Dance performance ‘Light and Water’ created as a joint project by F.R.E.E. D.A.N.C.E Karlovac, Radiona.org and Prostor+ will be performed on 13th October at the Cine-teatro Academia Almadense within the program of 25th Quinzena De Danca De Almada (International Dance Festival).
Light and water
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” Nikola Tesla
”If you don’t know how, observe the phenomena of nature, they will give you clear answers and inspiration.” Nikola Tesla
Light and Water, a project which gathers experts from various disciplines, joins the performance and installation. This new work was inspired by the far-sighted visions of Nikola Tesla and the importance of his contributions for the existence of civilisation as we know it today.
In this multidisciplinary dance project, we have been guided by ideas and thoughts (reflections) on light, water, energy and the interconnection and interaction of all that exists in this moment.. We have also tracked the consequences of technological development and human impact on the planet we live in bearing in mind both the positive and the negative.
If we consider Earth as a kind of accumulator, with everything we create we get involved in her life, vibration, energy, and action. This concept questions the freedom of body and mind, the necessity of their synergy for any directed and successful action and the power of movement.
Body and mind, if we consider them in terms of matter and energy, as different as they might seem, share the same basic source: energy. At the energy level we are all connected and we all interconnect in this complex system, where our actions often have unexpected consequences… even if the arrow of our action is pointed only towards what our human culture might call good/bad.
Light and Water, as two fundamental substances of life, which are experienced through movement, place the individual body as an energy conductor.
The idea of mutual interconnection and interaction is also realized in connecting different media and disciplines.
Part of the project has been created along the rivers in the city of Karlovac; locations, which were the inspiration for Tesla too, and this artistic research seeks to find new dance, sound and visual reflections of their importance.
One of our important questions is how to link art and science. Once art and science developed alongside each other and, today it seems that science and art have divided along a philosophical-cultural fault line, one which we also recognise through the separation of mind and body science has left art far behind.
How can we bridge the divide, to share the mutual curiosity and spirit of exploration that drives both equally? How and with which instincts and levers of artistic activity do improvisational and creative researchers respond to the methodical and logical scientific approach?
It is also important for us to convey Tesla’s message to the world that acceptable, environmentally friendly and free energy for everyone promotes equality and life in peace and harmony, as opposed to the capitalist logic of accumulating profits through exploitation, and profiting from hate and conflict.
Apart from the performance, at the first level of transmission, we also achieve this by involving high school students in the creation of technical aids and by involving spectators in the process, and in the conversation after each show. With the performance and post-show talk, we endeavour to model Tesla’s work and values.
Concept and choreography: Melita Spahić Bezjak
Dance performance: Maja Drobac i Melita Spahić Bezjak
Music and music performance: Ana Horvat, Deborah Hustić, Valent Samardžija
Experiment with chladny plate: Marina Petrović
Video: Majda Džanić Bogojević
Light design: Saša Bogojević
Project documentation: Ivana Slunjski
Project collaboration: Nives Soldičić
Photography: Denis Stošić
Production: Centre for dance and performing arts F.R.E.E. D.A.N.C.E. Karlovac
Co-production: Zagreb Makerspace –Association for Development of ‘do-it-yourself’ Culture in collaboration with Association Prostor Plus
Partners: Clubture network, Technical museum Nikola Tesla, Aquatika Karlovac, Technical school in Karlovac
Supported by: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, City of Zagreb, Karlovac county, City of Karlovac, National foundation for civil society development, and Foundation Kultura Nova.
Thank you to: Dance center TALA, Liberdance, Gymnasium Karlovac, Mala scena Hrvatski dom, Damir Prizmić, Vladimir Bezjak and Marina Trpčić.
Performances:
- 09.2017. 20 h, Filodrammatica, Rijeka, Croatia
- 09. 2017. 19 h, Aquatika –Karlovac, Croatia
13.10. 2017., 22.30h 25th Quinzena de Dança de Almada, Portugal
- 10. 2017. 20 h, Tehnical museum Nikola Tesla, Zagreb, Croatia
Can actually the energy, the frequency and the vibration, which are the core motives of the Light and Water project, reveal the mysteries of secrets, as Nikola Tesla concluded? If our essence really is energy, what is this body that I touch and feel, who senses, feels, observe, and realize the materiality of the world? What triggers it?
If thought is just energy, how does it convey a meaningful message? Quantum physics proved that the atom is actually empty. There is no firm center, nothing to anchor whirling energy and movement. We, like all other things, are actually a cluster of particles vibrating at a certain frequency. Schrödinger’s cat showed that the particle and wave are the same; how they manifest depends only on the eye of the observer.
This also means that we can influence the material appearance more than we imagine. Our thought creates matter. We should not live in fear of an existential breakdown, everything should be enough and available to everyone. And yet it is not. Not all the sciences of this world have managed to balance. Can art do what science cannot?
What are we, who are we, why are we as we are? Which secret universe is hiding and when we will begin to discover it?
The Project of Light and water, with artistic tools tries to respond to these questions, seeking a source in emotions, equity or inclusion of each other between and through each other, communion, combining different skills and knowledge of different disciplines.
The first step towards the depths of the universe is that every one of us is just a piece of a puzzle, whose task is to connect with others in a complete picture. Until the final insight, we will probably not know, not yet, not now. But, let’s listen to Tesla, look at nature closely, which will show us how and what to choose. And with this we are already half-way there.
I.S.