"The way I dance is that I speak with my body. I can say so much without ever opening my mouth." - Suzana Stankovic
Recent credits appear at bottom
Body As Voice
Suzana Stanković is a formally trained ballet dancer and choreographer who has evolved into an independent dance-theatre artist. Her work is provocative and dramatic- at once raw and confessional; other times, surreal, comedic and absurd, spanning a range of texture and emotion while speaking to a universal core.
Suzana in Central Park, NYC. Photo by Ryan Shell
Suzana believes the body is the most honest and revealing part of ourselves- its language universal and preverbal. She is fascinated by the inner life and what is held inside. The stage is where she steps into the spotlight to reveal the spirit and savage in us all.
Creation
Suzana loves creating a living, breathing world onstage. She is unique in that she shines as both a pure dancer and as an independent performance artist- fusing dance, theatre, spoken word, costume, props and lighting to create emotional and psychological landscapes. Her performances have often been described as disarming.
A Passion for the Stage
Suzana has both performed and unveiled her works on many of New York City’s finest stages, from grand and formal, to intimate and offbeat, such as:
Kupferberg Performing Arts Center, Here Arts Center, City Center Studios, Green Space/Valerie Green, DanceSpace Center, The Flea Theater, Florence Gould Hall, Theater of the Riverside Church, Hudson Guild Theater , Harry Du Jour Playhouse, Abrons Arts Center, The Richmond Shepard Theater, Dance New Amsterdam Theater, Steps on Broadway Studio Theater, Buttenweiser Hall of the 92nd St. Y, Jennifer Muller/The Works Studio (The Hatch Series), P.S.122, The Joyce Theater and most recently, Theater for the New City.
Recent Credits (partial list)
December 2011: Suzana played the lead role of 'mechanical ballerina doll' in a short black and white film by budding filmmaker, Tess Kramer. Set to fantastical music by Bjork!
In 2011 Suzana began fusing poetry with dance, which culminated in her most recent show, 'Blood/Nectar/Glitter'- a confessional and provocative body of work that explores repressed secrets, fears and desires through movement, theater and poetry by Suzana, Emily Dickinson and Anne Sexton. It premiered at Theater for the New City on August 25, 2011 as part of the 'Dream Up' Festival. The show will be remounted again in 2012. Backstage.com interviewed Suzana about 'Blood/Nectar/Glitter'. To read it, click HERE
In 2010 Suzana produced/choreographed/directed and performed in her new full-length, dance-theatre show, 'Predestined'. It caught the eye of the editor-in-chief of TimesSquare.com and in March 2010 became the featured New York City event on the home page of TimesSquare.com. The show received multiple extended runs from March-December 2010.
In 2009 Suzana performed two new dance-theater works at the annual conference of 'The Association of Performing Arts Presenters' (APAP) at Dance New Amsterdam Theater in New York City and received interest from venues across the nation.
That same year, Drama-Logue Award-winner, critic and artistic director, Richmond Shepard, who saw Suzana perform at The Joyce Theater, invited her to perform at The Richmond Theater during their winter season.
In 2008, Suzana was a featured headlining artist for the launch of the Hot! Summer Dance Festival, curated by Amity Perry, on Manhattan's upper west side where she performed for the duration of the festival.
That same year, Suzana was a returning invited artist at 'The Hatch Presenting Series', an intimate salon-style showcase hosted by, and held at Jennifer Muller/The Works Studio in New York City.
In 2007, Suzana was selected to perform in the principal role of 'The Ballerina' with TONY Award-winning tap sensation, Savion Glover, during a month-long run at NYC's renowned Joyce Theater. For her performance, Suzana was interviewed by The Art Times Journal for a printed special feature and received notable praise from The Village Voice and San Francisco Chronicle.
That same year Suzana created and premiered, 'Rapture', an original full-length theatrical modern ballet with her company of dancers. 'Rapture' earned her a two-page rave review by associate editor, Madeleine L. Dale in the print edition of Attitude: Dancers' Magazine.
In April 2007, Suzana was selected as a guest artist for Green Space Blooms!, a festival of rivetting new dance works curated by Valerie Green/Dance Entropy and founder/director of Green Space.
In 2006 and 2007, Suzana performed and presented new work in 'Previews', a showcase of new ballet works curated by New Choreographers On Pointe/Ballet Builders' founder, Michael Kraus and held at Buttenweiser Hall of the 92nd St. Y in New York City. Suzana was a candidate for the Ballet Builders annual season at Florence Gould Hall but it is precisely at this time that Suzana’s artstic growth took a turn toward dance-theater and she sought freedom to venture away from the ballet idiom.
From 2005-2006 Suzana was out of the studio and off stage due to a debilitating injury.
Leading up to 2005, Suzana was a guest artist who danced principal roles in the great classics in productions by regional ballet companies. She also appeared as both an ensemble dancer and soloist in original neo-classical works by emerging independent choreographers from the dance departments of Julliard, Hunter College and Tisch, NYU.
At the same time, Suzana was active as an independent choreographer steadily gathering resources to bring her choreography to life. In 2003, she founded The Stanković Ballet Company, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization. For more information please visit: www.StankovicBallet.org