U.S. Premiere of "Balkan Ballerinas" at Battery Dance Festival
- RCI USA
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 28 minutes ago
An audacious performance by Romanian contemporary dance company Platforma 13
About the Event
We are back to an exciting new edition of the Battery Dance Festival with the American premiere of “Balkan Ballerinas”, an audacious show produced by Romanian contemporary dance company Platforma 13, choreographed by Anca Stoica and Sergiu Diță and performed by Sergiu Diță, Sofia Sitaru-Onofrei, Andreea Vălean. The show, a raw and poetic exploration of Eastern European identity, reflects on the cultural contradictions and inherited stigmas of the Balkan space, drawing inspiration from the legacy of post-communism and the enduring stereotypes projected by the West. Through a powerful choreographic language that is both rebellious and deeply rooted, “Balkan Ballerinas” navigates the shifting terrain between tradition and subversion where ballet meets Romani traditional music, folklore fuses with rave, and pride coexists with shame. Don’t miss this thought-provoking, visceral expression of identity and powerful aesthetic statement, presented for the first time at one of New York City’s most popular summer events.
"Balkan Ballerinas" will be performed on Wednesday, August 13, and on Thursday, August 14. More details about Battery Dance Festival and the full program are available HERE.
BALKAN BALLERINAS
Choreography: Anca Stoica & Sergiu Diță
Performers: Sergiu Diță, Sofia Sitaru-Onofrei, Andreea Vălean
Sound Design: RAW Creatives
Music: Daniel Stănciucu & Adrian Piciorea
Lighting Design: Dorian Bolca
Anthropological Studies: Laura Maria Ilie
Meet the Creative Team
ANCA STOICA (choreographer) is a performer and emerging choreographer based in Bucharest, Romania. Her artistic practice focuses on the social implications of art and on developing an unusual, even grotesque body. She collaborates with Sergiu Diță as a creative duo under the name Platforma 13, an independent initiative dedicated to multidisciplinary experimentation with a focus on contemporary dance and performance. Anca Stoica holds a BA and an MA in Choreography from the National University of Theatre and Film Bucharest. She also studied at the Academy of Dance & Performance in Bucharest, where she was mentored by the following artists: Lucas Viallefond, Irina Botea Bucan, Galina Borissova, Jan Burkhardt, Simona Deaconescu, Laura Aris, Iva Sveshtarova, Sigal Zouk, Marko Milić, Gisela Müller, Valentina De Piante, Marta Coronado, Noa Zuk and Miriam Althammer.
SERGIU DIȚĂ (choreographer & performer) is a performer and emerging choreographer based in Bucharest, Romania. He holds BA and MA degrees in Choreography from the National University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest, from which he graduated in 2023. He also studied at the Academy of Dance and Performance 2022-2023 of the National Center for Dance Bucharest. His artistic practice explores pop culture as a tool for social critique using techniques of recycling, sampling and remixing. His performance "MANual" (2023) was part of "Mittelyoung 2024" (Italy) and "MEMETICS" (2024) was nominated for Best Choreography at the 2025 Romanian Theatre Awards (UNITER). He works with Anca Stoica as a creative duo known as Platforma 13. Their latest work "Balkan Ballerinas" (2024) toured Sofia, Belgrade and Osnabrück, while their debut piece, "Pop Recycling Body Work" (2022), was presented at Bucharest Biennale 10. He has participated in residencies such as ID’s in Sync (Rome, 2024), funded by Culture Moves Europe; SAH/At Home in Hundorf (2023) and AREAL (2023). He has directed stage movement for various theatre productions at the German State Theatre Timisoara, Comedy Theatre Bucharest & Reactor Cluj-Napoca.
SOFIA SITARU ONOFREI (performer) is a choreographer and performer active in the independent artistic field of Romania, collaborating with the artistic collective Platform 13. She attended the first year of master's degree at the Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem, to later join and dance with the Jerusalem Dance Company. During her time in Israel, she worked with choreographers such as Noa Zuk, Shahar Binyamini, Pablo Girolami, Noa Shadur and Eyal Nahum. During her undergraduate studies in choreography, she was part of the National Opera House in Bucharest as a ballerina in the ensemble during the 2018-2021 seasons. She choreographed the performance entitled "ÎnTrecere/Passing Through" and "The Games of Mars", presented in the Young Choreographers Gala at the Bucharest National Theater in 2021 and awarded at the "Okaua" National Theater Festival 2021.
ANDREEA VĂLEAN (performer) is a dancer and choreographer based in Bucharest, Romania. In 2020, she obtained her Bachelor's Degree in the Choreographic Arts Program at the National University of Theatre and Film "I.L. Caragiale" in Bucharest. In June 2022, she completed her Master's Degree studies with the creation of the full-length performance "Nexus", which was awarded the Best Performance title. As a ballerina, she collaborated with the Children’s Comic Opera between 2015 and 2017, performing as a first soloist. From 2017 until June 2025, she was a member of the Corps de Ballet of the Bucharest National Opera House, dancing in the company’s classical and neoclassical repertoire. Beginning with the 2025–2026 season, she is a member of the Halle Opera House in Germany. As a contemporary dance performer, she is part of the company Platform 13, with whom she has performed both nationally and internationally in productions such as "Through Here You Can Escape… Run?!" and "Balkan Ballerinas". She also performs with Contemporary Creative Dreamers in works including "When Darkness Becomes Light", "Nihil Sine Deo", and "The Last Raid of Humankind". As a choreographer, she has created multiple short pieces, including "Hold ON", presented at the Young Choreographers’ Nights in 2019; "Let Me Slip Through Your Fingers", presented at the Florence Dance Festival in 2021; "Earthly Links", selected for the Florence Dance Festival 2022; and "Scraps of Sky", presented at the Evening of Young Choreographers at the Bucharest National Opera House. In May 2022, she created the full-length piece "Nexus".