Front@ 2010

“ Everything you think of it's true...”

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 19:03:10 +0200

Stephanie Cumming
A kind of Magic

Austria, Slovenia
Creation Beyond Fronta

Stephanie Cumming was working with four dancers from China, Austria, England and Slovenia and the result was presented first time during Fronta Festival.
She has her own style that is very touching and stays in the mind for long time. She is creating not just a performance but certain emotional and intellectual state. She lets things be in right moment. This piece is dealing with things that are visible and invisible and it refers to children's imagination. It feels like being taken in to fairy tale world. The life of four people is led by the magic, they create special atmosphere that is very gentle, humours and honest. Through the performance people are telling their stories, that are not always true, here is the game with the truth and fake. What is the perception of reality we live in ? We hear voices of characters, who are smoothly moving in the space and gently coming to our ears and settling in our heart. With no exaggeration this is the magic that is offered to the audience by very professional choices of the choreographer. All of performers are having very good connection, they are interesting team of “strange and different people”, as Stephanie says.
The simplicity is the key of that piece, it is not banal but very deep and meaningful. The dance is not a main focus here, it becomes a tool to tell the story. She uses techniques of theatre and contemporary circus as well, what gives visualization of the stories have been said. This performance creates this kind of magic that we don't want to let it pass away.

Ewelina Smereczynska
Tomasz Foltyn

Improvisation Attack

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:28:21 +0200

Dance Communication Lab
dancers from Austria, Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary

Evening has started with improvisation session prepared by international group of dancers who were working together during the festival. The result of their laboratory was improvisation jam with Croatian musicians.
Improvisation is one of the most difficult tasks for performers, especially in the group of people who met for few days and then they need to present the result. It is a special form of art because it demands being here and now with open curiosity and awareness of the world around. Dancers from DCL Fronta shown varieties of solos, duets, trios and more. They were establishing stories, choreographies, movements and exploring the space. Once they got on the stage they had to react on each other and create something that was made in the moment. It is very interesting thing to watch people who are coming from very different backgrounds, countries, cultures and concepts of dance and performing arts. It gives the image of creating not only a dance piece but also multicultural structure of people's network.

Tomasz Foltyn

Body Is The Poem

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:26:14 +0200

Ah. Poetry
Choreography and performance: Stephanie Cumming

Stephanie Cumming, the Canadian dancer based in Vienna, has created her own, unique style. Ah. Poetry is her first solo that she choreographed by herself. This performance is based on one of the chapters of Orlando book written by Virginia Woolf and the film addaptation of. As the audience we are invited to the intimate world of poetry. Orlando, the character that she plays, has no specified gender, he transform into woman travelling thourgh the decades. But the gender theme is not underlined in this performance, but the unfulfilled romantic soul of Orlando. Stephanie does very theatrical piece dealing with the voice and facial expression. She recites the poetry in a humorous style that everybody sees the unskilled Orlando willing to be a poet. Stephanie Cumming uses sound in a very special way that it becomes inseparable element from dancing. The atmosphere of this performance is very subtle, what helps us to focus on the expolartion of the words and body. Movements are perfrectly suitable to the main character that she creates. Very poetic and static they sometimes turn into dynamic, powerfull, full of tension movements. The tempo is not dynamic at all although we are deeply immersed in the world she creates on the stage. The tension exist from the very beginning and lasts until the last minute. Watching Ah. Poetry we all have the feeling that dance makes the body to be a poem as itself.

Ewelina Smereczynska

Thinking Body And Its Limits

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:23:39 +0200

Move As
Direction and choreography: Snejžana Premuš
Performer: Primož Bezjak

On the third day of the Fronta Festival we had an occasion to see special transformation of the performer and his body. In the Slovenian production Move As Primož Bezjak, mostly known for being an actor, created aestetically rich performance. He experiments with his body and its limits. Focusing of his inner space of it he deals with frontiers between 'in' and 'out'. Working on these two dimentions he carries out experiment on his body. Controlling the movements we see that himself is being controlled. The director adds some special value to this performance implicating theatrical signs into it. The combination of physical theatre and elements of contemporary dance make this show even more interesting. Use of these theatrical gestures leads us to another, higher level of expression. We can see the body that is not just the physical tool of expression. This is thinking organism. This performance shows that our body is just not the filter of our thoughts and emotions, but mainly this is independent part of us.

Snejžana Premuš created the collection of body images that each of them is very aesthetical. Lighing and music play important role emphasizing some elements of this performance. Primož Bezjak is balancing on the edges of the limits of his body. Experimenting with it he defines himself as the performer, not a dancer or an actor. The performativity of this show takes us to another level of perception that we do not just watch complited art work, but it makes us think of the role and approach to our bodies. This is the body work in progress.

Ewelina Smereczynska

Paint My Dance

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:22:08 +0200

Gergye Krisztian
E. Sch. Eroto
Hungary

The Hungarian dancer with his unique solo has opened the third evening of Fronta festival. He took us to very strange world. In his work we can see fusion of Javanese dance and contemporary dance with strong theatre impact. At the beginning we are getting the image of coloured body that is just exposing itself.
Gergye is fascinated with Egon Shiele paintings and it was brought in to this piece. The mixture of different art disciplines makes his work very unique. During the performances we can see the transformation of the character. He moves through the space with very strong focus in his eyes that goes all over his body. The tension is very well build up. He is moving in to the spot where the red light is creating a different space where he goes through his metamorphosis. At his back there is a mask that symbolises the character of Javanese god. A dancer becomes a medium between different dimensions of the universe. In all this oriental work we still can see the search for identity, oscillating between genders and questioning the experience of rites de passage. It gives the collage of traditional dance and its all rich culture with the condition of contemporary human being who is thrown in to the world. It is not beautiful, it presents its special beauty but is not like the one we used to see on dance stages. This beauty is tempting and at the same time ugly and provocative. Impressing design of lights and music together with his painted body and his costume: the red dress and high hills gives also a meaning of transformations. Who is that man or god ? Where is he taking us ? He or she is playing with sexual identifications, it is surely not very conventional performance. It touches the fundamental question of human being existence and question of gods and spirituality. The performer is passionate about the other world. He keeps searching and he is not the one who stays in one dimensioned reality. His strength and sensitivity marks him as very special artist that is not closing himself in to conventional standards.

Tomasz Foltyn