As someone who grew up amongst the walls of theaters, I was happy to take in that very special, artsy scent upon entering the classy but nostalgic lobby of the Central Europe Dance Theater (CEDT). Having carved a sound spot in the Magyar contemporary dance scene, in the past two decades it’s grown into a hub for lovers of dance theater. I caught up with director Csaba Szögi to hear about their ars poetica, the company and how much he hates stuffy air…
When CEDT was born in 1989, what did you want to indicate with its name, Central Europe?
When thinking about Central Europe, it’s amazing to see how different nationalities, artistic forms and waves interact and shape each other in this region. All these forming a colorful cultural rainbow inspired the name for the first contemporary dance theater of Hungary and basically has become the basis of our ars poetica; diversity and openness.
The artists you’ve invited to CEDT constitute a varied palette of the Magyar contemporary dance scene. How do you decide on whom to invite to work with the company?
We consider innovation to be our main task; a risky one, I must say, but we’re constantly looking for young talents and are really proud of those who ‘grew up’ with us and by now are much acclaimed artists.
Those who founded this place – including myself – came from divergent dance backgrounds, but one thing was common in all of us. We felt that theater and dance strongly belong together and that we must look for new ways of artistic expression. We also believed in the deeper levels of communication, that’s why the projects and performances of our company are non-verbal, non-epic. So basically, anyone is welcome who wants to work within the frame of these values. We aim for diversity; a new artist in our company is always like oxygen, and I personally hate stuffy air…
There are no language barriers or limits of cultural differences when watching your performances…
As we try not to interpret situations, we try not to explain stories, but only to transmit feelings of mostly universal issues. Our performances could be easily sensed by anyone, independent of age, nationality or culture. I personally think that the best performances are those that leave small ‘emotion cartridges’ in me that then or later, basically in the ideal moment, explode in me leaving me ooo-ing and aaa-ing.
Coming up:
CARNEval – January 16, February 4
T.E.S.T. – January 22, 23
T.E.S.T. II. – February 12, 13, 25, 26
Soundimages – January 29, 30
The Tempest – Premiere, March 19
Central Europe Dance Theatre
1071 Budapest, Bethlen Gábor tér 3.
Tel.: +36.1.342.7163
Check out videos of the Central Europe Dance Theater:
Carneval: