PASSAGE


Between two states in life there is always a moment when we are surrounded by emptiness. The old self is terminated, the new self has not yet been born. This moment is scary, it is liberating, it is mystical. Since the dawn of socio-cultural activities, we developed specific ceremonies to lead people through to another stage of life. These transformative rituals are the main inspirations of the dance film “Passage”.  

We all experienced Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. These experiences emphasized and sped up the development of a negative tendency. These past two years pointed out really important issues concerning our society: isolation; loneliness. The lack of human connections surfaced many frustrations and research showed the negative effect of this isolation. The Harward Magazine even called the phenomena “The Loneliness Pandemic”. This dynamic was already known by sociologists of the 21st century and there are many who attend to explain this sociological tendency. Hypothetically this could also be caused by the lack of common cultural ground. Because of a missing basic cultural vocabulary, oppositions are no longer able to communicate. The units of the society break down into smaller pieces and there are less and less real communities with a shared identity. 

Rituals might be the answer for this worrying phenomena? Rituals were serving as a stabilization force to the society for millennials therefore it safe to say they are working on our fundamental level of human nature. We not only looking at the rituals as artistic inspiration but also trying to reach a new form for integrating rituals in our life in alternative ways as performative events. This project is an attempt to call attention to these basic tools to find balance between different cultural, ethnical, political positions.

PRODUCTION TEAM

Choreography: Gábor Halász

Dancers: Zara Beattie, Odbayar Batsuuri

Costume: Greta Wilhelm

Light design: Geohwan Ju

Music: Gaborhalasz Art

Camera/Video: Gábor Halász

Mentor: Prof. Timothy Couchman