Dorota Michalak and Alica Minar, a duo who create physical, visual and sound images, invite the audience into a landscape where crumbling mountains, tree trunks and human limbs meet in suggestive dance and sound. LUSH BLAST: Tasting the untamed is a choreographed performance that delves into the depths of the Carpathian heights, exploring the relationships between the natural and the artificial, the wild and the domesticated, and man's relationship to the land. 

Following their excursions in the Tatra Mountains, where they encountered a bear and an old Arolla pine, the choreographers began to explore a new form of power - as a vital force, not an instrument of control. At once a sensual feast and a cruel battlefield, the performance invites us to rethink our relationship to nature and culture. What of the wilderness remains in and around us? How can nature connect us and repair our ties to it? Immerse yourself in atmospheres filled with humor, song, and morphing physicality, and open yourself to a new perception of the power, relationships, and ecological stewardship of the landscape.

Running time: 50 minutes

Language: Czech, English

Immediately following there will be an artist talk.

Credits

Choreography: Dorota Michalak, Alica Minar

Creation and performance: Dorota Michalak, Alica Minar, Breanne Saxton, Ola Zielińska

Music: Ola Zielińska, Vi Huyen Tranová

Dramaturgy: Maikon K

Stage design: Natálie Rajnišová

Light design: Raquel Rosildete, Teres Bartůňková

Production: Dorota Michalak, Alica Minar & col.

Partners: Studio Alta in Prague (CZ), Bazaar Festival in Prague (CZ), Teatrul Andrei Muresan in Sfantu Gheorghe (RO), Hellerau in Dresden (DE)

Thanks to: Erik Baláž, Alina Hriscanu, Ondrej Kameniar, Anna Poppa and the team of Foundation Conservation Carpathia, for guiding us through Tatra and Fagaras Mountains and sharing stories about wilderness.

Bio

Alica Minar and Dorota Michalak began collaborating in 2022 after meeting at HZT Berlin in 2019. Their work includes co-creating choreography in the LUSH BLAST series and researching for WOODS WON’T VAPORIZE. Their creative process, rooted in fieldwork and exchanges with scientists, brings together two distinct artistic practices. Michalak's approach is anchored in somatics, fascination with plants and folk music heritage. She shifts attention towards tactile, aural and energetic aspects of dance. Minar's work offers strong visuality, where humor and poetry arise from bizarre situations. While exploring burning societal issues, she researches how nudity and costumes distort the reality of the dancing body and its relationship with objects.

Supporters

Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, National Recovery Plan and European Union, State Fund of Culture of the Czech Republic, Prague City Hall, Czech-German Future Fund, IDU Prague and PerformCzech, Contemporary Arts Alliance Berlin, Culture Moves Europe and and Goethe Institut