Betontanc: EVERY WORD A GOLD COIN`S WORTH

Photo: Diego Andrés Gómez

How I became an Andersen hero

When the famous child from a story by Hans Christian Andersen announces with innocent frankness that the Emperor is naked, he liberates us from our miserable pretences and forces us involuntarily to face the real state of things. But we still make fools of ourselves with this kind of illusion of art, which has been sold to us since time immemorial, even though it is a lie. Because theater comes alive at the moment when we are prepared to believe in the lie, when in fact we believe that what we see is true – although we know that it is not – it is precisely because of this that we step into the lie. If we were starting revolutions, we would take over the court, unlike the French students in May, 1968, when they took over the theater, the place of lies. I have no illusions about revolution. I do not know the truth nor can I tell it to you, that is why I prefer to be a liar. And the best one, at that.

Dedicated to Betontanc, December 1989

Credits

Directed by: Matjaž Pograjc
Conceived and performed by: Alma Blagdanič, Igor Dragar, Janja Majzelj, Blažka Müller, Ivan Peternelj, Matej Recer
Music by: Mitja Vrhovnik – Smrekar
Set design: Gregor Fon, Marko Goljevšček, Matjaž Pograjc, Tomaž Štrucl
Lighting design: Denis Tankovič
Costumes: Denis Dautović
Designer: Egon Bavčar, Studio marketing
Stage manager: Marko Goljevšček
Production: Gledališče Glej
The performance was made possible by: Ministry of Culture, City Council of Ljubljana

Performances

Premiere:
19th February 1992, Budapest

Up-coming performances: /

Past performances:
February 1992, PATROFI HALL, Budapest
May 1992, EURODANSE FESTIVAL, Mulhous
June 1992, BAGNOLET ’92, Paris
September 1992, ZUERCHER THEATRE SPEKTAKEL, Zurich
October 1992, THEATER IM KUNSTLERHAUS/ THE FESTIVAL IMAGE, Vienna
October 1992, BORŠTNIKOVO SREČANJE, Maribor
January 1993, BELGIAN TOUR, Kortrijk, Aalst
January 1993, THE PLACE THEATRE/ THE SPRING LOADED FESTIVAL, London
February 1993, MOUSONTURM/ OFF THEATRE AM TURM, Frankfurt
May 1993, UNIKUM/THE FESTIVAL MOVEMENTS, Klagenfurt
June 1993, TJEDAN SUVREMENOG PLESA, Zagreb
July 1993, THE NATUR IM KOPF FESTIVAL, Stuttgart
September 1993, TANZ UND THEATER INTERNATIONAL HANNOVER, Hannover
November 1993, EL THEATRE, Tunis
May 1994, LA MAMMA, New York
May 1994, ON THE BOARDS, Seattle
July 1994, INTERNATIONALES SOMMERTHEATER FESTIVAL, Hamburg
September 1994, VILA BLED, Bled
October 1994, FESTSPIELHAUS HELLERAU, Dresden
September 1995, MOT, Skopje
October 1995, MANOVER 95, Leipzig
March 1996, NEW MOVES, Glasgow
March 1996, ADELAIDE FESTIVAL, Adelaide
June 1996, ISRAEL FESTIVAL, Jerusalem
July 1996, THEATERFESTIVAL, Isny
June 1997, FILO Festival, Londrina
June 1998, Festival A PART, Katowice

Critics

Misha Berson: From a lush land, startling movement, The Seattle Times, 19. 5. 1994 (jpg 92,8 KB)
Jennifer Dunning: Oppression Gently Builds, The New York Times, 14. 5. 1994 (jpg 71,7 KB)
Penelope Debelle: Dancers slam againt more than mental walls, Adelaide Advertiser, 13. 3. 1996 (jpg 95 KB)
John Blake: A strong evocation of social chaos, Seattle Post Inteligence, 21. 5. 1994 (jpg 71,7 KB)

Press

Press (pdf 4,7 MB)
Flyer (pdf 2,91 MB)

Video

Video:Bunker archive
Editors: Gregor Gobec, Urška Boljkovac

Photos

Photo: Diego Andrés Gómez, Tina Ruisinger