dancer, choreographer, dance pedagogue, artistic director

Ksenija Hribar (1938, Ljubljana, Slovenia) finished secondary ballet school in Ljubljana and after a short engagement at the Slovene National Opera and Ballet Ljubljana went on to study dance at the Marie Rambert School of Ballet in Great Britain. She later studied at the London Contemporary Dance School and became a member of the school’s company. She was one of the initiators and co-founders of the London Contemporary Dance Theatre (LCDT), having also co-written its programme with LCDT’s director Robin Howard. She also graduated at the Drama Department of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the Victoria University in Manchester.

After returning from Great Britain, Hribar worked as choreographer in a number of Slovenian theatres as well as for the London Contemporary Dance Theatre, Slovene National Opera and Ballet Ljubljana and Lidija Sotlar Dance Company. Between 1973 and 1996, she was engaged by practically all Slovenian theatres (Slovene National Theatre Drama Ljubljana, Mladinsko Theatre, Nova Gorica Drama Theatre, Slovene National Theatre Maribor, Slovene People’s Theatre Celje, Prešeren Theatre Kranj, Ljubljana City Theatre, Slovene Permanent Theatre in Trieste, Puppet Theatre Ljubljana, Glej Theatre etc.) and collaborated with many acclaimed theatre directors (Dušan Jovanović, Mile Korun, Mario Uršič, Aleš Jan, Vinko Möderndorfer, Janez Pipan, Dušan Mlakar, Vito Taufer and many other).

In 1984, Hribar and choreographer/theatre director Damir Zlatar Frey founded the first professional contemporary dance company in Slovenia Dance Theatre Ljubljana (PTL). Hribar ran this important dance group until late 1990s and later continued to be the member of the theatre’s artistic board. In 1984, she choreographed and directed in cooperation with the Ljubljana Dance Theatre’s dancers The Dance Lesson, which was between 1986 and 1989 part of the education programme at  Cankarjev dom Culture Centre. Hribar was also active in educational television broadcasts (children’s musical Muri the Cat, directed by Slavko Hren), expert boards and juries as well as wrote expert articles. She was also assistant professor and Chair of the Art of Movement programme at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television and the initiator, co-founder and first president of the Contemporary Dance Association Slovenia, founded in 1994.

Ksenija Hribar was the driving force behind the early institutionalisation and professionalisation of contemporary dance in Slovenia. Hribar and choreographer, dancer and pedagogue Maja Delak initiated the so called “dance grammar school”, a secondary-level contemporary dance programme run by the Pre-school Education, Grammar and Art Grammar School Ljubljana since 1999/2000.

Since 2013, the Contemporary Dance Association Slovenia presents Ksenija Hribar Awards honouring outstanding and life-time achievements in contemporary dance.

 

KSENIJA HRIBAR – TIMELINE

PERFORMANCES IN DANCE THEATRE LJUBLJANA

PERFORMANCES IN LONDON CONTEMPORARY DANCE THEATRE (LCDT)

OTHER CHOREOGRAPHIES

COLLABORATIONS AS CHOREOGRAPHER IN THEATRE

FILM, VIDEO, TELEVISION, RADIO

MEMBERSHIPS

AWARDS