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Posts tagged ‘Critend 2010’

Jan 18

But then again…idealism

Nóra Bükki Gálla

Five dancers, three nations, one artistic principle: diversity. The Spanish-Italian-Hungarian group won a 2 week residency with the 2010 Prix Jardin d’Europe in Istanbul; this January City is part of the DunaPart festival program in Budapest, Hungary.

One has to be bold enough to tackle the issues of social conflicts and interpersonal problems–small and large scale–on a dance stage. It’s a road that may lead nowhere in particular, especially if the artists are hard core romantics; one hardly dares to look for fear of seeing a complete disaster. So we hold our breath and after 50 minutes, relax. Idealism is not dead yet. Read more

Nov 1

European Dance Prize for Young Choreographers awarded within iDANS Festival

The “Prix Jardin d’Europe” goes in 2010 to a performance that questions the contemporary value of art

On October 31st, iDANS Festival hosted on its closing evening the awarding of the European Dance Prize for Young Choreographers. The “Prix Jardin d’Europe” is the main project of the “Jardin d’Europe”, a network supported by the Culture Programme of the European Commission, developed by its 10 European partners.

In 2010, the jury consisted of the emerging dance critics and journalists, participants to the 3rd edition of Critical Endeavour, which is an educational writing workshop programme within Jardin d’Europe: Eylül Akıncı (TR), Bükki Nóra Ildikó (HU), Iulia Popovici (RO), Julie Rodeyns (BE), Lisa Caroline Smith (UK), Theresa Steininger (AT), Josefine Wikström (SE), Maxime Fleuriot (FR), Martina Rösler (AT) ,and Dean Damjanovski (MK).

After the deliberations of the ten members of the jury, the “Prix Jardin d’Europe” is awarded to the performance E.I.O. by Maria Baroncea, Eduard Gabia & Dragana Bulut. The value of the award is 10.000 euro in concepts of production funding for a new creation.

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Oct 31

Also to be discussed – presentations of Sanja Mitrovic and Gabriele Reuter

Iulia Popovici

Once upon a time there was a happy country called Yugoslavia. Really, it was happy, not because even the trees joyfully spelled the name of the leader Tito but because people were happy, even those pictured on the 100 dinars bill. Then the country stopped being happy – until its citizens (fewer now, since the country had become smaller) gathered again on the bridges of the capital, to save it from bombing. In Will you ever be happy again?, the Serbian-born artist Sanja Mitrovic and the German Jochen Stechmann star a performance about how the international perception of national identity marks the personal construction of the self, putting in a mirror their own experiences. The result is ironic without being bluntly critical and touching without being sentimental – equilibrium very difficult to reach when talking about the innocent bystanders of recent past. Read more

Oct 31

Thought Works

Nóra Bükki Gálla

The architect’s eye looks for the mechanism that makes things work, the structure behind the form. In a performance that connects theory and abstraction with the reality of the stage, Filiz Sizanli attempts to show us how the conventional usage of stage space can be challenged, while playing with the interchangeability of dimensions. Drawing a parallel between dynamism and stability, science and art, we find new ways to explore, analyze and describe motion.

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Oct 31

Beyond the Box

Nóra Bükki Gálla

Yesterday could the Istanbulies watch and participate in the 24-hour durational performance Beyond the Box performed and created by Javier Murugarren, Erikk McKenzie, Velvet lee black and Belit Sağ. As the title reveals is Beyond the Box a transdisciplinary attempt in which street theatre, burlesque and cabaret meet improvisation and dance. Dressed in dotted and striped colourful clothes, with a DJ-set from which tones of both salsa and applauds came out, two bags filled with inflatable balls, funny hats and other props does the performance engage its audience in a compelling and generous way. Beyond the Box takes its spectators beyond normative ideas about both art, performance and themselves.

Oct 30

One Too Many

Nóra Bükki Gálla

Being a tourist you are pampered and challenged at the same time: people don’t expect you to keep the rules but on the other hand (since they don’t know your ‘world’, your context) they reflect an image that you might prefer not to see of yourself – and wouldn’t have to anyway, were it not for the simple fact that you are a tourist.

Gabriele Reuter takes that idea: the figure of a foreigner we cannot really identify with, still accept and even grow to love in a way, multiplies it by four and (unfortunately enough for both audience and choreographer) thinks this is enough to make a statement of art. No wonder it isn’t. She tries hard though, dresses her performers in parachutes, jungle costumes and Eskimo wear, adds some truly interesting movement material, and her performers are gregariously confident… Still. Or should we say, all the more…? Read more

Oct 30

Looking for the stranger

Martina Rösler

In Me and My Stranger the belgium performer and theatre-maker Sarah Vanhee is exploring the notion of the stranger. Her lecture performance is strongly related to the French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy and his novel L’intrus. In one hour Vanhee presents a collage of film excerpts, street interviews and recitations of different texts that are somehow connected with the phenomenon. She for instance refers to the German political theorist Hannah Arendt, shows parts of Pasolini’s film Teorema and parts of Claire Denis’ documentary about Jean-Luc Nancy called Vers Nancy. Vanhee also traces an ark to the current political situation in Belgium and appeals to the highly problematic issue of immigration. Moreover she includes scientific, microbiological descriptions in her lecture by talking about the human immune system being assaulted by something strange.
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