Inversedance casts a Spell

Inversedance  is a Hungarian Contemporary Dance company, with its headquarters in Budapest, founded by Artistic Director and Choreographer Zoltan Fodor in 2010. Originally a project-based ensemble that included Fodor, Assistant Director & Choreographer Kitty Balkanyi and rising talent Zsofia Szeki amongst its performers, the company has in recent years grown into a troupe of 5 full-time dancers* that openly collaborate with international freelance dancers, performers and choreographers. Inversedance possesses a diverse repertoire of engaging children’s performances and thought-provoking adult works, which combined with the calibre of its dancers and performers, gives it a strong reputation that stretches beyond the Central European dance scene.

Traviata ©Csaba Mezaros 2016

The first five months of 2016 has seen Inversedance perform 3 very distinct and different pieces of work in Budapest: the premiere performances of Traviata, a collaboration between Fodor and GG Dance Eger’s Tamas Topolanszky that will tour to Eger and Debrecen later this month; the immensely popular Vuk, the Little Fox based on Istvan Fekete’s classic Hungarian story, which the company also performed in Serbia in 2015; and most recently the Budapest premier of The Enchanted Castle at Mupa’s Festival Theatre.

The Enchanted Castle ©Csaba Mezaros 2014

A wonderfully immersive and theatrical production, Enchanted Castle uses music, songs and Fodor’s unique movement language to tell the story of a reckless little boy, Gede, and his adventure into a magical world. Gede is a bit of a bully who, with his two equally unpleasant friends, delights in causing mayhem and mischief. One day he finds himself in possession of a book that contains within its pages the power to transport him into a fantastical realm (the enchanted castle of the title). Whilst on his adventure in the mysterious castle, Gede meets an array of characters and begins to learn the true value of kindness and friendship.

The Enchanted Castle ©Csaba Mezaros 2014

This is a classic morality tale that is simple enough for the youngest of theatre audiences to digest, but is equally as heart-warming for adult viewers, too. The production makes good use of a classic proscenium stage set-up, enhanced with sets and costumes by long-term collaborator Arpad Ivanyi and lighting by Ferenc Stadler. Enchanted Castle also contains some musical surprises, amongst a montage of familiar tunes are original, atmospheric soundscapes from Attila Gergely. A dancer himself, Gergely has collaborated with Inversedance on a number of their productions including Fodor’s Esther and Home Sweet Home, Lorand Zachar’s After the Choice and his self-choreographed Alleluja.

The Enchanted Castle ©Csaba Mezaros 2014

Being a family-oriented production Enchanted Castle contains just the right amount of amusingly rowdy moments of audience participation, one of which is central to the plot! That’s not to say, however, that the piece is lacking in dance content. Having come to know it a little over the 6 months that I’ve been in Budapest, I was curious as to how Fodor’s sensual choreography would work in a family production. Prior to forming the company, Fodor had an extensive performance career with some of Hungary’s leading modern ballet companies (Budapest Dance Theatre, Ballet Pecs, Szegedi Kortars Balett and Ballet Debrecen) and this wealth of experience has served to inform his highly distinctive movement vocabulary. Paying homage to classical line and technique, Fodor’s choreography pushes his dancers to the limits of their range, emotionally and physically, and is grounded and spacious. In Enchanted Castle, Fodor (assisted by Balkanyi) uses simple movement patterns from the very beginning to convey a narrative, but amps things up stylistically and choreographically as Gede journeys through the castle.

It’s a unique thing to see an established contemporary dance company such as this invest as much creativity, time and commitment to performance into children’s productions as it does into what could be considered more artistically fulfilling endeavours like adult narrative works. Aside from Newcastle’s Ballet Lorent, I’m at a loss to find a UK contemporary dance company at this level that has such successful family pieces in its repertoire. The mission of Inversedance is to ‘help everyone, especially the younger generations open up to become more appreciative of the arts’ and it’s this openness and willingness to engage audiences of all generations that has contributed to the company’s success on an international scale. Alongside an extensive tour in Central Europe, in 2015 Inversedance were invited to perform at the International Bartok Music Festival & Symposium in Ankara, the 8th edition of the Kaay Fecc Festival in Dakar and the XVI Manta por la Danza and XIII Fragmentos de Junio international dance festivals in Ecuador. It is my pleasure and privilege to be able to introduce Terpsichore readers to this exciting company in 2016, and maybe 2017 will bring them to the shores and stages of the UK!

Inversedance are currently performing original choreographies in Beijing, China as part of the Hungarian Month festival. You can view future tour dates here and follow the company on Facebook 

*Bianca Bodi, Peter Bodor and Zsoka Lendvay comprise the rest of the company

Crossing Paths with Choreography

Dancers: Gabrielle Lamb & Thomas Forster in Emery LeCrone's 'With Thoughtful Lightness' 

Photographer: Matt Murphy*

I'm going to take Terpsichore readers back a few days in my imaginary time machine to week commencing Sunday 29th June. It wasn't that long ago, so I doubt any of you will be travel-sick, but please accept my apologies if you are! This week was quite a significant one for me because it started with an insightful chat over a decadent afternoon tea with a certain UK choreographer and dancer who I have raved about, and mid-way through brought about an interesting revelation about my own choreographic abilities. 

At the very start of the week, as Jane herself mentioned in 'Coming down to earth...' I found my awkward self sitting next to Kenneth Tindall at the 10-year Anniversary Gala for the Northern Ballet's CAT programme. Amidst my whinging about having to sit down on a chair and eating more food (that weekend was a particularly indulgent one on the 'om nom nom' front), I actually managed to compose myself enough to start chatting with Tindall about his choreography, ideas, inspiration, what David Lynch's Silencio is like, and his natural transition into making dance as well as performing it. Although I wasn't exactly in roving reporter mode, I did manage to pick up and remember a few insights from him the most important being to just get myself out there. If I want to be taken seriously as a choreographer and dancer, I need to go to The Place that will give me a fair assessment instead of simply brushing off my lack of relevant experience.

I also asked Tindall a few questions about the recent process of choreographing 'The Architect' on his Northern Ballet dancers, since it was really clear to me that all the dancers were fully on-board with his vision and direction during their performance of the work in the June premier. Interestingly, he did mention that it can be hard sometimes to convince even these incredible physical performers to move in a way that is out of the classical ballet box, and that also got me thinking about the true relevance of linear training paths. Now I'm not in any way even going to attempt to compare myself  to any working professional classical ballet (or even contemporary) dancer for that matter, but I found it hard to imagine being so 'stuck' in a way of moving that I wouldn't be fully able to grasp or understand something that was a little bit different to that. Maybe it's my own versatile movement background, or maybe it's because at heart I am very inspired by Bruce Lee's philosophy on movement, either way I'm generally that over-enthusiastic dancer on the sidelines who will try anything (including 'Smooth Criminal' induced faceplants!) Is a liner dance training path too closeted, should physical performers of in 21st Century classical ballet be open to and incorporate new and different ways of moving? And in some cases, how can an individual with a background similar to mine be considered less relevant as a dancer and dance maker than someone who has pursued a singular way of moving for much of their adolesence and adult life? These are questions that I'm sure Jane herself will have asked after astutely saying ballet needs to avoid atrophy in her introduction to me last month.

Anyway, back to my significant week! On Wednesday I attended a CPD day with one of my teachers and general all-round dance inspiration Benoit Egloff, entitled 'Crossing Points'. Egloff is a true exponent of European classical and neo-classical ballet (I could devote posts and posts to the beauty of his supremely arched feet and long lines), no wonder really due to his training background at Paris Opera Ballet and the Paris Conservatoire du Dance. However, in his time he was exposed to 'radical' and unorthodox training methods, and even though his creative voice is very established he still seems to be one of those people to whom new and different ways of moving in classical dance are relevant and important. He's also been the source behind the now-legendary terms (at least in Sheffield!) 'Google Maps: be over your work!', 'arms in seconde, no chicken wings', 'put your nose in your port de bras, Mel' and the classic 'no camembert' for hands in fifth!

Egloff performing a solo choreographed by Jamie Thomson

 'Crossing Points' really was a day of creative exploration, to start with we learned and danced a (what would then have been) radical contemporary ballet piece by Felix Blaska (and got the opportunity to create our own sections in the dance 'in the theme of') but it was the second part of the workshop that I found most beneficial and revelatory about the direction that I may be heading in as a dance artist and maker. Although the whole day was focused on developing a new sense and understanding of musicality, the task of physically choreographing the music, instruments and quality heard in Verdi's overture to 'La Traviata' was probably one of the best studio-based experiences I've had this year. 

Naturally, this music sets my ears and brain on fire. It's evocative, and then some, and a bit of a heart-wrencher. But in its richness and versatility offers lots of areas for exploration, which in our 2-hour creative task I tried to take full advantage of. We split into two smaller groups, after performing an improvised entrance to the music's mournful introduction, and my group were tasked with making Egloff see the string's aria-like quality on our bodies and in our movements. I could see some participants were a bit flummoxed by the task, but I was really in my creative element. And even though when my brain gets all fired up like that it can lose focus, I managed to contribute choreography to the group that was coherent and well-suited to the quality of the music. We went from sweeping GRAND port de bras to collapses onto the floor before carrying on the pizzicato quality of the music with synchronised swimming-inspired beaten legs. But it was the clarity of knowing that I can make music come to life with my physical movement that was the most positive thing that I took away from the day. 

For sometime now I have been questioning not just my relevance as a maker and performer of dance but also how I actually combine all my influences and ambitions into coherent movements. In my weekly choreographic explorations at Hype Dance Company I often don't get the chance to be purely led by a piece of music, understandable since I am trying to develop a decent skillset, but I've learned from Egloff's CPD day that do actually want to try choreographing in this way. I don't need to over-complicate something as simple as moving to music by imposing concepts, structures, pre-defined emotions and expectations, it's actually OK to experiment with how music looks on a body. After all, it was good enough for George Balanchine! 

*This image has nothing to do with my revelatory dance week, however it is a beautiful one!