Marko Ciboci (Instagram) is a professional dancer, choreographer, teacher, and model. He was also the President of the European Dance Council! In Croatia and the region, he is best known as the head judge on the TV spectacle Dancing with the Stars. However, he is also very active internationally, hosting numerous events closely connected to music, dance, and theatre.
He is especially interesting to us because, alongside all his activities and successes, he also “carries” type 1 diabetes with him 😊
Before we move on to the questions, we’ll reveal one more thing: he is not an excessive fan of technology, but when his diabetologist explicitly told him that excellent diabetes control is also a prerequisite for maintaining quality muscle mass — he adopted sensors like the rest of us and doesn’t separate from them.
Marko is extremely simple, approachable, and pleasant. We arranged the “photoshoot” at the fountains in two minutes, even though he is overloaded with obligations and constantly traveling. As we like to say — diabetes is not and must not be an obstacle to business success and an active life 😊
1. Can you tell us when you were diagnosed with diabetes and how it affected your life, both personally and professionally?
I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 18, and it was discovered completely by accident during random blood work. I must admit I didn’t pay too much attention to the diagnosis itself, more to how I had to “get through” everything necessary during the day related to diabetes. Professionally, my diagnosis didn’t affect me at all. From the beginning I knew what I wanted and what I didn’t; privately there were small adjustments, but nothing dramatic.
2. Briefly tell us about your career so far and how diabetes influenced it?
I earned my Master’s degree at the Faculty of Agriculture — Landscape Architecture — regarding my formal education, and I’ve been professionally involved in dance since the age of 8 up to today. I never considered diabetes as something that could stop me or even limit me from doing what I want. In fact, I never even thought there could be a connection. Diabetes is not a disease but a condition of the body that you can live with completely normally and actively.
3. How do you maintain balance between performances and work in Croatia and abroad? That would be a challenge for anyone, not just a diabetic.
My biggest issue is jet lag, and that’s mostly it. Diabetes is not a problem — as always, you just need to regulate blood glucose levels and nutrition.
4. In which situations did you feel diabetes was an obstacle to your career, and in which did it motivate you to find new ways to face challenges?
Absolutely never did I feel that. I knew I didn’t want to be a pilot or a professional driver, and that solved all my problems. Even after 24 years of living with type 1 diabetes, I don’t think I have limitations — I don’t even think I have a problem, because realistically I don’t. In fact, it can be called a kind of “blessing” because we constantly have to monitor our body’s condition, which gives us fewer chances to neglect ourselves.
5. What specific strategies do you use to maintain stable blood sugar during intense rehearsals and performances? Does performance stress raise or lower your glucose?
Before physical activity, you should raise your blood glucose level and then lower it afterward, and of course — with controlled nutrition (not overly strict) — constantly monitor glucose levels.
Stress has nothing to do with elevated glucose for me, because there is no stress. 😊
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6. How do sports discipline and regular exercise help with the discipline diabetes requires?
They go hand in hand, definitely. One complements the other — in perfect symbiosis. I’ve always loved physical activity, so I have no issues there.
7. Does diabetes influence your artistic expression and interpretation of dance?
Ha ha ha… absolutely not!
8. How do your team and collaborators support your specific diabetes-related needs during professional engagements?
Honestly, I don’t have any specific needs. We eat when we’re hungry or when it’s necessary, and nowadays I can inject insulin anytime. The vast majority of my collaborators don’t even know I have diabetes because they never noticed. I don’t consider it something I can’t control at any moment, so I don’t feel the need to emphasize it.
9. Have you ever encountered insecurity or prejudice in your career, and how did you deal with it? Can you share an experience or anecdote from your career as a dancer with diabetes?
The only prejudice I encountered in my life was during my driver’s license medical exam — the psychologist had more of a problem with my diabetes than I did 😊
10. How do you educate your audience and colleagues about diabetes?
Honestly, not in any special way — except by showing that in life there are no problems, only specific ways to overcome certain obstacles.
Conclusion
In the world of dance, where every step reflects passion and dedication, this top dancer and judge with type 1 diabetes proves that limits exist only in our minds. His fearlessness and endurance are an inspiration, and through his own example he has shown that strong will and love for the art of dance can overcome any obstacle.
If you are interested, you can also read an article about Diabetes and Diving.
