MU Theatre
“It could easily happen that the present moment is the zero hour, and the zero hour can easily arrive at this moment.” Yamamoto Tsunetomo
A ceremonial dance performance in which the fighter-spirited female activists of bodylotion co-dance peremptorily wait, land on their feet, dodge, confront and take themselves seriously.
Rock-solid faith, struggle, truth, fear, waiting, anger, revenge, conciliation?
In this new performance we examine the cultural and philosophical roots of duelling, look for signs of it in today’s communication, while we prepare for the “final decisive” battle.
What does it mean today to fight a duel and in what kind of everyday situations and personal conflicts does it appear? What ideas, purposes or convictions represent the truth for which we fight today? How do we fight and why?
CREDITS
performed by: Anna BICZÓK, Júlia HADI
choreographers: Virág ARANY, Júlia HADI
Consultant: Zsolt Végh
Music selection by bodylotion co-dance
Lights: Orsolya Pete
Special thanks: András Juhász, Endre Vazul Mándli, Jü, Stephanie Maher, Tove Sahlin, Andor Zsótér
REVIEWS
“The performers bash each other with boxes, which spill out some adhesive tape and some rope, although this is never used. Watching these women tearing at each other begs the question: what’s it all about? What’s the point in all these clashes, these pillow fights and box fights and blanket fights? This is a fundamental question, because the piece shows us the precise inverse of an act or deed: instead of duelling and fighting, it gravitates around the incapability of duelling and fighting: it deals with the condition of being unable even to put on your boxing gloves and enter the ring, let alone knock out and annihilate your ‘enemy’ or tormentor. (...) The characteristic feature of Duel is that it resists words, despite the choreography being based on verbal language rather than the distinctive language of movement. To put it another way, standing at the bar after the show is not the place for drawing conclusions; what we have seen and – more importantly – what we have heard makes us want to sit down and think. And this – more than the personal and original approach of the performance, its enigmatic nature or its intellectual subtlety – is, in my opinion, its most significant virtue.” Krisztina Horeczky, szinhaz.net
bodylotion co-dance
bodylotion co-dance is an artistic partnership between Virág Arany (Berlin) and Júlia Hadi (Budapest). After graduating from Budapest Dance Academy, they created their first project in 2009 and have been working together ever since. They share an interest both in finding choreographic approaches that pose philosophical dilemmas, and in using the concept of limitation as a creative tool. They create modified micro-realities based on redefining the movements of everyday life and on taking traditional, ritualistic forms of movement from different cultures as their starting point. They consider their duo to be both a form of collaboration and an artistic and aesthetic practice.
Virág ARANY pursued both her BA and Master’s degrees at Budapest Contemporary Dance Academy. During and after her studies she was involved in several international projects and worked with choreographers such as Nigel Charnock, Eléonore Valère-Lachky, and Klári Pataky. In 2013 she moved to Berlin, where she studied at the HZT Inter-University for Dance Berlin and collaborated with artists including Romeo Castellucci, Canan Erek, Heike Hennig, and Lyllie Rouvière.
Júlia HADI graduated as a choreographer at Budapest Contemporary Dance Academy in 2011. Between 2009 and 2011 she was engaged at Hodworks as a dancer. Since 2011 she has been focusing on her creative work at bodylotion co-dance and teaching movement and composition to actors.
COPRODUCERS
Katlan Group
SUPPORTERS
Ministry of Human Resources, National Cultural Fund, Worshop Foundation, pOnderosa e.V., SÍN Arts Culture Centre