The Symptoms

I want clothes to protect the outside world from me. For I have come to the conclusion that there are no miracles.
 

A performance coproduced by The Symptoms, Trafo House of Contemporary Arts, and the Computer and Automation Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, with creative input from each of the contributors.
 

The central theme of the performance by The Symptoms is the clash between the reality principle and the truth principle. The anxiety generated by this conflict stays with us through our lives, poisoning our days in the guise of reality. It’s as if this paranoia were intended to force us to vest with meaning the random events of an ill-comprehended world and perceive the chaotic reality surrounding us as a subject-centric system that makes sense. However, this desperate attempt to ascribe meaning to the universe distorts our very perception, effectively preventing us from seeing things in the genuine light of their being. This is why the same thing will be seen by one person as something, and something entirely different by another.
 

The real-time video technology employed by this piece reacts to the position in space of a body in motion, as well as its shape, direction, and dynamics of movement, transforming the gestures of the six dancers into the projection of their anxieties and fantasies, and their web of relations into a mobile abstract painting.
 

In 2010 the show was awarded for the Most Original Exploration of One Segment of Theatrical Language at the INFANT festival in Novi Sad.
 

„Performed to thudding jazz, the piece plays out a waking dream shot through with bizarre terrors. Half-glimpsed tableaux reminiscent of David Lynch's film Eraserhead morph into surreal ballroom sequences in swimsuits and spats that pay homage to Pina Bausch. Vignettes of pain, fear and sadness swim dreamily against a lighting track of eye-popping strangeness. Extraordinary.”
(Luke Jennings, The Guardian)
 

“Innovative to the bone, Réka Szabó’s new work is based on an overwhelmingly creative idea. Thanks to superb dance character performances, first-rate jazz compositions by Albert Márkos, remarkable costumes by Fruzsina Nagy, and fascinating space and lighting design by Attila Szirtes, […] we glimpse the outlines of an emerging opus whose originality, intellectual drive, playfulness, wit, and refinement must be declared truly exceptional–not only in the context of the currently languishing contemporary dance scene of Hungary, but by any standard you care to apply.”
Krisztina Horeczky, Népszabadság
 

Director / Choreographer: SZABÓ Réka
Dancers: DÓZSA Ákos, GÓBI Rita, NAGY Andrea, SZÁSZ Dániel, VADAS Zsófia Tamara, VARGA Csaba
Dramaturge: PEER Krisztián
Interactive technology: MTA SZTAKI Media Technology Group (PAPP Gábor, SÁROSI Anita, VICSEK Viktor)
Music:

Composer: MÁRKOS Albert
Sound: NÉMETH Márton
Soprano: KOZMA Orsolya
Mezzosoprano: HARCSA Veronika
Violoncello: MÁRKOS Albert
Piano: PUSKÁS Péter
Doublebass: HOCK Ernő
Drums: G. SZABÓ Hunor
Light and space: SZIRTES Attila
Costume: NAGY Fruzsina
Production executive: PAIZS Dóra
 

Special thanks: Gideon Obarzanek
Coproduction partners: Computer and Automation Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA SZTAKI), Trafo House of Contemporary Arts

Supporters: OKM, NKA, Flórián Workshop, Artus, MU Theater, L1 Independent Dancers’ Partnership, Marland Kft, szinhaz.hu, tancelet.hu
Media sponsor: Fidelio Súgó
 

For further information, please visit:
Tünet Együttes