Concept, choreography and performance: Nik Rajšek

Robot operator: Aljaž Kodrič

Music: João Brito, Johann Strauss II: The Blue Danube performed by the Trbovlje Workers’

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CODA is a solo dance performance that establishes a dialogue between human movement and a robotic dog, exploring work, automation, and the changing relationship between humans and machines. The performance takes place inside the chimney of the Trbovlje Thermal Power Plant, the tallest chimney in Europe and, at the same time, a monumental remnant of the industrial past of the Zasavje region.

The performance focuses on the fear that technology could one day replace the dancer, the worker, and ultimately the human body itself. As the robot follows and challenges the dancer, the boundaries between body and machine begin to blur, raising questions about control, connection, and what remains beyond automation.

The work reflects on the human search for authentic connection in a time shaped by artificial intelligence and constant digital connectivity. It questions the roles technology plays in our lives—is it our partner, our mirror, our competitor, or an extension of ourselves? At the same time, it explores what remains fundamentally human: touch, vulnerability, presence, and the need to belong.

CODA understands culture as a space in which we can explore, question, and reshape relationships between technology, work, nature, and community together.