ENTITEY / Jason Martin: The One(s) Who Never Lived

For everyone who loves virtuoso dance! ENTITEY / Jason Martin’s duet brings Canadian contemporary dance back to our stages after a long absence. The choreographer explores the relationship between the mechanised and industrialised, and the organic and living, within contemporary dance composition.

In the 1990s, as Slovenia’s contemporary performing arts scene rapidly expanded its international connections, Canadian contemporary dance was a regular and highly regarded presence on our stages. Even before contemporary choreography encountered the work of Erin Manning and Brian Massumi—two influential Canadian theorists and philosophers who opened up new ways of thinking about contemporary dance—we were watching performances by Édouard Lock and La La La Human Steps, The Holy Body Tattoo, José Navas, Daniel Léveillé, Louise Lecavalier, experimental choreographer Lynda Gaudreau, and directors Robert Lepage and Denis Marleau. Curators Miran Šušteršič (1958–2024) and Uršula Cetinski invited Canadian artists to Slovenia through the Exodos festival and Cankarjev dom’s programme. At Exodos, George Skalkogiannis, the first manager of La La La Human Steps, introduced us to inventive promotional strategies, union structures and networks supporting contemporary dance.

Those Who Have Never Lived is a kinetic dance duet that, like European Expressionist dance, builds images in space, driven by an invisible text. The audience is invited to find meaning in its movement and choreographic forms. In ENTITEY / Jason Martin’s duet, “two individuals strive to balance order and production with chaos and destruction. Their movements display a synchronised precision that recalls the monotony often associated with modern production processes and the assembly line. They act as conduits, embodying the delicate interplay between attraction and repulsion. Between them, a tension emerges between emotional apathy and the need for connection, for a sense of being alive. The dialogue between the natural and the industrial, the human and the mechanical, highlights how these opposing elements converge,” write the creators.

Part of CoFestival 2026

CoFestival returns to Ljubljana for its 15th edition, bringing eight days of contemporary dance, performances, workshops, talks and an exhibition to venues across the city. The programme brings together Slovenian and international artists from across Europe, Tanzania and Canada. Through diverse choreographic approaches, their works explore gender and eroticism, visibility and invisibility, and the relationship between social norms and individuality.