The Award winning Budapest-and-London-based dance ensemble BLOOM! Dance Collective takes up residence this week at Abrons Arts Center for the highly anticipated U.S. debut of CITY, their sharp-witted, fearless work that deals with social discrimination, prejudice, power, fear and faith in the bustling urban sprawl.
Founded in 2009, Abrons notes, the collective has quickly become known for their straightforward approach to “combining finely crafted choreography with sharp humor, giving life to energetic, playful and thought-provoking performances that involve contemporary dance, theatre, design, sound and music.”
When we spoke with Abrons Artistic Director Jay Wegman, he told us he brought BLOOM! in for their first stateside performance because their work is political – “not ‘bang you over the head political’ but the situation in Hungary right now is very bad – it’s becoming very nationalist, almost fascist, all kinds of rights are being taken away from Hungarians, the press, voting rights, things like that and artists are having a particularly tough time. So they kind of grapple with that in a very interesting way.” (They also often perform in the nude.)
In the three short years they’ve been in existence, they were awarded a 2010 Rudolf Laban Award for best Hungarian dance production, an artistic residency at Prix Jardin D’Europe 2010, and a touring spot for CITY through Aerowaves 2010–2011. Through the language of theater and dance, BLOOM! collective is proving to be a contemporary voice to be heard and seen.
CITY was created and is performed by Viktória Dányi, Csaba Molnár, Tímea Sebestyén, Moreno Solinas, and Igor Urzelai. Sound design is by Alberto Ruiz Soler. Lighting is by Kata Dézsi. Costumes and set design are by David J. Harris. Abrons Arts Center April 27, 28, 8:00pm. $15
Funny, ER coop did not notify us of this cool show. Odd! : )