WATER MAN AMBROŽ

a dance-theatre performance for children 4+

Dance Theater Ljubljana, 2021

Running time 45 minutes without intermission.

Author, choreographer, director: Natalija Manojlović Varga
Co-author, writer, co-creator: Andrej Rozman Roza
Original music composer and performer: Blaž Celarec
Recorded musician: Joži Šalej
Co-creators and performers: Barbara Kanc, Katarina Barbara Kavčič / Veronika Valdés, Tines Špik, Andrej Rozman k. g.
Set designer: Sara Slivnik
Costume designer: Vasilija Fišer
Lighting designer and technical solutions consultant: Janko Oven
Costume production: Vesna Novitovič
Masks designers and production: Alja Sušnik, Tinka Prpar
Assistant scenographer: Maruša Mali

Creative producer: Katja Somrak
Production: Dance Theater Ljubljana
Thanks to: Urša Kodela Lapan

The program of Dance Theater Ljubljana is subsidized by the Ministry of Culture RS and the Municipality of Ljubljana, Department for Culture.

Ambrož lives in a world where there are no machines, no factories, and no shops. Everything he needs grows and floats in his lake. To pass the time, he annoys fishermen and plays with aquatic animals and objects thrown into his lake by land people. But when a shoe falls into the lake, which is different from the one already lying at the bottom of the lake, Ambrož suddenly remembers that his parents, before leaving him and moving to warmer waters, told him to find a wife to continue their family line. But where to look for her? There are far fewer water people than there are land people, and Ambrož does not know a single water woman. So, he heads to the mainland, where the world is very different. There, people wear clothes, drink strange liquids instead of water, and do things that are completely incomprehensible to Ambrož. In order for other people not to be afraid of him, he has to wrap himself in their clothes and pretend to be one of them. But even so, he does not dare to approach any land woman. Until one of them asks him to unclog her drain, through which she releases all the dirt from her house straight into the river. It does not feel right to Ambrož, but if he wants to win her over, he has no choice but to help her. However, when he dives into the river to unclog the drain, he meets someone who does not agree at all with his help in poisoning the river.

Andrej Rozman Roza (1955, Ljubljana) writes songs, stories, and plays for children and adults. He was among the initiators of street and improvisational theatre in Slovenia and has his own theatre called Rozinteater, in which he works as an author, director, and actor. He believes that it is possible to live on Earth without poverty and without polluting the environment.

Natalija Manojlović Varga (1978, Osijek, Croatia) moved from Osijek to Zagreb, where she studied psychology, and later theatre and radio directing. Throughout this time, she has worked in theatre as a choreographer and director and believes that theatre life is the greatest school of life. She currently works as a director and choreographer in Ljubljana.