PROGRAMME
SERVICE
Sanja Tropp Frühwald graduated in Contemporary Dance from SEAD Salzburg in 2007. Since then, as artistic director of the VRUM performing arts collective (Zagreb/Vienna), she has created over 25 original productions, including Baja Buf, The Killer in You is the Killer in Me My Love, Doodles, Tiger Lilies, Above Us Only Sky, Sons, The Milky Way, Lover’s Disco(urse), Nachts, Purple, Hey, Alter! (for Staatstheater Kassel/tanz kassel), Die große Wörterfabrik (for Schauspielhaus Essen), Life Doesn’t Frighten Me at All, Mirabilia, Schimmer, and more. She has also collaborated as a dramaturg and mentor with artists such as Jan Rozman & Julia Keren Turbhan (Things Thing) and Gat Goodovitch Pletzer / Lazuz (So Nah Wie Nie Zuvor). Most of her works are presented in Croatia and Austria and regularly tour internationally.
Sanja's artistic work has been widely recognised, earning multiple nominations and awards, including the Croatian National Theatre Award (2012, 2016), the Stella Award in Austria (2022), and Assitej Croatia Awards (2022, 2023, 2024).
She has represented her work at the Biennale of Young Artists of Europe and the Mediterranean (2005), received a danceWEB scholarship (2007), and participated in the EU research project Choreoroam (2009–2010). From 2012 to 2014, she was a resident artist with the Fresh Tracks Europe network (tanzhaus NRW, Krokus Festival Hasselt, kopergietery Gent, Tweetakt Festival, Het Lab Utrecht, Imaginate Edinburgh, Dansstationen Malmö, Dschungel Wien, STU Tallinn), focusing on the development of dance for young audiences. This experience deeply influenced her artistic and personal trajectory.
Sanja’s work is characterised by a strong commitment to intergenerational collaboration and community engagement. Her approach is recognised as innovative, interactive, inclusive, and politically aware. Over the years, she has developed her artistic practice within the field of performing arts for young audiences, fostering dialogue between different social groups with a focus on non-violent communication and shifting perspectives.
Since 2009, she has led the KLIKER Festival, a festival of movement and dance for young audiences in Varaždin, Croatia. She initiated the KLIKER platform and coordinated GENERATOR, a European collaborative platform for the development of dance for (and with) young audiences (2018–2022).
From 2019 to 2022, Sanja served on the board of ASSITEJ Austria, and since 2017, she has been a core group member of the Young Dance Network within ASSITEJ International, a global model for exchange in the field of dance for young audiences.
In addition to her artistic and community projects, Sanja regularly teaches at various theatres, schools, and festivals across Europe, including the ImPulsTanz Festival Vienna and the Academy of Drama Arts, University of Zagreb. She is a member of the Croatian Association of Freelance Artists, holding the status of choreographer.
2025
