TRICKS & TRACKS
'Our body and our self are real treasure chests of memories and imprints created in the wake of interaction with materials, spaces, bodies and scents.'
Pal Frenak
Tricks&Tracks unites the indefinite past and the present. As the dancers draw new lines and signs on the plain white surface, the past is unraveled and rearranged. Tricks & Tracks is deliberately ironic, cruel and provocative in the way the cast keeps on changing roles, shedding their identity and then change back into it again. The bodies keep on crashing into each other and into the pristine white surfaces, leaving marks and desperately trying to connect. Existence leaves dispassionate imprints inside and outside, on the bodies, on the floor and on the walls. Personal egos prove to be accidental impressions, like tattoos on the skin or an ill-fitting disguise that we still decide to keep wearing out of habit. Sincerity may hide somewhere under the skin. Naked is the new black.
The show is an exciting mixture of the serenity and transparent minimalism of Japanese culture and calligraphy and the flickering, vivid madness of megacities. Pál Frenák uses strong expression in a space stripped of features to create a frenzied, organic and chaotic modern butoh. In one moment, dynamism and pulsating life dominates the scene while the next moment is slow and minimalistic. The dancers masterfully exploit the possibilities of the choreography to present both the frantic action characterizing the contemporary society and the purity of traditional Japanese theater where presence, silence and inner awareness are paramount.
The production is a real all-stars show, uniting experienced and mature dancers, who have been working with the company from the earliest times, and a younger generation of artists with a newly discovered talent among their ranks.
Recommended for ages 18+
...tough and lyrical series of etudes cut like a video clip; precious pearls strung on a thin, but strong thread...
dance theorist
Frenák does not want to flatter his public. He serves their expectations, but is not subservient to them. The techno-acoustic sounds by Fred Bigot seem to amplify our heartbeats, making it seem that the blood itself pulls the beat out of our skull. White rolls of oilskin frame the vast space and turn it into a sort of operating room used for the vivisection of emotions, sensuality, pursuits and attachments.
Peter Molnar Gal
Butoh on steroids, space reduction through graphical means, Lynchian nightmare-scapes – it all begins and then goes out in a blast.
Artner Sisso
critic
CREDITS
Music
Fred Bigot
Alpine Technique& stage
Gyorgy Zoltai
Light
Janos Marton
Sound
Attila Hajas
Concept & Choreography
Pál Frenák