Choreography: Sofija Milić
Mentorship: Maša Kolar
Performed by: Mina Ugrin, Iva Matošević, Freya Farnlof, Julia Ekvold, Helen Tamasko, Janka Komuves, Vlad Furtuna, Anastasia Preotu, Mariia Kalashnikova, Yuliia Brazhnik
Music: Ognjen Šušić
Costume Design: Karlo Blažina
Visuals: Tihomir Filipec
Photo & video: Nina Đurđević
Premiere: 25/2/2026
This performance is created within the framework of the dancEUA project, co-funded by the European Union through the Creative Europe programme.
The project is implemented by the following organisations: Studio za suvremeni ples (HR), Central Europe Dance Theatre (HU), M Studio (RO), Vitlycke – CPA (SE) and Ukrainian Contemporary Dance Platform (UA).
In collaboration: Zagrebački plesni centar (ZPC) and TALA PLE(j)S.
Financially supported by: European Union, Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, City of Zagreb, and Kultura Nova Foundation.
ABOUT
Life in Beta explores a world driven by optimization, abundance, and the pursuit of collective perfection. Set within a living board game, the work introduces ten avatars, each a node in a larger system governed by Beth, a central consciousness that harmonizes instinct and behavior for the good of the whole.
The system promises unity and the end of suffering, yet dissolves individuality in the process. No impulse is truly one’s own; choice becomes simulation, and abundance produces hyperreality rather than fulfilment. Though the structure implies competition – there is always one winner – the concept of winning collapses when everyone is endlessly improved.
Life in Beta critiques late-stage capitalism’s fixation on optimization and growth, asking what disappears when perfection is achieved, and whether abundance can exist without the loss of self.
