![\"Marina](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_AMR_MEN_300925_MA_06.jpg\")
Marina Abramovic\u0301’s Balkan Erotic Epic will get its world premiere in Manchester this month(Image: Marco Anelli)<\/p>\nThe daring 13-scene work will feature traditional Balkan rituals, ceremonies of gesticulation, knife dances and attempts to ‘awaken the earth’Marina Abramovic\u0301’s Balkan Erotic Epic will get its world premiere in Manchester this month(Image: Marco Anelli)<\/p>\n
For ten days in October, renowned conceptual artist and performer Marina Abramovi\u0107<\/a> will lead a troupe of more than 70 performers in a new show that will get its world premiere here in Manchester.<\/p>\n Taking place from October 9 to 19 at Aviva Studios<\/a>, Balkan Erotic Epic has been described as Marina\u2019s \u2018most ambitious\u2019 work to date as it combines dance, song, and ritual with Balkan mythologies, sexuality, and interaction.<\/p>\n For those who have been working on the show will explain, there are elements that are \u2018quite literal\u2019, whilst other aspects will become heightened in front of, and thanks to, the audience.<\/p>\n Marina\u2019s past works, often intense and stem beyond the expected, include The Artist Is Present – which saw her sat opposite spectators in complete silence – and the daring 1974 piece Rhythm 0, which saw her standing still for six hours as audience members were invited to use a range of objects on her however they wished.<\/p>\n Stay connected with our City Life newsletter here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n For this Manchester show, Marina will revisit her Balkan ancestry with folklore and erotic rituals of the region. Amongst the 13 scenes, audience members will be able to watch a powerful ceremony of women gesticulating over graves to ‘awaken the earth’, and another sees women partake in a milk pouring ritual, which is exactly as it sounds. There\u2019s also a scene where women bare themselves to the sky in a bid to banish incoming storms.<\/p>\n Marina says the production, which will feature dancers, musicians and singers, not only aims to shine a light on long-standing traditions found in the likes of Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia, but also challenge how these sacred expressions are far removed from the sexualised perception of things today.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our culture today, we label anything erotic as pornography\u201d, Marina explains. \u201cThis gives me a chance to go back to my Slavic roots and culture, look back to ancient rituals and deal with sexuality, in relation to the universe and the unanswered questions of our existence.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough this project I would like to show poetry, desperation, pain, hope, suffering, and reflect our own mortality.”<\/p>\n Balkan Erotic Epic will see Marina work alongside a number of previous collaborators, including set designer Anna Sch\u00f6ttl, who worked with the artist on the 7 Deaths of Maria Callas opera, and Durational Performance Director Billy Zhao, who has been collaborating with Marina since 2013 and is also a Curator at the Marina Abramovi\u0107 institute.<\/p>\n \u201cIn some scenes, things can be quite literal,\u201d Billy tells the Manchester Evening News. \u201cBut it\u2019s been designed so that the longer the audience sits with it and experiences it, they will come to see different things.<\/p>\n “It’s about Marina’s Slavic roots and the folklore surrounding that which has been turned into as many different styles, like dance, movement, dance and music. It’s about life, death, love, grief, and everything in-between. It’s also about giving new meaning to these long-standing traditions and allow people to find their own connection to it, which might all be very different.<\/p>\n \u201cThe audience can explore it how they want. People can walk through the scenes and come back and forth. I find it really interesting that people\u2019s emotional states may have changed between scenes, and that can make them see things differently.\u201d<\/p>\n Billy explains that the Manchester show, which is likely to tour the world after its residency here, is an expansion of Marina\u2019s Balkan Erotic Epic film, released in 2005, which took on similar themes of eroticism and traditional rituals.<\/p>\n Alongside its ceremonial aspects, there will also be knife dances, choreographed by Blenard Azizaj, alongside a depiction of the funeral for Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito in 1980, which has been hailed as a defining event in the destruction of the Yugoslav state a decade later after.<\/p>\n \u201cMy expectation coming into this was to see how we could now take these ideas and inspirations further,\u201d Billy says. \u201cWe wanted to look at how we could take it further with different locations and physical spaces as we challenge this immersive theatre experience mixed with performance art. There\u2019s a lot of different elements to it, it\u2019s really durational.\u201d<\/p>\n Liverpool-based performance artist Rowena Gander, who took part in Marina’s Solo Retrospective at the Royal Academy of Art in 2023, will feature in a Wedding Rituals scene. It will also feature live make-up from Manchester-based artist Natalia Leniartek.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re going to see different things each time, it\u2019s going to be very unique,\u201d Rowena teases of the production. \u201cEven if certain actions or messages remain the same, the experience and the interaction will vary.\u201d<\/p>\n Billy’s technical roles sees him work directly with Marina, the set designers, costume designers, and performers to ensure they can maintain their abilities and storytelling for long periods of time. For Rowena, this will consist of having milk poured over her for four hours straight.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a celebration of life and power as a woman,\u201d Rowena explains whilst giving little of the scene away. \u201cThere\u2019s a real test to being able to do this for four hours straight.<\/p>\n \u201cOften with durational work, you come into it at the start with an idea of what you\u2019ll do but after a few hours, those ideas are lost and you just really get taken over by the moment.<\/p>\n “You think about what the spectator wants, and what energy you can take from them to elevate your performance. It allows for more nuance. One ritual could, on the basis of things, just be about women opening their clothes to distract men, but there\u2019s also the themes of longingness, loneliness, and fear behind those actions that can really help take things to a new level.\u201d<\/p>\n Rowena said that working with Marina has been a real gift and said the artist, despite her world-renown status, has been incredibly hands-on with the process and allowed each performer to add their own contributions to certain scenes.<\/p>\n “She\u2019s an absolute inspiration for me and the work I make,\u201d Rowena explains. \u201cNot only in terms of pushing the boundaries as both a performer and a woman, but also being able to witness her in this space and treat everyone as an individual.<\/p>\n \u201cShe sees subjectivity in the performers and allows them to bring themselves into it, which is beautiful to see of an artist of that calibre. She has the ability to bring everyone onto the same page. She\u2019s incredibly generous.\u201d<\/p>\n Offering a rare chance to see Marina\u2019s creative vision in action here in Manchester, John McGrath, the Artistic Director and Chief Executive for Factory International, believes there is no over venue that can host Balkan Erotic Epic on this scale in the country.<\/p>\n “This is exactly the type of event that Aviva Studios was created to host,” John says. \u201cWe want to hold these type of shows that you just can\u2019t see anywhere else. There is no venue quite like ours in terms of what it is capable of.<\/p>\n “This has been in the works for a few years now, and Marina has been very invested in the development of the building and how she is able to put on a show of this phenomenal scale. It’s great that Manchester is able to play such a big role in the start of this show.<\/p>\n \u201cThere will be future versions of this and we will take it around the world to these really unique buildings, but this is the world premiere and the first chance to experience this production. It’s also an opportunity to see it in the venue it’s been specifically designed for.”<\/p>\n John says it also puts Manchester on the cultural map with many visitors travelling from all over the world just to experience Marina\u2019s show in person. “We have seen that a lot of people will be visiting to see this,” John explains. “And that’s exactly what we should be doing – hosting art and events that make Manchester stand out.”<\/p>\n Tickets for Balkan Erotic Epic, which runs from October 9 to 19 at Aviva Studios, can be bought here.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Dancer](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1_AMR_MEN_300925_MA_22.jpg\")
Dancer Marianna Syfridi in rehearsals for Scaring The Gods To Stop The Rain(Image: Marco Anelli)<\/p>\n![\"Marina](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_AMR_MEN_300925_MA_18.jpg\")
Marina Abramovi\u0107 has been described as an ‘incredibly generous’ performer(Image: Marco Anelli \u00a9
\nIG: @marco_anelli_studio
\nWEB: www.marcoanelli.com)<\/p>\n![\"One](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_AMR_MEN_300925_MA_10.jpg\")
One of the scenes in Balkan Erotic Epic will centre around a knife dance performance(Image: Marco Anelli)<\/p>\n![\"One](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_AMR_MEN_300925_MA_09.jpg\")
One of the scenes will involve a performance depiction of the funeral for Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito(Image: Marco Anelli \u00a9
\nIG: @marco_anelli_studio
\nWEB: www.marcoanelli.com)<\/p>\n![\"Billy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1_AMR_MEN_300925_MA_20.jpg\")
Billy Zhao, Blenard Azizaj and Marina Abramovi\u0107 in rehearsals for the upcoming show(Image: Marco Anelli \u00a9
\nIG: @marco_anelli_studio
\nWEB: www.marcoanelli.com)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_AMR_MEN_300925_MA_13.jpg\")
The show, spread out across 13 scenes, will feature more than 70 performers (rehearsal image)(Image: Marco Anelli)<\/p>\n![\"Balkan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_AMR_MEN_300925_MA_12.jpg\")
Balkan Erotic Epic will take place at Aviva Studios from October 9 to 19(Image: Marco Anelli)<\/p>\n![\"Rehearsals](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_AMR_MEN_300925_MA_03.jpg\")
Rehearsals for Balkan Erotic Epic have lasted over a month now(Image: Marco Anelli)<\/p>\n