FREIHEIT

The urban dance style of breakdancing – one of the pillars of hip-hop culture – emerged in the era of the development of Brutalist architecture. The excellent Salzburg company brings it to the theatre stage with virtuosic ease and wittily comments on its connection to the revolutionary architectural style. The performance, in which a concrete mixer plays a key role, has the potential to be an audience hit of the 27th Flora Theatre Festival!
In collaboration with SEFO Triennial 2024
discussion follows
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Virtuosic! […] A little revelation for anyone who loves dance.
Helmut Ploebst, derstandard.at

A unique symbiosis of dance and architecture.
Carmen Thurnher, vol.at

BÉTON BRUT ingeniously intersects the worlds of architecture and urban dance. Through body and dance, it looks at the related social and material backgrounds as well as the historical connections between concrete brutalist architecture and the pillar of hip hop culture – breakdance.

“Brutalist buildings […] were for us, and probably for many others, unusually designed concrete monsters. From our surroundings we have subconsciously learned to consider this type of architecture strange or even ugly. However, when we put away our ‘everyday filter’ and became neutral observers, we discovered the diverse universe behind it: powerful architectural and social statements as well as harsh, brutal and futuristic forms as a gigantic play of mass, rawness, balance and proud gesture, which is explained to the observer in a straightforward, almost purist manner and unfolds in beautiful images.” Valentin Alfery, choreographer of BÉTON BRUT

The Austrian dance group Hungry Sharks was founded in 2011 with the aim of establishing street dance styles also in the theatre. In their latest project so far, BÉTON BRUT, this young artistic collective juxtaposes breakdancing techniques with selected examples of brutalist architectural objects. In doing so, they create an associative field for reflection on their material, kinetic and, last but not least, historical and social conceptualisations. Both are a rebellion against conventional forms of culture. Their aesthetics are often characterized as “raw” or “rough”, by no means “refined” or “agreeable”. Both brutalism and breakdance stem from similar social backgrounds – the experience of the World War II, the destruction of humans, poverty and the resulting social disadvantage. The intersection of these two forms subsequently becomes the driving force behind the unique brutalist physical theatre in BÉTON BRUT.

The sophisticated artistic concept and original creative strategies contained in BÉTON BRUT not only earned unprecedented interest from the audience, but also resonated significantly among the thirteen selected productions at the re-launched Choreographic Platform Austria 2023.

idea, concept, artistic direction, choreography Valentin Alfery

live sound, composition Manuel Riegler
dramaturgy, choreographic assistant Marco Payer
production, artistic advice, voice Dušana Baltić
production assistants Maira Darja Horvath, Laura Graciela Saiz, Max Rosenberger
lighting design Valentin Alfery
costume design Kreineckers / Anna & Magdalena Kreinecker
photography Jelena Janković, Christine Miess, Kilian Kovacs (cover)

dancers, movement research Elena Bartosch, Timo Bouter, Alexander Tesch, Maëva Abdelhafid

The performance is realized in cooperation with (and with the support of) the SEFO 2024 Triennial, organized by the Olomouc Museum of Art.

The performance within the festival was realized with the support of DANCE ON TOUR AUSTRIA – a project by Tanzquartier Wien in cooperation with the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs.

The leading personalities of Hungry Sharks since the group’s inception are choreographer Valentin Alfery and producer Dušana Baltić. In the dance duet Gentle Way (2018), for example, Alfery drew on the rituals of martial arts, especially judo, which he practiced at the top level until his serious injury. In Zeitgeist (2019), he situated the production under water and let the “aquadancers”, without gravity and with their breath held, explore the possibilities of gestures and movements typical of city life in a glass pool.

photo Christine Miess