Together Alone (2024)

The dance performance by two B-Boys Laurynas Žakevičius (Lau) and Rokas Šaltenis (Rukus) is constructed as a dialogue with another, but in essence with oneself. While studying the movements
and flow of Breaking, juxtaposing them with the Lithuanian folk dance, a physical, tangible form is sought for the spreading of the male or a dancer’s identity. By becoming each other’s mirror images, in today’s bustle of norms, prejudices, and stereotypes, one tries to turn back to oneself, firmness in sensitivity, sense of self in alteration or other, in a duality.

“Together Alone” is artistic research of the canons of identity in hip-hop dance, inviting artists and
audiences to explore breaking as a performing art form. The performance is an opportunity to reflect on the concept of a world without borders, using the links between cultures to rethink topics
of migration in art and cultural forms. The Western masculinist dance, Breaking, is juxtaposed and connected with the movement codes of the pair dance existing in the Lithuanian folk-dance heritage. Artists ask: what kind of men are we, what does this dance talk about when we go on stage and what is it like when we participate in dance battles, and sports competitions, such as the Olympics?

Discourses of appropriation and homogeneity are raised, which also touch on the ethical issues of the use of images. Creative explorations of this field of art and the stories of its origin invite mutual
dialogue beyond the performance.