News

PRESS RELEASE: ROMANIAN PULSE FESTIVAL

20.03. 2014

In early April, the Prague-based theatre Alfred ve dvoře introduces the independent Romanian scene within the three-day long festival Romanian Pulse: April 8-10; three evenings, three devised works. A small excursion into the innovative Romanian contemporary dance and theatre production, put on by the Motus association in collaboration with The Romanian Cultural Institute and The National Centre of Dance in Bucharest (CNDB).

“Although The Romanian Cultural Institute has already invited to Prague many dance and theatre ensembles of the contemporary Romanian scene, now for the first time the audience have a chance to see more performances at the same time. It is also an exceptional opportunity for the Romanian culture in general,” describes the festival the director of The Romanian Cultural Institute, Mircea Dan Duta.

Ewan McLaren, artistic director of Alfred ve dvoře Theatre, adds: “Romanian artists had to fight for the space of free creation. The pieces that you will see here emerged from conditions much harder than we are used to in the Czech environment and they demonstrate the persistence and originality of the contemporary Romanian scene.”

The festival begins on April 8, 8 pm with Realia (Bucharest – Bejrut) exploring the limits of breaking the barriers between artistic genres and barriers of one’s own identity. The authorship is attributed to Farid Fairuz who is actually a fictitious person created by Mihaiem Mihalceaem. As one of the most active artists in the domain of contemporary dance in Romania, Mihalceaem helped to establish the key structures and institutions and for eight years he headed The National Centre of Dance in Bucharest. However, in 2009 there came a turning point. “A few years ago, I had to make up a character that would enable my further existence.” In a biography outlined by Mihalcea, Farid Fairuz is a person whose situation is really critical and who is hard to classify. He is a man of contrasts. In a way, Realia (Bucharest – Bejrut) is a social satire, it reflects diverse yet interconnected topics, it deals with questions related to culture production, religion, sexuality, capitalism and prejudices of all kinds.

The following evening belongs to Romanian Dance History. The unique project and simultaneously the artistic group are to present the history of modern and contemporary Romanian dance. But how could they present something almost non-existent, something that was successfully wiped out by Ceaucesco’s regime? The main and also the only real and specific source of inspiration is the work of the Romanian choreographer and philosopher Stere Popescu, an influential personality who was persistently defying the cultural purges in the 1950’s.
The project is a systematic process as it expands with every performance by adding a new episode. It has already visited many European cities; in Berlin it was awarded the Berlin Art Prize 2012. Prague will welcome Romanian Dance History IX subtitled Social Dance. It focuses on Manele, a Romany dance regarded as provocative in a certain manner. But as it is performed by non-Romany dancers within the project, the phenomena can be no more than explored. The dancers approach Manele with concern and respect, they do not tend to usurp it and they realise their version cannot be entirely authentic.

The Romanian Pulse Festival ends on April 10 with Quarter for a microphone, a piece by an acclaimed dancer and choreographer Vava Stefanescu. The only clearly fixed point of the performance is the starting situation – three excellent dancers locked in a phone booth. Everything else arises from the given time and space, right in front of the audience. It results from the dancers’ spontaneous ideas, it stems from their interaction. The spectator can watch the never-ceasing tension in the booth; the dancers tackle movement limitations, lack of free space, they struggle with each other as well as with themselves. They compare and test their physical and spiritual forces. To ‘survive’, they have to develop relationships that have one common denominator – the untold “solidarity in confinement”. The part and parcel of the performance is the music produced in real-time. The DJ works with the sound tracks from the microphones installed in the booth. Movement and sound are thus in perfect symbiosis – music responds to dance and dance responds to music.

The Romanian Pulse Festival, April 8 – 10, 2014
Alfred ve dvoře Theatre


April 8/ 8 pm – REALIA (BUCHAREST – BEIRUT)/ Farid Fairuz (RO/LB)
April 9/ 8 pm - ROMANIAN DANCE HISTORY IX – SOCIAL DANCE/ Romanian Dance History (RO)
April 10/ 8 pm – QUARTET FOR A MICROPHONE / Vava Stefanescu (RO)