LARGE
16+ years
Dance Theatre + Live Music
Concept & Choreography: Sanja Tropp Frühwald
Creation & Performance: Branko Banković, Dina Ekštajn, Bruno Isaković, Martina Tomić, Ana Vnučec, Bosiljka Vujović Mažuran
Theory stretching: Igor Dobričić
Outside-eye: Mario Kovač
Music & Instruments making: Damir Šimunović
Vocal Coach: Till Frühwald
Costumes & Styling: Zdravka Ivandija
Assistant costume designer: Ana Paulić
Scene: Matija Šantić
Light design: Sanja Tropp Frühwald
Master of lighting: Milan Kovačević
PR: Ana Kovačević
Graphic design: Dinko Uglesic
Production: Studio for Contemporary Dance / VRUM
Artistic leader: Bosiljka Vujović Mažuran, Sanja Tropp Frühwald
Producer: Branko Banković
The project was supported by: City Office for Culture and Sport Education - Zagreb, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia
Project partner: Museum of Contemporary Art
Premiere: May 15, 2012, Gorgona / MSU Zagreb
Photo: Danko Stjepanović
LARGE – public event at the end of time
After years of existence in space and interspace and its reflections, we are now in the moment in which a deadline is fast approaching. The end of time as we know it, is near. The end of art is inevitable. The Studio Contemporary Dance Company, the oldest Croatian contemporary dance ensemble, soon celebrates the 50th anniversary of its continuous dance activity. What does half a century of existence mean to a collective, what is its current position and what fantasies open when we come to realize that even dance troupes are mortal? The global crisis brings us back to the yesterday’s vision of the future that turned to be fatally wrong. Euro, The World Bank, rating agencies, safety regulations, internet networks… it all proved so corrupt and it is decomposing right before our eyes looking worse than the worst case scenario. However, this is the unavoidable moment of SF; what we feared has eventually come upon us, but in the most unexpected way – what we could not even begin to imagine has become commonplace, usual and ordinary. What is the ethical aftermath of this decadent times? Are we even ready for the new era? Our deadline is Now! Now means to intensify every experience. In the year of collapse only Now matters, it is the divide in which our futures, our intentions and our strategies are being questioned. Through LARGE, members of The Studio Contemporary Dance Company listen and invite you to the listening of prophecies that are fulfilled, dystopia and utopia that are created and demolished before our eyes. LARGE celebrates metamorphosis, the moment of emerging and vanishing, the show that is performed only once and only Now and that cannot be performed again. LARGE is rock’n’roll! LARGE is the last judgment, the final gathering before the end, and the moment in which your life flashes before your eyes. LARGE is the moment of the final confrontation, panic buying of Here and Now. Break with linear time might have a discouraging effect but it is at the same time liberating – there is no specified order of events. Events and meanings can be arranged as we please or we can leave them scattered in the complete chaos. LARGE is an attempt of establishment of the new time format, time that can only be experienced and not defined. In this context, apocalyptical thought is the starting point, possible utopia on the stage, adventure and opportunity. Moving boundaries and frames of time is more fun than Disneyland!
Sanja Tropp Frühwald
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Have you ever contemplated your own death? Who will attend your funeral? How will people remember you? Have you already chosen the songs to be played at your funeral ceremony? If you found out you only had few days to live, what would you do? These questions are not brought up only by individuals, but also by artist collectives. Faced with their inevitable ending caused by the upcoming apocalypse, members of The Studio Contemporary Dance Company question their work motivation, their structure and interaction. Yet, they leave enough time for the ultimate autoreflexive solo acts. They certainly do not forget to choose their farewell songs, but with one huge difference: they will not play them on any kind of reproduction device but they will play them themselves. LARGE is truly The Last Show on Earth! Mario Kovač