“One Day, I’ll Make an Onion Cry” is a dance performance that blends humour, memory, and movement to explore how time shapes the body and identity. Through fragments of everyday wisdom and the joy of self-discovery, two dancers reveal how stories live on within the body — always in motion, never still.
Two bodies are caught in the present, yet all they think about is what they once could do, what they can no longer do today, or simply what they now do differently. The tragedy of confronting physical maturation, which at first seems helpless, transforms into a comedy of self-discovery.
Through the artistic process, they find answers in the wealth of experiences they have lived through. With each step, they uncover invisible tattoos woven deep into the muscles, memory, and emotions of their ever-changing, transient bodies.
By collecting short, humorous quotes from building walls, ruins, and internet pages, two dancers recognise fragments of their own lives. They treat these as a kind of buffer — a playful shield against the passage of time, their own mutability, and the inevitability of ageing.
This becomes a platform for developing relationships — between each other, and between each and her own self — from which their life anecdotes unfold and dance out.
Passing by graffiti — random words we catch from the corner of our eye as we walk — prompts us to pause, turn, or change pace. All these small physical actions are directed towards a single purpose: the passer-by’s thought process.
And it ends with a smile… because in that pile of quick-fire wisdom, we recognise ourselves as whole beings. We discover an identity that has lived for years within the dancer’s body — one that simply wants to move. To pause. To turn. To smile.It wants to rhythmise and repeat, endlessly, until exhaustion. Because in the end, we all become stories — and the dancer’s body doesn’t know how to stop telling them.
Creative Team
Concept and Idea: Maja Drobac
Choreography / Performance: Maja Drobac and Melita Spahić Bezjak
Dramaturgy: Maja Marjančić
Music: Ana Horvat
Costumes and Set Design: Diana Mihalić and the Creative Team
Lighting Design: Robert Pavlić
Visuals: Sven Coponey
Voice: Laura Čerina
Photography: Denis Stošić
Production: Association of Dance Artists of Croatia
Co-production: Free Dance
The project is funded by the City Office for Culture of the City of Zagreb and the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia.
The performance is part of the residency programme of the Karlovac Dance Festival, held under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia and the City of Karlovac, with financial support from the Kultura nova Foundation.
12. 11. 2025. | Kino Edison Karlovac | 18:30
9. 12. 2025. | Zagreb Dance Centre | 20:00
10. 12. 2025. | Zagreb Dance Centre | 20:00
Special thanks to the Zagreb Dance Centre for providing the space.