Impressions of Danyi/Molnar/Vadas' "SKIN ME"

Produced by: SIN Culture Centre, Budapest

Pictured above: L-R:  Ádám Czitrom, Áron Porteleki (musicians), Csaba Molnár, Viktória Dányi, Zsófia Tamara Vadas

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A marvelous musical duet hints at Baroque and folk influences during a crotch-grabbing romp that climaxes in an acrobatic threesome. A young man, Csaba Moinar, ducks his head staring at the audience somewhat myopically looking for something: a collaborator? a victim? a new friend perhaps? He points to his chosen and waves his hand, beckoningly. As he gets more insistent, his energy does a boomerang, flattening him. A woman, Tamara Zsofia Vadas, picks up the game of looping one gesture through dominant / submissive stances until her finger wags in a scolding manner at an invisible child. Emotional cycles loom large in SKIN ME, as performed by this egalitarian Hungarian ensemble.

Aron Porteleki plays his drum set sitting center stage, unfazed by its dismantling as Vadas nonchalantly takes away one drum at a time, placing them in a line. Never missing a beat, Porteleki runs up and down the line beating the drums with Vadas mirroring him until she dives for the floor. Without any histrionics or pleas, she resets the drum set in a corner. Face facts, she implies, she will not get his undivided attention.

 

No one triumphs for long, nor ignores the chance to abuse their power, however brief. In the guise of a dance class, Molnar instructs his two female students, Vadas and Viktoria Danyi, to take off their shirts for maximum “freedom” he says and then leads them through jumping routines. As he becomes more exuberant and oblivious to them, the ladies unceremoniously walk off and put their shirts back on. Molnar gets his revenge by tossing Danyi’s head, relentlessly, from side to side.

 

With their arms held high as though under arrest, Danyi and Vadas matter-of-factly step in unison at the close. Sometimes cryptically, though persistently, this ensemble warns us to never presume and enjoy the moment because change is forever upon us.

 

These performances of SKIN ME were made possible through the generous support of the Trust for Mutual Understanding, the Trafo House of Contemporary Arts, European Union Culture Programme, National Culture Fund, Ministry of Human Resources, New Performing Arts Association, Living Picture Company.

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