Performance
program

07.06.

15:00 Klubs Kurzeme, Ziedu iela 7, Aizpute

(SE)

Lasting Figures

Salka Ardala Rosengren

In her work, “Lasting Figures”, Salka Ardal Rosengren and her stage collaborators Jade Stenhuijs and Marcus Doverud present a tender, pulsating and in the traditions of partner dances rooted dance and music performance with transposition of the principles of Lindy Hop, slow drag, and early vernacular jazz in a contemporary arrangement.

The choreography is consciously shaped around the practice of lasting dancing together, responding to the functions of social dance within a society. The dance consolidates the rhythm, intimacy and the syncopated dynamics between leading and following in the movement. The performance reflects the history, traditions, somatic fictions, lasting and passing figures, and passion – the quintessence of the dance floor.

Choreography: Salka Ardala Rosengren
Dancers: Salka Ardala Rosengren, Jade Stenhuijs
Composer, percussionist: Markus Doverud
Dramaturg: Andrew Hardwidge
Light: Jonatan Winbo
Costume: Behnaz Aram
Lindy Hop advisor: Sakarias Larsson
Jazz dance advisor: Fredrik Dahlberg
Producer: Stockholm University of the Arts

Salka Ardala Rosengren works in the field of dance and performance. Born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden, she moved to Brussels in 2006 to study at the contemporary dance school P.A.R.T.S., graduating in 2010. Salka has created stage works in collaboration with Mikko Hyvönen, Nicholas Hoffman, and Andrew Hardwidge. In the spring of 2021, she completed a master’s program in New Performative Practices at the Stockholm University of the Arts.

17:00

(EE)

Choreographies of Hugging: variation

Eline Selgis (EE)
Sofia Filippou (GR)

"Choreographies of Hugging" lives and breathes across countless forms, spaces, and worlds—ever-shifting, yet timeless. Each encounter is a renewal, a variation born anew.
‒ Eline Selgis and Sofia Filippou

of all the forests of the world you walked into
the stories melted through
cold wet maybe
left right left right left right left right
dark light
the space-in-between yawning in choir
toes-nose-pose
close-
held in the

“Choreographies of Hugging” is a performance born from the simple yet profound gesture – a hug. The piece is witnessing the emergence of the worlds that arise in relation to something that is subject to constant change. Through negotiation of openness, trust and respect, two bodies enable an elusive choreography of whimsical, flesh and contradictions. It is: both personal and mutual, intimacy and distance, human and alien, this world and other, serious and funny, documentary and fantasy. A practice of deep yet playful intimacy, engaging with life and nature, transforms the mundane act into an art.

Awarded with the Estonian National Theatre Awards as the Best Dance Performance of 2022.

Choreographers & performers: Eline Selgis (EE) and Sofia Filippou (GR)
Sound artist: Helena Mora
Co-producers: Estonian Dance Agency, TantsuRUUM

With the support of: Estonian Cultural Endowment, Estonian Dance Agency, Estonian Artists’ Union, Pakenditööstus, ARS art Factory, Jānis Ābele & Reconnect Studio, Nordic Culture Point

Eline Selgis is a freelance dance artist from Estonia. She graduated in dance from Viljandi Culture Academy in 2016 and earned her master’s in theatre studies from the University of Tartu in 2018. Her choreographic practice is based on contemporary dance and improvisation, exploring the relationships between the body, space and dramaturgy. Her choreographic practice is rooted in contemporary dance and improvisation, exploring the relations among body, space, and dramaturgy. Recently, she has focused on how movement engages in dialogue with ecology, architecture, and sound design. Since 2021, she has curated TantsuRUUM, a dance space and residency for independent artists in Tallinn. Eline also occasionally writes poetry.

Sofia Filippou was born and raised in Crete, Greece. She holds a bachelor’s degree in drama and dance from Royal Holloway, University of London, and a master’s degree in contemporary physical performance-making from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. She practices choreography by contact improvisation, somatic practices, experimental anatomy, ecosomatics, Axis Syllabus, Gaga, and Argentine tango. Through her artistic endeavours, she seeks to deepen the understanding of movement and its potential to connect individuals and communities. Residency at TantsuRUUM in 2020 brought her to Estonia, where she now lives and works in Tallinn. Her collaboration with Eline Selgis (EE), “ABOUT US. Choreographies of Hugging”, received the Estonian Theatre Award for Best Dance Performance of 2022. Sofia has created choreography for film and stage in Estonia, Greece, the UK, and France, and has performed at international festivals. She also teaches contemporary dance and Argentine tango at Jõgeva Music School, Casa de Baile dance club, and in various workshops.

Through her artistic endeavours, she seeks to deepen our understanding of movement and its potential to connect individuals and communities.

19:00

(LT)

Kur krantas
(She Dreamt of Being Washed Away To The Coast)

Lukas Karvelis

"Kur krantas" (She Dreamt of Being Washed Away To The Coast) is a contemporary interpretation of Baltic mythology through dance. Its point of departure is the Lithuanian legendary tale of the sea goddess Jūratė and the fisherman Kastytis, exploring the impossibility of their love.

Fluid, meditative, and as layered as water, the choreography evokes a trapped sea deity striving to find equilibrium between her axis and the yearning for release from it. In the end, the performance unfolds as a transformative journey — a passage from one micropoint into a vast, undefined space, without a clear beginning or end.

Lithuanian Theatre Award “The Golden Stage Cross” as the Best Choreography of 2024.

Concept & Choreography: Lukas Karvelis
Performer: Dominyka Markevičiūtė
Costume Design: Morta Nakaitė
Lighting Design: Povilas Laurinaitis
Composer: Dominykas Digimas
Mentor: Bush Hartshorn
Producer: Be Kompanijos

Lukas Karvelis is a Lithuanian dance artist currently based in Amsterdam. A graduate of Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam (2019) on a Jiri Kylian Foundation scholarship., He has since collaborated with Royal Danish Theatre, Munich Kammerspiele, Dansatelier’s crew and Korzo Theatre. As a performer, he has worked for choreographers such as Marina Mascarell, Anouk van Dijk, Falk Richter, and Dunja Jocic. His choreographic work has been presented in the Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Taiwan, Israel, Turkey, Lithuania, Sweden, and Italy. Karvelis is part of a new wave of socially and politically engaged choreographers from Lithuania and will be performing in Munich’s HochX and public spaces as part of a program spotlighting Eastern Europe as a region. Lukas Karvelis was nominated for the Piket Art Prize in Hague in 2020 and received the young artist award from the Ministry of Culture of Lithuania in 2023.