THE URGE GROWS
The international outdoor performance "The Urge Grows" builds on the original German project by choreographer Ceren Oran, titled "The Urge". It originated in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown, driven by the internal desire of performers to stay in motion, stay connected, and continue creating.
Thanks to MOVE Ostrava, the original "The Urge" expanded with Czech and Slovak interpretations (handled by the Slovak dance festival Tanečno). Through a unique collaboration of three creative teams under the supervision of Ceren Oran herself, this international extended version "The Urge Grows" came to life.
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About The Urge
What movement fits between the bed and the wardrobe? Can you dance a classic variation at the kitchen counter? Or remember the release technique on the balcony? Lock-down. Impossibility to go out, to the ballroom, the theater, meet the audience or other dancers, family or friends.
In the spring of 2020, social networks were flooded with home videos, which are a testimony to the desire of dancers and choreographers to dance and stay in touch, stay visible. Choreographer Ceren Oran chose several of them as inspiration for her latest project "The Urge" , which she deliberately placed in public space .
"For me, dancing in a public space means getting rid of a comfortable theater environment, going to the market with your skin and addressing, above all, those potential viewers who would otherwise not come to contemporary dance in any case. I believe in the fascinating, contagious and inspiring power of contemporary dance and I am deeply convinced that dance should be accessible to everyone - anytime, anywhere." (Ceren Oran)
"The Urge" draws inspiration from the frustrating experience of a year-and-a-half-long pandemic and isolation and transforms it into something highly vital, contagious in the best sense of the word - in the sharing of joy, energy, fascination with movement, in the intense sharing of a moment in direct contact with the viewer in public space.
Ceren Oran's choreography combines energetic, synchronized dance passages with distinctive improvised solos by individual experienced dancers. Their dynamics and the changing rhythm of the entire work are determined by the pulsating electronic music of longtime collaborator Oran and the live improvisation of saxophonist Marcela Kučová. This ecstatic combination heightens the tension between dancers and musicians, individual and mass.
About The Urge Grows
The Czech staging of "The Urge" was created during a joint residency of performers selected on the basis of an open call and choreographer Ceren Oran. For enabling this international creative residency in Olomouc Divadle na Cucky we owe it to the New Network and its Art-in-res program .
The culmination of this co-production cooperation is the Grand opening , during which the Czech, Slovak and German crew will present themselves in Pilsen's Náměstí republiky with a unique joint combination of their performances "The Urge Grows" . After that, all the teams will go back to their countries to transfer the gained experience and energy in other places of public space.
The Slovakian part is organized by Tanečno - dance festival in Orava, and on the Czech side MOVE Ostrava cooperates with Divadlo na Cucky and Moving Station. In there, joint rehearsals of the German, Czech and Slovak creative team took place here during June, directly under the direction of a German choreographer.
The creation of the Slovak part is ensured by the Bratislava Orava Dance FestivalDancing and on the Czech side, apart fromMOVE Ostravaparticipates in the organizationTheatre on Cucky and pilsnerMoving Station.Joint rehearsals of the German, Czech and Slovak creative team took place here during June, directly under the direction of a German choreographer.
International creative team The Urge Grows
Concept, Art Direction and Choreography: Ceren Oran
Choreographic collaboration: Maayan Reiter, Rotem Weismann
Directed by Jin Lee
Dancing: Jin Lee, Laura Manz, Lihun Choi, Lena Klink, Rotem Weissman, Lukas Malkowski, Klára Ešnerová, Helena Arenbergerová, Michal Heriban, Tomáš Pražák, Jana Ryšlavá, Miriam Budzáková, Matúš Szegho, Paulína Šmatláková, Andrej Štepita, Lukáš Záhorák
Music: Hüseyin Evirgen, Marcela Kučová
Dramaturgical collaboration: Karolína Hejnová
Premiere: 8. 5. 2021, Munich, Berlin, Cologne (only as a live stream) // Part of the DANCE 2021 festival
Premiere with an audience: 13. 7. 2021, Munich
Czech premiere: The Urge Grows 25. 5. 2022 Pilsen
The Urge Grows project partners
