Tihana Strmečki is a Croatian born director and choreographer who has received the most important part of her education on Broadway (New York City). Tihana has directed and choreographed numerous theatre projects, dance shows, music videos, commercials, and created stage movement for many straight plays.
Tihana has attended many educational theatre workshops and masterclasses in the last two decades in cities like London, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona and Zagreb, making it impossible to list them all. However, the most valuable seminars for her work were taught by the greatest directors and choreographers in the business: Andy Blankenbuehler, Joshua Bergasse, Michael Mindlin, Al Blackstone, Charlie Sutton, Dana Moore, Sergio Trujillo, Casey Nicholaw, Marguerite Derricks, Kat Burns, Sonya Tayeh and many more.
To great critical and audience acclaim, she has directed and choreographed “Kiss Me, Kate”, choreographed and staged “Evita” and “Sunset Boulevard” for the Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka, directed straight plays and created stage movement for both institutional and independent theatre companies. She has been a part of creative teams of professional musical theatre productions in Europe, as a choreographer, an assistant director/choreographer, associate choreographer, dance captain, and/or performer. Her creations have also been featured in many Croatian theatres.
She is the founder and the artistic director of dance studio “JazzElle” in Zagreb, where she shares her expertise and vast knowledge with the next generation of performers and creatives. She teaches all styles of Jazz (Musical Theatre Jazz, Contemporary Jazz, Jazz Funk, Jazz Dance…) and theatre classes through “Stage Practice” programs she founded. She is a beloved guest masterclass teacher in many studios in Europe and abroad and a valued judge on many dance competitions.
Tihana is currently working as the choreographer for “Les Miserables” in City Theatre Comedy in Zagreb and directing a musical for teenagers “Game Over”, after having recently collaborated on the acclaimed musical “Heidi” for TSW Production in Switzerland.