Double Bill: Threshold & Wow! You’re a dancer? Can you show me a split?

Info

Threshold 

Concept and choreography: Iulia Andro
Performers: Ada Anghel, Ilinca Budeanu, Iustin Danalache
Music: Alexandros Raptis
CNDB Mentor: Andreea Novac
Duration: 45 min.

“Threshold” is a choreographic work that questions the ways in which  we relate to ourselves and others in a world full of stimuli that constantly capture our attention. The piece explores the possibility of observing ourselves even in the midst of overstimulation, stepping back from the reactions and narratives that arise within us. Can the most intense or tense moments become thresholds toward transformation and presence? In this process, the piece also explores how “me” can become “we,” without the individuality of each body disappearing.

Through instant composition and insertions of set choreography, three performers explore the possibility of creating a space of resonance with the self and with others. The suspension of visual cues, heightened awareness, and the unpredictable nature of improvisation allow decisions to emerge in real time, arising from the relationship with the other bodies, the audience, and the transformations occurring in  the space. Light, temperature, contact with the others, and the soundscape become stimuli that constantly influence the direction of movement.

Oscillating between stillness and movement, “Threshold” explores the body’s need to integrate what it receives, as well as the impulse to push beyond its own limits. Can a body bombarded by multiple stimuli remain lucid, receptive, and present?

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Wow! You’re a dancer?! Can you show me a split?  

Concept, creation, choreography, and performance: Sofia Sitaru-Onofrei
Lighting design, lighting operation, and sound design: Dragoș Mărgineanu
Dramaturg: Cristina Tudor
Musical arrangement for “Arlechiniada”: Daniel Stanciucu
Voice: Iustin Danalache
Text: Sofia Sitaru-Onofrei and inserts written by Iustin Danalache
CNDB Mentor: Madalina Dan
Duration: 1 hour

Drawing on the author’s own journey in dance, this solo performance explores the body as a living archive, in which the experiences, emotions, and transformations accumulated over the years remain inscribed. The work constructs a personal map of a dancer’s evolution, revisiting the moments that have shaped both the body and the performative identity.

By combining candid confessions with movement, the piece brings to the forefront realities of dancers’ lives that are often invisible: injuries, the pressure of auditions, the constant need to adapt to the industry’s expectations, the transition from classical ballet to contemporary dance, and the need for rest and recovery. All of these are addressed with a great deal of self-deprecating humor. The performance does not set out to dramatize the dancer’s journey, but rather to find humor in the absurd situations, pressures, and contradictions of this profession. Humor thus becomes a means of coping with the pressures and vulnerabilities of a body constantly subjected to the demands of performance.

At the same time, the body’s archive is incomplete, and the dancer’s journey cannot yet be concluded. The solo has an open ending, leaving room for the dance experiences yet to come. The unknown thus becomes not merely the absence of an answer, but a possibility: the body continues to accumulate, transform, and discover new ways of dancing.

Although it draws on an autobiographical experience, the performance offers a reflection on the body’s memory and on how each dancer’s journey is built from visible and invisible traces, preserved through movement.