Gašper Kunšek: THE SUN AND IRON
dance performance
Premiere: 21. 7. 2026
Repeat performances: 7. and 8. 9. 2026
“To be and to dance is one and the same,” says Gašper Kunšek. The fact that he works in the field of dance, i.e. a medium based on movement and changeability, already implies that “to be” is not a fixed existence but rather a plateau of variation, transformation, and construction. What are the conditions for change, then? We are entering Kunšek’s Theory of Internal Metamorphosis.
The piece The Sun and Iron is a process of preparation and cleansing that demands a disciplining of both the artist’s body and mind. Kunšek touches on radical yogis who lived extreme lives in order to find the uncompromising truth. His body becomes a dancing machine, while his movements are infused with effort and silence that are part of an old, almost forgotten language with which art reveals meaning.
Kunšek’s signature aesthetics and method come to the fore, but on a new level. The Sun and Iron combines classical ballet, contemporary dance, performance, breakdance, hip hop and more to dismantle the polarities between the beautiful and the brutal, the controlled and the uninhibited.
Gašper Kunšek (1997) is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher of urban styles, as well as a multiple world, European, and national champion. By continuously deepening his skills in performance and especially improvisation, he has developed his own distinctive expression through a blend of various movement principles – hip hop, house, contemporary dance, freestyle, contact improvisation, yoga, alchemy, krump, shamanic dance, newstyle, turfing, bboying, smashing, locking, and popping. Since the age of 13, he has been collaborating with Žiga Krajnčan, with whom he has explored universal systems of movement, life, existence, and action, including as the duo Alien Express since 2016, performing worldwide with over 80 guest appearances (Brazil, China, Africa, Europe). In recent years, Kunšek has also been developing solo performances, including Palace of the Mind – Contemplating Death (PTL, 2021), and together with Ekipa, he founded the Kuga dance school in 2025. Kunšek is the recipient of the Gibanica Festival Audience Award for the performance Chorus, the Ksenija Hribar Award for promising male contemporary dance artist, and the Meta Vidmar Award for pedagogical achievements in the field of contemporary dance.
Author and dance: Gašper Kunšek
Lights: Matevž Ftičar
Advisors: Leja Jurišić, Jonas Žabkar Klančnik
Executive producer: Polett Kasza
Producer: Žiga Predan
Production: Pekinpah and Kino Šiška
Partners: Društvo Kuga (Kuga Studio)
Supported by: Ministry of Culture RS, City of Ljubljana – Department of Culture
Design: Matej Ferlič
Photo: Rok Valenčič
