MU Theatre
Dance performance
Non-verbal
Nudity, intense sound effects, 6+
Established in 2021, the AHA Collective is one of the most remarkable creative groups among the young generation of Hungarian contemporary dancers. Its members studied at SEAD, the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, where they had the chance to participate in the creative processes of various choreographers together. Since the formation of their collective, they have been working on creating their own profile, the basis of which, however, is not the development of an established choreographic language, but continuous experimentation with collective creation. As part of this process, they repeatedly question their own experience as dancers, that is, instead of presenting their high level of technical proficiency as virtuosity, they treat it as a point of departure that must be constantly challenged. Their production No One’s Land is deliberately stripped of everything that guarantees stable control, legibility and presence of the dancer’s body in the here and now. The figures appearing on stage are strange, ghost-like beings that exist in a space whose disparate scenic elements and temporal layers lack coherence, and the performance thus consistently resists immediate recognition and categorisation. Slowness, repetition, subtle rhythmic displacements, movements that appear mechanical, coupled with the occasionally almost ritualistic structures of sound and movement give rise to an alternative perception of time in which the boundaries between past and present, animate and inanimate, presence and absence are constantly destabilised. No One’s Land is the consistent and courageous work of a young collective with its very own distinctive visual, choreographic and dramaturgical language. (Ádám Czirák, curator)
A dark stage; the heavy black curtain slowly opens, and bodies emerge from the shade. The movements of the figures that appear seem both archaic and unfamiliar. The performers move through the theatre’s deserted space, their formations constantly shifting, as if they were existing in a never-ending dream. The collective deliberately sets aside the conventions associated with styles and genres: it steps simultaneously into the worlds of commercial and contemporary dance, storytelling and abstraction, making room for the freedom of discovery. They evoke, conjure and allude. No One’s Land is dreamlike, raw and metallic, full of mysterious moments that invite the audience into the unknown. A place where there is nothing, yet anything is possible. We seek to understand what this seemingly barren, yet opportunity-filled No One’s Land can provide a breeding ground for, and how. Does everything we see simply await our decoding and categorisation? Or can something exist for its own sake, without our having to attach meaning or judgement to it? All of this interests us, which is why, throughout the creative process, we follow our instincts, giving free rein to curiosity and naivety, and ensuring that uncertainty is not an obstacle but an opportunity.
CREDITS
Creator-performers: Barabara EYASSU-VINCZE, Márton GLÁSER, Imola KACSÓ, Luca KANCSÓ, Balázs OLÁH, Vivien PITI
Music: Áron PORTELEKI
Lights: Kata DÉZSI
Consultant: Ármin SZABÓ-SZÉKELY
Producer: SÍN Arts Center
REVIEWS
“Within the contemporary dance bubble, you get to see a huge variety of performances. There are two characteristic tendencies: one leans toward a more classical approach to contemporary dance, with a focus on aesthetic beauty, while the other takes a more radical direction, often aiming to provoke the audience. Our intention was to dissolve this distinction between the two, and to explore how the traditions of dance and classical dance forms can be reimagined in a progressive way. It feels important to us to see things for what they are – without labels or comparisons.” – Panni Puskás, Interview with Vivien Piti, member of the AHA Collective, Revizor, 2024.
“The performance’s sense of humor is perhaps best captured in its final image. Just before the curtain suddenly snaps shut, we catch a glimpse of one character abruptly pulling the other away – so quickly that their bodies become almost impossible to distinguish. This happens in the exact spot where, at the beginning of the performance, the first knight was lying. Were they ever really there? Who were they? Did No Man’s Land ever belong to anyone? It is as if the movements themselves were merely possibilities of becoming someone – a search for who these figures on stage might be, or who they could become. There is something strangely magical in their ability to never quite arrive anywhere.” – Lili Rónay, Nepszava.hu, 2024.
“What does the title No One’s Land mean to you?
Barbara: When I hear the phrase, I imagine an open, welcoming, non-judgmental place where anything can emerge – and whatever does emerge matters. No One’s Land belongs to everyone. Anything can happen there, and so can its opposite. It’s an empty space that you fill with your own inner world.
Luca: When something disappears, what comes into being? Who knows…” – Katinka Bordás, Juranyihaz.hu, 2024.
TOURS, FESTIVALS
Potsdamer Tanztage, Potsdam (DE) 2024.
BIO
The AHA Collective is a six-member creative group formed in 2021, whose members have been working together for many years in various artistic and educational contexts. Four of them gained their professional foundations together at the Győr Dance and Fine Arts School, before continuing their studies at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance from 2016, where they met the collective’s other two members. Over the years, they have taken part in numerous collaborative creative processes, and since 2021 they have been developing their own artistic profile as a collective.
In their work, they explore various forms of contemporary dance, performance art and collaboration, whilst creating space for differing perspectives through constantly shifting creative roles. In their creative processes, they treat their chosen theme as an independent entity: observing its unfolding, they intuitively shape it into the performance’s final form. Their aim is to open up new perspectives on contemporary performing arts and the creative process, whilst their collective thinking gives rise to works that reflect both on the questions that preoccupy them and on the creative collaboration itself.
CONTACT
Virág BUZÁS
buzas@sinarts.org
Anikó RÁCZ
racz@sinarts.org