OPEN FOR EVERYTHING

The Roma are an ethnic minority constantly suffering from open racism. The choreographer Constanza Macras has been researching Roma life since 2010 and has gathered an ensemble of Roma musicians, performers, dancers of her company and amateurs of all ages for Open for Everything – a journey not only into Roma culture, but also into ourselves.

In the choreographies of Constanza Macras, dance is a social movement. The Argentine-born, Berlin-based artist and her company DorkyPark unite dancers and themes drawn from all over the world: their spheres of activity range from Bombay to Brazil; consumerism and urban identity, migration, segregation and the clash of cultures are their subjects. Yet their works are not political pamphlets but highly personal encounters, touching, poetic and always on the lookout for a different viewpoint. Since 2010, Macras has been investigating lifestyles, dances and music of the Roma people in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, in the process assembling a large ensemble composed of Roma musicians and performers, dancers of her own company and amateurs of different age groups. Open For Everything is a journey to Europe’s periphery, located at its very heart. This region alone is inhabited by 10 to 12 million Roma threatened by open racism as an ethnic minority, as clearly demonstrated by recent group deportations from France and physical attacks in Hungary. Poverty, discrimination, exclusion and prejudice determine their daily lives. They are called “gypsies” to imply “thieves and beggars”. Their culture is sentimentalised. Their statelessness prevents their settling down anywhere; for them, mobility means nothing but deportation and forced relocation. Open for Everything is a dramatic piece about life next door to us – about the Roma, and about ourselves.

The production will be created by Constanza Macras in cooperation with Roma musicians, dancers and amateurs of different ages from Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, and with six performers from the dance company CONSTANZA MACRAS | DorkyPark who come from Israel, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, the Czech Republic and South-Korea.

The project is initiated by CONSTANZA MACRAS | DorkyPark and GOETHE-INSTITUT.

Direction and Choreography: Constanza Macras, dramaturgy: Carmen Mehnert, stage Design: Tal Shacham, costume design: Gilvan Coêlho de Oliveira; from and with: Emil Bordás, Hilde Elbers (NL), Anouk Froidevaux (CA), Fatima Hegedüs (HU), Ádám Horváth (HU), László Horváth (HU), Hyoung-Min Kim (ROK), Denis Kuhnert (D), Viktória Lakatos (HU), Zoltán Lakatos (HU), Iveta Millerová (CZ), Elik Niv (ISR), János Norbert Orsós (HU), Monika Peterová (CZ), Rebeka Rédai (HU), Markéta Richterová (CZ), Ivan Rostás (HU), Magdolna Rostás (HU), Viktor Rostás (HU); musicians: Marek Balog (SK), Milan Demeter (CZ), Milan Kroka (CZ), Jan Surmaj (CZ), Petr Surmaj (CZ).

All credits and full cast of Open for Everything here.

A production of CONSTANZA MACRAS | DorkyPark and GOETHE-INSTITUT, coproduced by the New Stage of National Theatre with a financial support of Czech German Future Fund and Auswärtiges Amt. In co-production with Wiener Festwochen, Trafó House of Contemporary Arts Budapest, International Theatre Festival Divadelná Nitra, Hebbel am Ufer Berlin, Kampnagel Hamburg, HELLERAU - Europäisches Zentrum der Künste Dresden, Dansens Hus Stockholm and Zürcher Theater Spektakel. Further sponsored by Hauptstadtkulturfonds and the Regierenden Bürgermeiser Berlin – Senatskanzlei – Kulturelle Angelegenheiten and Open Society Foundations – with contribution of The Arts and Culture Program of Budapest.