M Studio’s upcoming production, Dirty Dancing, will premiere in two cities, with performances scheduled for late May and early June. The first performance takes place on May 25 at Cricoteka in Kraków, followed by a second premiere on June 3 at M Studio’s dance studio in Sfântu Gheorghe. The choreography is by Eryk Makohon, choreographer of the Krakowski Teatr Tańca. The performers are Zoltán Deák, Eszter Nagy, Emília Polgár, and László Szekrényes.
About the performance (in the words of the creators):
“The performance, despite the obvious reference to the title of the 1987 classic film is not its reinterpretation. Instead, it is an autonomous and radical response to the idea of dirty dancing – as a metaphor for transgression. We are interested in dance understood not as choreography of movement, but as a performative act of going beyond social norms: ethical, aesthetic and emotional. Dirty Dancing is a dance that is impure, shameful, lustful, bothersome – yet liberating and transformative.
Together with four performers from M Studio, we created a study of individual ‘embarrassing performances’. Each of the artists has developed their own stage alter ego and a set of actions and gestures balancing on embarrassment, ridicule and pleasure. A key element of the process was guilty pleasure – understood not as pop culture entertainment, but as the practice of crossing social barriers and testing the boundaries of comfort. We tested what happens when pleasure is no longer burdened by guilt.
Together with four performers from M Studio, we created a study of individual ‘embarrassing performances’. Each of the artists has developed their own stage alter ego and a set of actions and gestures balancing on embarrassment, ridicule and pleasure. A key element of the process was guilty pleasure – understood not as pop culture entertainment, but as the practice of crossing social barriers and testing the boundaries of comfort. We tested what happens when pleasure is no longer burdened by guilt.
The show explores the political potential of embarrassing performance – as a strategy of resistance to societal expectations, norms and pressures. We are interested in whether by voluntarily transgressing the boundaries of ‘good taste’ and convention, it is possible to achieve a new quality of presence – more authentic, bodily, sensitive to one’s own feelings. In this sense, Dirty Dancing is not a performance to be analysed intellectually from a safe distance. It is an event that engages the spectator on a bodily and emotional level, inviting empathy, second-hand shame, joint laughter. It is also a proposal – risky but sincere – to treat one’s own embarrassment as a gateway to freedom.”
Concept, direction, set design – Eryk Makohon
Choreography – Eryk Makohon and actors
Dramaturgy – Daria Kubisiak
Assistant director and choreographer – Paweł Łyskawa
Cast: Eszter Nagy, Emília Polgár, László Szekrényes, Zoltán Deák
Text –Eszter Nagy, Daria Kubisiak
Costumes – Zsuzsi Szöke
Music – collage
Light – Huba Szabó
Sound – György Chiriţescu
Choreography – Eryk Makohon and actors
Dramaturgy – Daria Kubisiak
Assistant director and choreographer – Paweł Łyskawa
Cast: Eszter Nagy, Emília Polgár, László Szekrényes, Zoltán Deák
Text –Eszter Nagy, Daria Kubisiak
Costumes – Zsuzsi Szöke
Music – collage
Light – Huba Szabó
Sound – György Chiriţescu
The performance Dirty Dancing, choreographed by Eryk Makohon, is being created as part of the Beyond Front@ Bridging Periphery project.
