Impossibility to go out, to the theater, to meet the audience, colleagues or family. In the spring of 2020, social networks were flooded with videos that testify to the desire of artists to dance and stay in touch, stay visible. Choreographer Ceren Oran chose several of them as inspiration for her latest project, which she deliberately placed in a public space. The Urge draws inspiration from the frustrating experience of two years of pandemic and isolation, but transforms it together with the dancers into something highly vital, contagious in the best sense of the word, in the sharing of joy, energy, fascination of the moving body, in the intense sharing of the moment here and now in direct contact with the viewer in a public space. Collective trauma and an individual’s individual reaction to a social crisis Oran transforms into choreographic images that combine energetic, synchronous dance passages with individual dancers’ improvised solos. Pulsating electronic music determines the dynamics and changing rhythm of the choreography, the energy of which urgently and uncontrollably spreads directly to the audience. The musical component is complemented by live improvisation of the saxophonist, which increases the tension between the dancers – the crowd and the individual – the musician.

Sapiens Territory is a performance for seven dancers which came out of a long-term international collaborative research.

Where does the body end and the behavioral patterns begin into which we try to fit our bodies day after day? Is it at all possible to distinguish between them or have they grown into a single inseparable entity after all those years, a little like a broken leg into plaster? In this piece, Yuri Korec explores the violence we inflict on ourselves to mask who we really are. But also the violence that protects us from ourselves and our surroundings, scrutinizing us almost all the time. He subjects it to a thorough repeated re-examination with a group of dancers. It will become clear very soon that, more than being shaped by the frameworks, we are shaped by how we define ourselves towards them. Sapiens Territory notices moments when the body suddenly betrays us in contact with them, dismisses obedience, does not cooperate. It will be only then, if we can be ourselves at all.

Closing discussion and dialogue about the artworks with the members of Dramaturgical Board, dance critics and artists facilitated by a dramaturg Yasen Vasilev.

International networking event with brunch which includes pitching sessions, informal discussions and presentations.

Arrival around midnight.

A curated audio guide through Slovak contemporary dancescape making the bus journey more pleasant. A talk between two friends, Jaro and Maja, a dancer constantly leaving but never truly gone from Slovakia and a naturalized dance dramaturg and activist, who despite her burning out for Slovak dance fosters her foreigner’s eyes. Navigating around the experience of a dance career stretched between East, Middle and West of Slovakia and further away, talking about how it was, which promises have crumbled and what seems promising in the future. 

Meeting spot: A4 – Space for Contemporary Culture

Guided by the artists and hosted by the city forests of Bratislava just 15 mins away from the main venue. 

Take a deeper breath, stretch your legs and thoughts slightly further.