Béla Bartók composed two pieces for dance stages: a pantomime (The Miraculous Mandarin) and a ballet (The Wooden Prince). But choreographers have been inspired by many other pieces by Bartók, including his Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta and his Dance Suite. In this performance, Csaba Horváth – as director, choreographer, and dancer – explores the opportunities for presenting Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra and String Quartet No. 5 on stage with a dance group.

The Concerto was performed by Forte Company and the Hungarian Studio Orchestra for the very first time at the Ördögkatlan Festival in Hungary, in summer 2016, on an open-air stage in front of an audience of almost 3000 people.

CREDITS

Dancers: László FEHÉR, Barnabás HORKAY, Csaba KRISZTIK, Norbert NAGY, Kristóf WIDDER
Musicians: Bujtor Quartet / Balázs BUJTOR, Erika KOVÁCS – violin, László MÓRÉ – viola, Bálint MARÓTH – cello

Set: Zsófia MOCSÁR, Csaba HORVÁTH
Costume: Mari BENEDEK
Lights: Ferenc PAYER
Production Manager: Anna KUDRON
Choreographer: Csaba HORVÁTH

REVIEWS

​​“Csaba Horváth’s world of movement is far removed not only from folk dance but from every other known language of movement. It is a web of movement motifs that are simple, yet ready to explode at any instant. In one moment they seem like everyday movements and gestures, while in the next they become sublimely acrobatic and virtuoso.” Concert/Theatre, Lívia Fuchs, Színház.net

“There is an element of humour in Bartók’s works, which invigorates their monumentality. A peculiar tirade, a screeching episode, a gliding glissando of an instrument, or the alloy of dissonant elements and complicated rhythmic formulas, and even sometimes an unmistakable interlude of the complete ensemble of instruments that lasts only for a couple of beats. This humour is echoed on the performing bodies as well.” Extreme Concentration, Márta Péter, Tánckritika.hu

FORTE COMPANY

Forte Company was founded by director-choreographer Csaba HORVÁTH in 2005. The actors and dancers carry out experiments with a form of expression previously unknown in Hungary. Their aim is to create a new, homogenous language with the help of bodies, voices, dance, music and text. The genre of "physical theatre", redefined in this way, tries to think differently about storytelling, situation, scene-building, stage time, performance space and dramaturgy. The outcome is a particularly exciting and original method of acting.

Though Forte is a relatively young company, their works have already achieved significant success, judging by the reactions of audiences and fellow professionals. Their performance titled Kalevala appeared on the festival program organised in 2008 by the Union des Théâtres de l'Europe. Their most successful and acclaimed shows, Toldi, The Notebook and Crime and Punishment, have been played ever since they premiered. The company has so far played in 15 different countries. In 2017 Csaba Horváth is working together with Wilma Company (Philadelphia) and directing Blood Wedding in the US.

COPRODUCERS

the Ördögkatlan Festival, CAFe Budapest, National Dance Theatre

SUPPORTERS

National Culture Fund, Ministry of Human Resources, EMET, Hungarian Academy of Arts