International dance festival PŪGA
The winter dance festival PŪGA, as it does every year, invites all dance lovers—and everyone else—to gather amidst the major holidays of the year. December 28–30 A three-day festival will take place at Vilnius’ cultural hub—Menų spaustuvė—featuring not only Lithuanian dance premieres, practical movement workshops and classes, a party at one of the most beautiful venues—Opera Social House—and dance battles, but also a performance by guests from Iceland.
Program:
December 28 at 6:00 p.m., Menų spaustuvė (Kišeninė Hall)
2IN1: AN UNCONVENTIONAL DANCE CLASS WITH A PARTY VIBE
Low Air invites you to an unconventional dance class-party where you’ll feel as relaxed as at a great party while learning street dance moves from real dance professionals.
> FREE. REGISTRATION: ENDED
December 28, 7:00 PM, Menų spaustuvė (Black Hall)
VISUAL DANCE PERFORMANCE “GAME OVER”
Awarded the Golden Stage Cross (Best Dance Work of the Year, 2016)
Nominated for the Golden Stage Cross (Best Dancer of the Year, 2016)
The performance has toured: Lithuania, Ukraine, Italy, Israel, China, Germany, Bulgaria, Austria, Georgia, France, and South Korea.
“Joking aside, we are immortal,” – Julio Cortázar
When visiting the grave of one of the most famous 20th-century Argentine writers, Julio Cortázar, it is customary to leave a glass of wine and a sheet of paper on which the game “Classes” is drawn. Inspired by this tradition and the author’s rules for playing with the imagination, the “Low Air” team presents an innovative performance that combines the fields of dance and visual art. The visual dance performance “The Game Is Over” explores dreams and analyzes how they might be interpreted in real life. The performance is full of symbols and codes that the audience, together with the creative team, will attempt to decipher.
December 28, 8:30 p.m., Menų spaustuvė (Kišeninė Hall)
IMPROSESIJA + OPENING PARTY
We will conclude the first day of the festival with a dance improvisation session that brings everyone together to move to the rhythm of dance. The term “improvisation,” frequently used in the dance community, will be the main focus of the evening—during the session, movement will be created “here and now,” listening to the DJ, observing the surroundings, and watching one another.
> FREE. REGISTRATION: ENDED
December 29 at 6:00 PM and 8:30 PM, Menų spaustuvė (Kišeninė Hall)
PREMIERE: DANCE PERFORMANCE “THE DREAMING BEAUTY”
“The Dreaming Beauty” is a movement-based performance inspired by Charles Perrault’s fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty” and its predecessor, Giambattista Basile’s “The Sun, the Moon, and Talia.” Drawing on these two tales, the performance creates an autonomous dream space not described in either of them. Vaiva Paukštė, together with the creative team, explores the connection between gender and narrative. The creators aim to shift the perspective from an external, masculine gaze to the inner experience of Sleeping Beauty, her dreamlike reality, thereby dismantling the fictional image of “woman.”
*A meet-and-greet with the creative team will follow the performance.
Co-producer of the performance: LMTA
DANCE PERFORMANCE “WAITING FOR DANCE” (ICELAND)
“Waiting for Dance” invites the audience to surrender to an intimate moment of anticipation. What does a person experience in a state of waiting? If we wait together, can we collectively experience the longing for change? The unfolding of the performance’s duration through repetition and absence heightens the anticipation that something will happen. Perhaps something we do not yet know how (…) This soundscape was created by the choreographer Yelena Arakelow herself, and it is her first sound piece. It is based on field recordings made by Yelena on her iPhone. The field recordings were made during moments of waiting in Reykjavík, the Westman Islands (Iceland), Riga, and Vangaži (Latvia).
Program:
CONTEMPORARY DANCE WORKSHOP WITH YELENA ARAKELOW (Iceland)
> PRICE: 10 EUR (cash payment at the Low Air dance school)
> REGISTRATION: ENDED
December 30, 6:00 p.m., Menų spaustuvė (Black Hall)
PREMIERE: INTERACTIVE DANCE PERFORMANCE “TRUTH OR DARE”
The present moment of this dance performance is a dialogue between the past and the future. Is it possible to win a game whose goal is to see untruth within one’s own truth? Or perhaps the answer lies not in struggle, but in dialogue? We know only one thing—such a move will certainly require courage! “Truth or Dare” is a game well-known to many, and everyone is invited to play. The rules of this game are simple: dare to defy the rules of the game-regime, or let someone else decide for you what your truth is? But does courage always equal truth? Or is truth >< courage? We are all pawns in this global game, constantly moving across the space like a game board so that at the end of our turn, we are on the right side.
*A meet-and-greet with the creative team will follow the performance.
December 30, 8:00 PM, Opera Social House
WHAT’S YOUR FLOW: ALL-STYLES DANCE BATTLES + PARTY
The festival will close with all-styles dance battles, where dancers, drawing on different dance styles, will fill the space with their authentic flow of movement. Through improvisation, they will showcase techniques from various street dance styles.
All festival visitors and dancers are invited to the PŪGA closing party.
> FREE FOR AUDIENCE
> REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR PARTICIPANTS: ENDED
> PARTICIPANT ENTRY FEE/DONATION: 5 EUR (cash payment at the entrance)
(The money collected goes to the winner of the evening’s battles and DJ)
Festival Organizer: Vilnius City Dance Theater Low Air
Media partners: LRT Plius, Media Traffic, 370diena.lt, VAGA bookstore chain
Sponsors: Lithuanian Council for Culture, Vilnius City Municipality
Partners: Vilnius 700, Menų spaustuvė, Opera Social House, Crustum, Augas bags.
