Two Men in Underwear
by Burja Podlesnik
In January 2026, Burja Podlesnik spent two weeks in residency at NEFCD researching and developing Two Men in Underwear with performers and co-creators Oscar Magnusson and Koen Kaya Eye. The residency concluded with a work-in-progress sharing on January 30th.
Two Men in Underwear is a gentle wrestling match that explores the tension between our inherent need for vulnerability and the barriers that protect us from it. On the stage transformed into a quiet arena, the performers pass through subtle lifts, falls and deconstructed movement patterns, where flying limbs rearrange their intertwined bodies – like a moving pile of flesh eager for collision. In their desire to taste vulnerability, they seek refuge in a departure from the societal view, where strength is often associated with physical endurance and emotional restraint. Their transformative relationship revolves around the fine line between pain and pleasure, love and hate, where the measure of courage will be the one to draw it.
Burja Podlesnik (2001) is a Slovenian freelance dancer and choreographer based in the Netherlands. Her artistry is driven by a feeling of responsibility to challenge and transform the world we inhabit, through an intervention and transfiguration of the current symbolic frameworks. With a critical response to current reality, Burja seeks to reconfigure the space given to things that have no space and voice things that otherwise remain silent.
She studied at the NEFCD program and graduated with a Bachelor of Dance degree from ArtEZ University of the Arts in the Netherlands. Burja was part of IlDance's youth company IlYoung, where she danced the work "Self Contained" by Israel Aloni. She performed the work "AddioUnplugged" by ICK Amsterdam and worked with choreographers Miguel Altunage Verdicie, Caroline Finn and Andreja Podrzavnik. "Two Men in Underwear" is Burja's first evening length work.
Swedish dancer Oscar Magnusson (2001) graduated from ArtEZ University of the Arts in the Netherlands with a Bachelor of Dance degree. He performed the work "Addio Unplugged"by ICK Amsterdam and worked with the choreographers Mercedes Pedroche, Faizah Grootens, Jelena Kostić, and Anderson Carvalho. With the choreographer Jasper van Luijk, he worked on the solo "Pushing Waves"and the group piece "Krave". He was a choreographic assistant of the work "come in but never come back"by the choreographer Dalton Jansen.
Dutch-Turkish dancer Koen Kaya Eye (2002) graduated from Codarts University of the Arts with a Bachelor of Dance degree. Shortly after, Koen danced with Introdans and Club Guy & Roni’s Poetic Disasters Club. He has performed works by Martha Graham, Mauro Bigonzetti, Andonis Foniadakis, Ed Wubbe, and Adi Schwarz, among others. Koen was a choreographic assistant for "The Breakable Us" by Olivia Court Mesa, created for Scapino Ballet Rotterdam. From 2025 onward, Koen joined Ultima Vez under the direction of Wim Vandekeybus, reviving "What the Body Does Not Remember" in 2026.
SUPPORT:
Production: Emanat, Institute for Development and Affirmation of Dance and Contemporary Art
Co-production: Cankarjev dom
Co-production residencies: NEFCD, Härnösands folkhögskola,Zuhause Arnhem, Festival Velenje
Partner: Secondary Preschool Education, Grammar School and Performing Arts Grammar School Ljubljana
Financial support: Ministry of Culture RS, City of Ljubljana
Work in progress
