Ada Kogovšek is a dancer. Dance is her way of life, which leads her down a very interesting path. He travels a lot, trains with dance masters and passes on his knowledge to his students at the Kazina dance school. The closest thing to it is the hip hop genre of dance in all its variations. Together we will be able to venture into the world of street...
Ada Kogovšek is a dancer. Dance is her way of life, which leads her down a very interesting path. He travels a lot, trains with dance masters and passes on his knowledge to his students at the Kazina dance school. The closest thing to it is the hip hop genre of dance in all its variations. Together we will be able to venture into the world of street jazz and explore urban rhythms.
When did you fall in love with dancing?
From an early age. I started with ballet because I really liked skirts and petticoats. We also danced a lot at home at family celebrations. I am a sworn dancer. I started my dance journey at the Kazina dance school very early. I started with jazz ballet and fell in love with hip hop dance when I was thirteen. In addition to hip hop, I also deal with other genres, from contemporary dance, jazz, street jazz all the way to house, etc.
Dancing is said to require a lot of sacrifice. Is that really the case?
When I was younger, this was probably reflected in the fact that while the rest of my peers went out for coffee, I was at training sessions. At first, I had the feeling that I was neglecting my friends and social life, but I soon realized that my friends and party were at training. If you love something so much, you don't experience it as giving up. But it's a lot of hard work if you want to be a professional dancer.
The qualities of a good dancer are…
Hard work. I don't believe that you have to be talented above all. Excellence can be learned. If you like something and if you are willing to invest a lot in it, you will become it. I know dancers who a decade ago I thought had two left feet. They proved and showed me that this is not the case, because now they dance really superbly. I never say someone is not a dancer again. Everyone can learn to dance if they want to.
So you are of the opinion that there are no people with two left hands?
People just need to be directed. It is up to the dance teachers to teach them how to hear the music. Above all, how to relax to music and overcome the fear of not being able to dance. Lately, we have been going in the direction of teaching people not only choreography, but how to have fun while dancing. We teach them how to use the acquired dance knowledge in life.
You are preparing Urban Rhythms workshops for our readers. What is their purpose?
Our wish is that the dance floors in the clubs would be more full than the spaces at the bar counters or the places around the dance floor, and this already in the first part of the evening. It is important to us that people relax and have fun while dancing. That dancing means relaxation for them and not additional stress. So we will prepare workshops every second Wednesday of the month at 17:30 in Kazina where we will explore different dance styles. We will start with street jazz. We'll dance on Fridays, explore house music tricks, learn some cool clubbing moves, jump to hip hop...
Are the workshops only for the fairer sex?
No way. The first street dances were always intended for dancing in pairs. They were intended to meet new people. They were aimed at making it easier to approach a girl or a boy. Of course, with the knowledge of dance. It is for this reason that we want many male participants who will bring a little male dance energy to the dance workshops.
Why don't we have spontaneous ones street battles?
Because this kind of phenomenon does not exist in our culture. In America, such meetings have a tradition. In our country, the municipality and society should accept the phenomenon of a group of young people gathering in a public place, playing very loud music and starting to dance on the road. And not just at some event, but spontaneously... one afternoon, because they want to. In our country, this is treated as a violation of public order and peace. Until this changes, there will be no spontaneous road dance challenges either. They do happen, but they are rare and a little more "hidden."
Do you think that dance has become too institutionalized in our country?
Perhaps indeed. In dance schools, we may have focused too much on competitions and the best possible results, the best possible performances... This is precisely why we at Kazina decided to teach dancers to enjoy dancing. My students and I often turn off the lights, play music and dance. We do not do choreography, but in this way I "force" them to use their dance knowledge in practice. In one year, I noticed great progress in my students. At the end of the training, everyone is smiling and satisfied with the training.
Where can you experience authentic hip hop culture in Ljubljana?
We have quite a few interesting places where you can experience it. Hip hop culture is not only limited to dance. There are graffiti artists, skaters, rappers, etc. The route can take us to the club K4, Bi-Ko-Fe, Urban Roof next to the Old Church in Šiška, where they have a skate park, a climbing roof, etc. It is interesting that very interesting parties take place in Štanjel na Karst as well. There is a lot going on, we just have to try a little harder if we don't want to experience commercialism, which is increasingly common in the world and here too.