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At the 32nd Festival of Ecological Theatre for Children and Young People in Bačka Palanka, Serbia, NINABU received two awards: the Audience Award for Best Performance and the Special Award of the Professional Jury for Overall Atmosphere.
The Festival of Ecological Theatre (FEP) is one of the region’s longest-running and most significant festivals dedicated to theatre for children and young people. By creating space for artistic work made for the youngest audiences, FEP highlights the importance of giving children the opportunity to encounter theatre and art from an early age.
The professional jury – pedagogue and dramaturg Katarina Landsberg, actress Sofija Mijatović Lazarov, and composer Nenad Kojić – explained the Special Award as follows:
“The Special Award for Overall Atmosphere is presented to Ninabu for its particular quality of tenderness, beauty and multilayeredness, to which the scenography, music and the performers’ attentive and delicate play all contribute. Cushions, fur rugs and plush snakes transform the stage into a welcoming space for babies, parents and grandparents, while two dancers move gently among the babies, inviting them to wonder, observe and play. The gentle, meditative and soothing performance awakens the spontaneity of the youngest audience, who become equally important participants in the performance. Together with their parents and the performers, they form a whole that evokes first memories, scents and a sense of security.”
We are also sharing a review by Lisica Milica, published in the FEP bulletin, which beautifully captures the essence of this gentle, non-verbal performance and the world it opens up.
"Ninabu, conceived and choreographed by Irma Unušić, explores different forms of communication through which we can connect with babies. Rather than treating babies as beings without agency or independence beyond their parents, the performance invites us to enter their world and listen to what resonates most strongly with them.
At an early age, sensory stimuli play an important role in engaging and stimulating babies.
Throughout the performance, the two performers, Irma Unušić and Vanesa Petrac, move through the space between parents and children, using props such as rugs and various objects that can become toys. Their movements evoke the stages babies go through as they learn to move and become aware of the relationship between their bodies and the space around them – from lying down and crawling to sitting and walking.
At times, the performance becomes mimetic: the performers subtly imitate the babies’ movements and invite them into the play. There were also moments when babies attempted to imitate the performers themselves, suggesting that a sense of communication and trust had been established.
The most exciting objects for the children were leaf-shaped bags, which, together with the other elements of the scenography, created an atmosphere reminiscent of nature. A transcendent soundscape accompanying the movement and circulation of the elements provided a soothing backdrop, while the babies responded particularly to the voice of performer Vanesa Petrac, who sang and hummed a simple melody. Her voice encouraged listening and vocal exploration – an important means of expressing feelings at an early age, alongside bodily movement.
The performance also speaks to parents, inviting them to discover which stimuli calm and engage their children, what they respond to, what frightens them, and what gives them a sense of security. In this way, the performance creates space for children to play, explore, move and express their feelings, while supporting their development and encouraging further growth."
Lisica Milica, Bulletin 3, 32nd FEP, 19–23 August 2026
