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Making of Pretend we make you happy (again)

  • Documentary
  • In the frame of Dance me to the End of… – exercises, distances, proximities

30 min.

Info

In November, CNDB is presenting online 9 video productions that accompany each of the performances that resulted from Dance me to the End of… (exercises, distances, proximities) – a program whereby ten guest choreographers worked along with the first generation of students from The CNDB Academy of Dance and Performance.

Jan Burkhardt (DE) and Sigal Zouk (ISR), Mădălina Dan, Simona Deaconescu, Farid Fairuz, Eduard Gabia, Andreea Novac, Manuel Pelmuș, Willy Prager (BG) and Vava Ștefănescu – were invited by CNDB to revisit well-known works of theirs which, in their time, wrote history in Romanian contemporary dance.

The choreographers worked together with the students from The CNDB Academy of Dance and Performance to bring back to stage the older works, but also to propose new ones. After a year of courses and workshops, the formed teams went through an intensive process of practice and live presentation.

The whole process was documented by Bogdana Pascal, video artist and TVR producer. Throughout November, CNDB will broadcast these video productions via live streaming on Facebook.

The nine video productions capture Dance me to the End of… (exercises, distances, proximities) in its essence: the revisitation of recent Romanian contemporary dance history as an exercise in training the new generation of dancers and performers.

Through interviews with artists, rehearsals recordings and excerpts from the original nine shows, the documentaries presented by CNDB invite you to discover the collective and personal efforts behind Dance me to the End of… (exercises, distances, closeness) – the program through which a new generation of artists is making their debut right in the middle of a pandemic.

PRETEND WE MAKE YOU HAPPY (AGAIN) – by Andreea Novac

What kind of interactivity is needed, how is it constructed and manipulated from the inside out, what moves us when we watch an intense, exhausting, vibrant show? (Andreea Novac)

In the working process of the performance Pretend we make you happy, created in 2010, Andreea Novac wondered what type of movement should be put on stage in order to provoke and produce an energy transfer between performers and the audience.

In the version revisited in 2020, the artist seeks energy and pleasure and starts from the same principles of composition, translated and multiplied by the bodies of the five performers.

Starting from the four “body genres” (comedy, drama, erotica and horror), genres that, at least theoretically, create shivers, excitement or pleasure in the body of the person experiencing the situation or in the person who is viewing the situation, the artist continues to search for ways to kinaesthetically stimulate the viewer, and does so by working with cinematic references.

Live-stream subscription link
The facebook event where you can watch this video production is available here.

Concept and choreography: Andreea Novac
Vocal trainer: Denis Bolborea
Video production: Bogdana Pascal
Graphic design: Daniel & Andrew

With
Diana Dragu, Vera Cîrlugea, Laura Murariu, Iulia Chindea, Mădălina Răducanu

Performance created within the Intensive training program in contemporary dance (Program intensiv de formare în dansul contemporan).

Co-financed by
The Administration of the National Cultural Fund.
The project does not necessarily represent the position of The Administration of the National Cultural Fund. The Administration of the National Cultural Fund is not responsible for the content of the project or the manner in which the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding recipient.

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