BEAT “I just
wish to feel you”

Everything in life exists thanks to energy waves. These vibrations create the rhythms that drive us and make our hearts beat. We share the same pace, the same pulse, we are connected through movement and touch. But what happens when the “beat” disappears? 

Here is Jenna and here is Jonas. Living in the accelerated world of social media and the possibility of instant communication through messaging and swiping from left to right. These forms of communication make us feel deeply related to others; meanwhile, we are missing the actual encounters, handshakes, hugs and movements expressing our instinctive feelings and physical reactions.

A contemporary dancer and a b-boy. Both physically trained to master techniques and exercise control over their bodies. Together they are decoding the skilled and disciplined body into a new way of movement and partnering. The active and the passive. The manipulator and the manipulatee. “The living body” and “the dead body.” 

The sound artist Adrian Newgent joins them on stage, composing live soundscape in dialog with the dancers. The result is an incredibly physical, raw, yet intimate and touching duet about human relations.

The production is an official selection of Aerowaves twenty20 Spring Forward.
The performance is supported by the European Union Culture Program.
The performance received Rudolf Lában Prize of best contemporary dance performance in 2019.

#deadbody #active #passive #relationship #bboy #contemporary

SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN AGED 15+

Creators – Performers: Jenna Jalonen (FI), Jonas Garrido Verwerft (BE)
Live Music Composition: Adrian Newgent (NL)
Lighting Design: Miklós Mervel
Coproduction:  Straatrijk, Workshop Foundation
Supporters: STUK House for Dance, Image & Sound, Life Long Burning, Ultima Vez, Stad Leuven, SÍN Arts Centre, Eva Duda Dance Company / Movein Studio, Cirk la Putyika / Jatka78, EMMI, Trafo House of Contemporary Arts
Concept – Direction: Jenna Jalonen

COLLECTIVE DOPE

Collective Dope is a contemporary dance and performing arts collective founded and led by Jenna Jalonen and Nóra Hotváth, who invite and collaborate with other artists from different backgrounds and art forms.

Jenna Jalonen (FI), aka triplejay was born in Finland, educated in Hungary and currently based in Belgium and Hungary. After her studies in classical ballet at the Finnish National Opera Ballet School and Hungarian Dance Academy in Budapest, she changed to the field of contemporary dance and performing arts. She has danced and collaborated with several international companies and choreographers since 2010 such as Eva Duda Dance Co., Central Europe Dance Theater, Kubilai Khan Investigations, Kwaad bloed/Ugo Dehaes, fABULEUS, Thierry de Mey, Theater Bremen, Máté Mészáros, Untamed Productions, Notch Company/Oriane Varak, and Hodworks. Together with Beatrix Simkó their production Long time no see! was part of the official program at Festival d’Avignon 2018 and was one of the selected productions at Aerowaves Twenty19 Spring Forward. She teaches, and is developing triplewave, a movement practice inviting the dancer to go on a trip – a meditative and physical journey – using the mechanics of a wave in the body through different dance styles and dynamics. In her artistic work she is continuously researching the extreme physicality of the conscious and unconscious body, the “dead body” in movement.

Jonas Garrido Verwerft (BE) started breakdancing when he was 10 years old. Always interested in all kinds of dance, he has mastered a variety of movement styles, such as floor work, house dance, loopkicks tricking, over the years. He started performing when he joined “Let’s go urban,” where he worked with Minhee Bervoets, Ish Ait Hamoud, Yves Ruth and Mohammed Boujara. Meanwhile he completed a master’s degree in Sport Science and decided to focus more on dance and movement. As a freelancer he has worked on productions for Franco Dragone, Wanp, Fabuleus & Moldavië, Straatrijk and Musichall, and he has collaborated with choreographers such as Randi De Vlieghe, Drosha Grekhov, Thomas Steylaert (Nordin The Wiz). He is one of the founders of Antwerp-based urban dance, music and fashion crew Osei Bantu. Currently, he is taking part in the creation of ADHD with Cirk La Putyka, directed by Rosta Novak.

Adrien Newgent (NL), aka Modern Errors  is a music and sound designer from Holland. After studying music and music production in Rotterdam, he worked as a sound engineer for three years at Mediawerkplaats Rotterdam. During these years he started to work in the film industry as a composer. So far, he has composed music for seven films and won Best Music’award for a 48-hour film project. Apart from composing for film, he has been collaborating in contemporary dance productions. He has worked with Éva Duda Dance Co., Radioballet, Zoltán Grecsó, Jenna Jalonen and Ugo Dehaes. He also often plays at music festivals like Ozora Festival, SUN Festival, Mo:Dem Festival. Adrian is a versatile emerging artist, whose approach to sound is generally from a nontraditional viewpoint. Compositions include sound experiments, unique recordings, atmospheres/sound beds, hybrid styles and self-made instruments. The goal is always to find the most personal and unique approach which fits best with the atmosphere of the project, the feelings of the director, their interpretation by the composer, and the experience of the audience.