Spontaneous street scenes, bodies moving intuitively to music, and the sometimes destructive forms of joy inspire Viktor Szeri’s piece, IQOD: I Quit Ordinary Dancing.
While maximizing pleasure and hedonism associated with dance, Szeri draws from reality. The source of pleasure, however, is not in the beauty of the movements or the linearity of the story. By abandoning their comfort, both the artist and the audience work toward catharsis.
Through the themes of having fun and entertainment, and by questioning their own role, Szeri explores what art can offer beyond cultural consumption. With disturbing, slowly undulating scenes, Szeri also highlights that while dance is an elemental part of life, the act of creation can be isolating for artists, separating them from others. Instead of entertaining, the aim is to foster immersion, from which dance unfolds as a sensual experience.
This performance is part of the 5th edition of NEXTFEST, Trafó's very own mini festival, with which it celebrates new forms, emerging artists and the joy of experimentation each year. Please find the full festival programme here, most events are English-friendly!
In Viktor Szeri’s work, video, music, light design and movement meet on equal ground and form a unified whole. His performances use language accessible to all generations and reflect on current issues that affect everyone.
His 2023 solo, fatigue brought him international recognition. It was featured in the Aerowaves network’s Twenty24 Artists selection and has been touring extensively since.
Viktor Szeri (born 1993) is an independent performer and choreographer based in Budapest. His multi-disciplinary pieces are characterised by the interplay of different art forms and visual solutions. His spontaneous and improvisation based processes are motivated by a desire to express a mood or a feeling. Yet, dance always plays a crucial role in his work: for him, it is a language through which the imperfect, transient and vulnerable human body can break free of the constraints of social norms. His performances are visceral: blurring the boundaries between the stage and the auditorium, inviting us into intimate realities where the audience has an active role.
In 2018, he founded the artist group Hollow with Tamás Páll and Gyula Muskovics, with whom he has worked regularly since. In their immersive installations and performances, choreography and dance are combined with poetry, new media, and role-playing to create "world prototypes" where the dominant systems of consensual reality can be questioned or modified.
He received a BA in Choreography at the Budapest Contemporary Dance Academy, and an MA in Media Design at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest. Recently, he has been awarded several scholarships and residencies in Budapest, Prague, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Istanbul, Warsaw, Tbilisi, and Minsk. His works have been presented at Sophiensaele (Berlin), Theatre de Vanves (Paris), Tanzhaus nrw (Düsseldorf), Hellerau (Dresden), WUK (Vienna), radialsystem (Berlin), STL (Tallinn), Donaufestival (Krems), MeetFactory (Prague), Divadlo X10, Y events (Prague), Art Cologne (Cologne), Open Space - Centre for Visual and Performing Arts (Tbilisi), House of Arts (Brno), HKD (Rijeka), Spanski Borci (Ljubljana), CNDB (Bucharest), Hans Otto Theater (Potsdam) as well as in Trafó House of Contemporary Arts, MU Theatre, DunaPart - Platform for Contemporary Performing Arts, art quarter budapest, Studio of Young Artists' Association and Placcc Dance among many other venues.
His piece “fatigue” was awarded the Rudolf Lábán Award 2023 by the independent performing arts scene in Hungary and was selected as part of the Aerowaves Twenty24 Artists network.
Since 2020, he has been the organizer of the Under500 interdisciplinary performing arts festival.
Created by: Viktor Szeri
Performed by: Márton Gláser, Viktor Szeri, Júlia Vavra
Music: András Molnár
Light: Ferenc Payer
Video: Tamas Páll
Co-production partner: Trafó
Production partner: Katlan Group
