Nastja Bremec Rynia and Michal Rynia are acclaimed Slovenian choreographers, teachers, and dancers. As founders of MN Dance Company, they have played a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of contemporary dance in Slovenia. Their work fuses elements of classical ballet, contemporary dance, and urban styles into a unique artistic expression marked by powerful physicality and emotional depth.
Nastja Bremec Rynia (b. 1986, Nova Gorica) graduated from the arts high school in Ljubljana, specialising in contemporary dance. She was awarded scholarships by Italian choreographers Mauro Astolfi and Erika Silgoner to train with their ensembles—Spellbound Dance Company and Esklan. After a six-month residency in Rome, she auditioned for Codarts Rotterdam and she was accepted directly into the third year of study—chosen from among 900 international applicants. During her time at Codarts, she worked with leading world choreographers and joined the renowned Rotterdam Scapino Ballet. She graduated in 2008. Her early training in classical ballet and contemporary dance laid the foundation for her broad technical and expressive range.
Michal Rynia (b. 1984, Wroclaw, Poland) began his dance career in the hip-hop scene, earning several world championship titles. He later transitioned to contemporary dance and graduated from Codarts Rotterdam Dance Academy, where he met Nastja. His debut solo performance, Dream of Electric Sheep, was presented at London’s Royal Opera House and the iTs Festival in Amsterdam. He also co-created the duet Switched, performed at the Lucent Danstheater in the Netherlands.
Since 2009, the Slovenian-Polish duo has been based in Slovenia, where they founded the internationally active MN Dance Company in Nova Gorica. Their signature style, which they describe as "contemporary fusion", explores movement and spatial relationships among bodies, blending diverse dance techniques. As movement designers and choreographers, they frequently collaborate on theatre productions, particularly with SNG Nova Gorica. Alongside their creative practice, they are dedicated educators, regularly leading workshops and masterclasses for dancers at various levels, with a focus on refining technique and nurturing personal expression. Since 2018, they have also been teaching dance and choreography at the Academy of Contemporary Dance, Alma Mater Europaea.
MN Dance Company is the driving force behind the first international permanent dance ensemble in Nova Gorica, established in 2023 as part of the European Capital of Culture 2025 Nova Gorica - Gorizia, under Borderless Body project. This flagship initiative explores the limits—and transcendence—of the human body and mind, and involves collaborations with internationally recognised choreographers. More than 800 dancers from across the globe applied to be part of this unique cross-border ensemble.
Over the past three years, this groundbreaking artistic project has become a vital part of the cultural rhythm of Nova Gorica and the surrounding region. It will culminate in the The Borderless Body performance, that will delve into the relationship between the human body, its physical, spatial, and cognitive limits, and the influence of artificial intelligence and technology. In exploring this theme, MN Dance Company has already created several original productions, short choreographies, and dance films, including To the Moon and Back, Distance, Boundless Diptych, F-Lights, Prometheus, A-Line, and Drop.
"Dance is our way of expressing ourselves. We feel the urge to create—to communicate abstraction through movement. Everyday life and intuition inspire us to use dance to express both the beauty and the chaos of the world we inhabit and the world we imagine."
