Part of Frontiers
The choreography of Máté Mészáros titled Mechanics of Distance took another form during the time of the pandemic. It started off as a plan B to be able to share the work while spaces are closed, gatherings are prohibited, while preserving the physical experience of arts.
He developed a participative walk to enact nine stages of the choreography. The series of movements and constellations of the piece have been translated into nine pictograms, drawn by a Hungarian visual artist. The participants can follow a route – on their own or together - and can recreate the movements, become dancers themselves, get familiar with the collaboration of moving bodies – thus stepping into a quasi-performative role from that of a viewer. While proceeding along the panes or using the booklet the participants get the chance to piece together the choreography of the performance into a whole, to have a physical sensation of the changing proximity of the bodies in the space – in this case in the street.
The participative, performative walk of Mechanics of Distance was realized in Budapest in June 2021 within the framework of PLACCC Festival. The participants joined the choreographer for a 60-minute walk in the streets of Budapest The panes with the pictograms will remain on the walls for viewers and participants on the long run. This allows the citizens and visitors of the given place to experience the route individually.
The programme is presented in collaboration with Alserkal Avenue, the Goethe-Institut Gulf Region, and Aerowaves–a hub for dance discovery in Europe comprising 46 partners in 34 countries committed to identifying and nurturing emerging choreographers-with the support of ATER Fondazione and Italian Cultural Institute Abu Dhabi.
Concept: Máté Mészáros
Graphics: Balázs Fischer
Coproduced by: PLACCC Festival, Budapest
About the Artist:
Máté Mészáros graduated from the Hungarian Dance Academy in 1999. After 3 years at the Szeged Contemporary Ballet he has worked at various European companies (CarteBlanche – Norway, Lanonima Imperial – Spain, Ultima Vez – Belgium). Amongst others he worked with Ohad Naharin, Sharon Eyal, Amanda Miller, Myriam Naisy and Wim Vandekeybus. He is choreographing for various Hungarian companies, and has a worldwide practice in giving workshops.