De Facto maps the terrain for searching the truth in the post‑factual world. The truth which is reflected in the stage presence of the untamed female body and deconstructed sound matrix, which develop on the stage into a sensual manifestation of longing, passion, and courage.

“My body talks to his music unintentionally. My robustness, roughness, directness in relation to his softness, lyricism. My muscles in relation to his gentle skin. I hear him. I want to answer him. Not only does music generate dance. Dance generates music as well.” With these words, Leja Jurišić sums up the creative curiosity that inspired the music performance project De Facto, the first such collaboration between dancer and choreographer Leja Jurišić and composer and multi instrumentalist Milko Lazar. The coexistence on stage of two distinct artistic individualists brings the exploration of unpredictable expressive potency, where a performance emerges at the intersection of the movement and sound, which the authors summarize as a search for the trace of modern man’s truth. Through a unique creative dialogue and experimentation, Jurišić and Lazar set out to transcend their own authorial position in order to highlight the fragility and instability of living in the present moment, to touch on the authenticity of human experience beyond any ideology or desire. De Facto, created in collaboration with Petra Veber, thus addresses the independence of life in the turmoil of contemporary apathy; it derives from the tendency of an individual to liberate himself from the ubiquitous totalitarianism of meaning, to chart the path towards authenticity of his living experience, his freedom, rebellion …

The sound structure of the project is based on a three part score for orchestra, whose role is played by the composer himself: Milko Lazar will perform on stage as a soloist using electronic simulators, real instruments and computer support. The traces of the non existent orchestra are indicated on the stage by the inventory and musical instruments, among which emerges and moves the pulsating body of Leja Jurišić. Her dance alludes to a multitude of languages of her choreographic predecessors; with her striking and definitely memorable stage presence, Jurišić exercises the polyphony of voices caught in the monolithic singular body, out of which future emerges on the remnants of the past: her choreography seems to cry out for a new, radical treatment of the female body, both in relation to society and to the Other.

The joint performance by the musician and the dancer thus resonates as a kind of transformative practice, both for the performers as well as for the audience. Their stage activity explores the (in)ability to overcome one’s own position with uncertain investments in spontaneous interactions with the Other, both at the immediate level of movement and sound and at the level where their relation mutates into the sensual allegory of a wider social constellation. De Facto thus maps the terrain for searching the truth in the post factual world. The truth which is reflected in the stage presence of the untamed female body and deconstructed sound matrix, which develop on the stage into a sensual manifestation of longing, passion, and courage.

Leja Jurišić is a dancer and choreographer working in the field of performative and political art. She has performed her original pieces in various institutions across Europe, United States and Mexico. She won numerous awards, among others Borštnik Award and Ksenija Hribar Award together with Marko Mandić for their performance Together.

Milko Lazar is a composer and multi instrumentalist working in the field of contemporary composed and jazz music. He as recorded more than fifty LP record and CDs, as well as twenty original CD albums with various ensembles. He composes for the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, along with other prominent international orchestras. His works were performed by renowned local and international ensembles throughout Europe, USA, South America, China and Russia. He received several awards for his work, among others the Prešeren Fund Award (2005) and the Župančič Award (2010).

Authors: Leja Jurišić, Milko Lazar
Colophon text: Leja Jurišić, Milko Lazar
Choreography: Leja Jurišić
Assistant Choreographer: Leja Jurišić
Rehearsal Coordinator: Leja Jurišić

Cast
Solo performance: Leja Jurišić
Dancer: Leja Jurišić
Music: Milko Lazar
Adapted piano, ... : Milko Lazar

Orchestra
Conductor: Milko Lazar
1. violins: Milko Lazar
2. violins: Milko Lazar
Violas: Milko Lazar
Violoncellos: Milko Lazar
Double bass: Milko Lazar
Flutes: Milko Lazar
Clarinets: Milko Lazar
Bass clarinet: Milko Lazar
Soprano saxophone: Milko Lazar
Horns: Milko Lazar
Trumpets: Milko Lazar
Trombone: Milko Lazar
Percussions: Milko Lazar
Orchestra Inspector: Milko Lazar
Archivist: Milko Lazar
President of orchestra union: Milko Lazar