Emanat Institute

Founded in 2006 by choreographer, dancer, and pedagogue Maja Delak, Emanat Institute, an Institute for the Affirmation and Development of Dance and Contemporary Art, works to affirm contemporary dance as a vital and evolving field of artistic practice. Its activities span artistic production, education, and publishing, with performance-making as the central axis. Emanat also produces the Small Arts Platform and is active within Asociacija, Association of Arts and Culture NGOs and Freelancers.

Stage production

As one of Slovenia’s leading producers of contemporary dance, Emanat develops innovative stage works that articulate distinct artistic processes and working methods, while fostering exchange across scenes and disciplines. Alongside collaborations with established and award-winning choreographers, dancers, and performance artists, it consistently supports younger, emerging voices. For a list of Emanat's collaborators, see the link below.

Since 2011, Emanat has produced the technoburlesque series The Image Snatchers, presented at various venues in Ljubljana, most recently at Mladinsko Theatre. Since 2018, it has also run the international festival Small Arts Platform, dedicated to less visible, non-institutional and hybrid performance forms, including cabaret, queer burlesque, drag, stand-up, clowning, and improvisational theatre.

Kamizdat Rentgen, a series of music events linked to Emanat's Kamizdat label releases, further extends this activity by raising the visibility of alternative and experimental electronic music.

In 2025–2026, Emanat became part of a collaborative initiative involving six Ljubljana-based contemporary theatre and dance organisations, Factory Season (Tovarniški abonma), contributing to a programme of performances and accompanying events in Stara Elektrarna - Old Power Station developed in collaboration with the Slovenian Theatre Institute.

Dance education

Since its establishment, Emanat has organised informal training programmes, often curated or led by Maja Delak, an experienced dance educator and initiator of the contemporary dance education programme at the Pre-School Education and Grammar School, Ljubljana. Between 2014 and 2024, it ran the year-round training course Practicum in Contemporary Dance Art, structured with daily classes and monthly workshops led by established Slovenian educators and choreographers. Its educational activities also include ongoing monthly voice workshops led by vocalist and performer Irena Tomažin, as well as dance and performance workshops by international artists. In recent years, there has been increased focus on less visible fields such as drag, (queer) burlesque, cabaret, and other hybrid practices.

Emanat also develops research-oriented formats, including the dance-performative project Exquisite Corpse, which provides space for often emerging authors to focus on developing their performative language and working methods rather than producing finished works.

The institute has also been involved in international collaboration, notably as part of the network behind the two-year pilot project International Documentation of Contemporary Dance Education (IDOCDE), which brought together 12 European dance educators to develop and document best practices and resulted in a freely accessible online platform for dance professionals.

A related long-term project, Methodologies of Notating Contemporary Dance, is dedicated to documenting the work of Slovenian choreographers, with a particular focus on women artists. Conceived as a series of public events led by a choreographer and a dramaturge, it reflects on the relationship between choreographic processes and dance dramaturgy. The project has also resulted in two publications, Community of Emancipated Thoughts and Bodies, released as part of the institute’s publishing programme.

Emanat has also developed SKI - Choreographers Directory Slovenia, which provides short biographies of choreographers, lists of their works, and selected photo and video material. The English version includes brief biographical information only.

Publishing

Transitions book series

Emanat’s publishing programme, though modest in scale, focuses on original and translated works that engage with the field of performing arts. It is structured around two series: Transitions, which features translations of key authors such as Elizabeth Grosz, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, John Berger, and Jacques Rancière, and Transitions X, dedicated primarily to performance texts by authors including Sarah Kane and Jasna Žmak.

Kamizdat netlabel

Emanat also runs the netlabel Kamizdat, which focuses on electronic and experimental music while maintaining a strong emphasis on local artists. Its work is guided by a do-it-yourself ethos, local engagement, free software, environmental awareness, and critical theory. Among its releases are works by The Feminalz, the creative force behind Emanat’s technoburlesque series The Image Snatchers.

External links

Gallery

Singer Hasmik Harutyunyan (Yerevan) facilitates an Armenian folk music workshop, as part of Emanat Institute's education programme, 2006

Drage drage (Expensive Darlings), choreographed by Maja Delak, premiering at Dance Theatre Ljubljana co-produced by Emanat Institute and City of Women International Festival of Contemporary Arts, 2007.

Drage drage [Expensive darlings], choreographed by Maja Delak, premiering at Dance Theatre Ljubljana during City of Women International Festival of Contemporary Arts, 2007

Rdeča kapica: da te bolje vidim [Little Red Riding Hood: I see that this is better] performed at Cankarjev dom, choreographed by Matej Kejžar, produced by Emanat Institute 2007

Touring show Drage drage, choreographed by Maja Delak performed at Europalia Festival, Center Bozar, Brussels, Belgium, 2008

Serata Artistica Giovanile, Maja Delak, Marko Peljhan & Katja Praznik, Cankarjev dom, produced by Emanat Institute, 2008

Improvisation specialist, dancer choreographer and educator David Zambrano (Venezuela/ Netherlands) leads a dance workshop as part of Emanat Institute's education programme, 2009

Marcipan ali pleksi [Marzipan or plexi], contemporary dance production choreographed by Boulogne Marijs, premièring at Stara Elektrarna - Old Power Station, produced by Emanat Institute 2009

Poti ljubezni [Way of love], by Maja Delak & Luka Prinčič at KUD France Prešeren Arts and Culture Association, 2009

Sad sam almost, performed by Matija Ferlin at Stara Elektrarna - Old Power Station, produced by Emanat Institute, 2009

Premier of Zamrznjene podobe (Frozen Images), Wanda & Nova deViator, at Menza pri koritu Metelkova mesto Autonomous Cultural Zone, produced by Emanat Institute 2010

Plesati modernizem/Uprizarjati politiko by Mark Franko. Published by Emanat Institute Transitions book series

Wanda & Nova deViator, Emanat Institute performs at the Klub Menza pri koritu at the International Feminist and Queer Festival Red Dawns 2015

Maja Delak, dancer and founder of Emanat Institute in 2006, Emanat produces innovative works that develop their own artistic procedures and work codes as well as stimulate artistic exchange

Dancer and choreographer with Emanat Institute, Maja Delak receiving the prestigious Prešeren Foundation Award for her work contributing to modern dance, 2009

Performance Ways of love / Une façon d'aimer by artists Maja Delak and Luka Prinčič at the Račka Gallery in Celje, 2010

Emanat Institute

Past events

Contents

Stage production

Dance education

Publishing

Transitions book series

Kamizdat netlabel

See also

External links

Gallery

Operated by

Financed by