The interaction between them was more about their intersecting solos than it was an actual duet. The audience could observe the disintegration and the stages of walking, falling to the ground, running, throwing of paper, crawling on all fours, or looking to the sides. Each movement was repeated at different speeds, with varied muscle tension, and shown from different angles. The musical background was the song Naraz teraz (Suddenly Now) by the band Puding pani Elvisovej. The lyrics of the song presented a fittingly ironic take on conceptual thinking and the convention of the dancing unison and its lightness helped modulate the pace and rhythm of the choreography. The production’s dramaturgical line was made up of a looped, repetitive pattern of sequences that did not develop the story or the relationship, but created a time-space paradox. Korec questions the automatically assumed relationship (measured, content- and meaning-related) between one point and another, between an individual with another human being, and suggests we carefully examine such relationships. The production opens a whole reservoir of possibilities, which are unrestricted and never pre-defined.
The dance work Habibi problem (2008) by the Austrian choreographer Helene Weinzierl was inspired by the tragic true story or two Iranian gay teenagers whose love problems were the result of the government’s unacceptance of same-sex relationships. Despite the fact that the story of Mehdi Kazemi and his boyfriend took place in 2005, its political appeal is, sadly, still relevant. Korec, who co-authored the original version of the production, presented a newly created dance performance entitled Habibi 2196-18 (2018). It is a re-enactment of the original choreography which compares the state of the society in 2008, when the original work, Habibi problem, was produced, and in 2018. The theme reflects an important context of the Slovak cultural environment – via the issue of the oppression of LGBTI+ communities in authoritarian regimes, it confronts the audience with the metaphor of fear of otherness and the unknown. It emphasizes the fact that though one might not be directly convicted to a life in prison, it does not mean that the outside world is a world of freedom.
The dialogue between the video and the dance on stage was played out in the narrative storyline of the men’s relationship. Simultaneously, it was shown in the smooth interconnection of various principles of movement, that is, by conveying movement themes and building on them as they unfolded. The main principle was repetitiveness, the recurrence of movement phrases and the rotation of video sequences. The multiplication of images helped to increase the tension and urgency of the narrative. The video also mirrored the decomposition of the dancer’s movement by looping some of the scenes – running, escaping, and making use of the principle of alienation.
The video projection contributed to the theme with a sense of detachment, which allowed the production to display mental and emotional misery without causing anxiety or bringing about a depressing response. It was because Korec managed to introduce the characters and their interpreting performers as peers, not as people “from another planet,” or some kind of martyrs – they are ordinary, appealingly “cheeky” young men. The dancer’s interpretation relied on very civil and austere expressivity. It was dominated by repeated movements whose automated impersonal nature was disturbed by ruptures, explosive moments of strongly expressive and emotional performance. Even though this is a politically engaged production, it has preserved high artistic quality. The author’s personal opinion helped specify and fixate the themes in contemporary reality and in an absorbing aesthetic form.
The author expressed the theme of freedom by playing with the principle of liberty and restriction of movement. The principle manifested itself in both the dance and the projections. At times, the movement was limited, at other times it was exaggerated, expansive and reaching the limits of physical possibilities. Pieces of furniture stood austerely on the stage and created a framework for the dance movement. They defined the spatial pattern of the movement, changed the focus of the individual physical phrases. The action in the projection, on the other hand, was exposed and free, the movement was not limited by anything. The repetition of movements and the looping created the illusion of the passing of time, in which the past clash with hatred, performed in the present, was at the same time a frightening forecast of the future.
The performance Sapiens Territory premiered on 9 October 2020. The choreography was intended for seven dancers and became the essence of this project, which was developed through collaborative long-term international research. The project relied on the collaboration between the original team of seven dancers which was, after several days of workshops, extended to include other dancers and non-dancers from the environment in which the project was performed.
In Sapiens Territory, Korec addresses violence again – this time, however, he takes a different approach than in his previous project. His main focus is on the inconspicuous violence people commit on each other in the desire to pretend to meet expectations and demands, trying to level out one’s personality to be socially accepted. The choreographer and his international group of dancers conducted a thorough examination of these phenomena. The research made the choreographer realize that what shapes us more than social constructs is our way of opposing them. Sapiens Territory notes the moments when the body suddenly betrays us. That’s when we can and have to express ourselves; when we are able to be ourselves. The initiated peripeteia of indisposition and micro collapse, ingeniously set up by Korec, provides opportunities for natural reactions and interactions. The fragility and vulnerability inherent in the indispositions in his choreography creates the beauty of relationships; the artist embraces authenticity and forgoes any particular narrative line of the production. Matúš Bolka’s magical music accompanies the action using aural meanders which co-shape the nature and atmosphere of the images. Matúš Ďuran’s and Tomáš Hubinský’s set and lighting design uses backlit circular chairs without backrests to establish a spatial network, a diagram in which everything is inter-related and in which individual micro-stories take place.
(author: Monika Čertezni, published online, 2025)
1999 – Dance about Love; Academy of Performing Arts, Bratislava, choreography: Yuri Korec. Premiere: Hall of the Academy of Performing Arts
2000 – The Yellow Bus; Academy of Performing Arts, Bratislava, choreography: Yuri Korec. Premiere: Hall of the Academy of Performing Arts
2001 – On the Waves of TV; Academy of Performing Arts, Bratislava, choreography: Yuri Korec. Premiere: Hall of the Academy of Performing Arts
2005 – ph-neutral; Yuri Korec & Co, choreography: Yuri Korec. Premiere: BXLBravo, Kaaitheatre, Brussels, Belgium
2006 – new bit – new beat; Yuri Korec & Co, choreography: Yuri Korec Premiere: TANZ_HOUSE FESTIVAL Salzburg, Austria
2009 – beat it; Yuri Korec & Co, choreography: Yuri Korec. Premiere: Lange Nacht des Tanzes, Salzburg, Austria
2013 – Zero2010 h a b i t a t (part of the trilogy num_bers – a trilogy );Yuri Korec & Co, choreography: Yuri Korec, artistic direction and subject matter: Helene Weinzierl. Premiere: ARGEkultur, Salzburg, Austria
2013 – 301 3 01 IS IT ME; CieLaroque/Helene Weinzierl, choreography: Yuri Korec. Premiere: Festspielhaus, St.Pölten, Austria
2014 – Axiomatic Attraction; Yuri Korec & Co; choreography: Yuri Korec. Premiere: Lab Theatre – Academy of Performing Arts, Bratislava
2015 – 20/20 vision or from-BREAK-on; CieLaroque/Helene Weinzierl; choreography: YURI Korec. Premiere: ARGEkultur, Salzburg, Austria
2015 – Emotional underStandingArt; Byť v pohybe, mimoOs; choreography: Marta Poláková, Yuri Korec, Peter Šavel, directed by: Tomáš Procházka. Premiere: URBAN HOUSE, Bratislava
2017 – d-BODY-m; Jakub Turčan, choreography: Yuri Korec. Premiere: Arteatro, Bratislava
2018 – A Solo for More than One Body; Skrzprst o.z.; choreography: Yuri Korec. Premiere: Lab Theatre, Theatre Faculty, Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava
2018 – Non-solo; Skrzprst, Jakub Turčan; choreography: Yuri Korec. Premiere: TICHO a spol., Bratislava
2018 – Habibi 2196-18; Skrzprst/Jakub Turčan, CieLaroque/Helene Weinzierl; choreography: Yuri Korec. Premiere: TICHO a spol., Bratislava
2020 – SNJPT.online; Skrzprst; choreography: Yuri Korec. Premiere: online
2020 – Sapiens Territory; Skrzprst; choreography: Yuri Korec. Premiere: A4 – Space for Contemporary Culture, Bratislava