Printemps 22, premiere review, Musuem Ludwig Cologne, FilmForum NRW
Please click: https://crescendo.de/printemps22-sagi-amir-gross/
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"Printemps 22," directed and choreographed by Sagí Amir Gros, is an exquisite cinematic artwork that unveils the deeply personal journey of Laura Fridman, a Jewish Ukrainian-Russian ballerina. The world premiere of the film takes place at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, as the opening event of the international Moovy Dance Film Festival, and remarkably combines dance, theater, and cinematography.
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Gros's sensitive approach becomes evident as he interviews Fridman and writes a screenplay based on her life story. "Printemps 22" compassionately reveals the intimate vulnerability of the ballerina against the backdrop of the Ukrainian conflict. The camera movements choreographed around Fridman offer viewers a poetic and deeply personal narrative. Both Gros and Fridman, artists with Jewish backgrounds, have managed to portray their intimate encounter and create a masterpiece in Germany. Festival director, curator, and art historian Ágota Harmati praised the film as a unique approach to exploring the human soul and emphasized its deeply touching effect.
The film is produced by WDTanztheater, an exciting new company based in North Rhine-Westphalia under the direction of Sagí Amir Gros and József Csaba Hajzer. The two joined forces during the pandemic crisis to create new innovative possibilities for physical work through dance, spoken theater, cinema, and research. The partnership between Gross and Hajzer in the context of the new film "Printemps 22" presents a high level of excitement and a desire to see more of the new work of WDTanztheater in NRW Germany. Their international collaboration with the GrossDanceCompany Amsterdam supported the realization of the film and promotes innovative artistic experiences. |
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Under Gros's direction, "Printemps 22" offers a multidimensional creative vision. He takes on the roles of director, screenwriter, choreographer, costume designer, and lighting designer, showcasing his versatility and artistic expertise. Laura Fridman's performance is truly remarkable as she embodies the vulnerability and complexity of her role with captivating authenticity, accompanied by the music of Peter Tchaikovsky and Henry Purcell. Alongside her, Catalan dancer Adrian Gago Martins delivers a convincing and complementary presence on screen. Martins showcases his uniqueness, playing with gender-neutral expressions and a strong physicality, accompanied by the music of old German songs by Zarah Leander and Spanish music. Overall, the soundtrack gives the film a very personal aura. The characters and the music mutually support each other in wonderful ways.
Michael Maurissen, the cinematographer of "Printemps 22," demonstrates exceptional skill in capturing the essence of dance and theater. His camera work, in collaboration with Gros, follows the graceful movements of the performers and effectively conveys the emotional depth of each scene. The result is a visually impressive experience that enhances the narrative and deepens the audience's connection to the story. |
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"Printemps 22" is not just a film, but a testament to Gros's artistic philosophy, known as Physical Script, and to the new venture WDTanztheater. This approach brings together the worlds of interdisciplinary film and stage works, culminating in a unique and unforgettable cinematic experience. The film embodies Gros's commitment to expanding the boundaries of creativity and storytelling.
In summary, "Printemps 22" is a cinematic gem that transports viewers into the world of Sagí Amir Gros, Michael Maurissen, József Csaba Hajzer, and WDTanztheater. Their collective efforts have resulted in a visually impressive and emotionally moving creation on film. It is proof of the power of art to capture the human experience and leave a lasting impression on the audience. |
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La Voix du Nord, France
CCN Carolyn Carlson - Red Brick One:
Identity and space explored by the Dutch/Israeli choreographer Sagi Gross
CCN Carolyn Carlson, having been renovated and transformed, supports from now on emerging talents through a new platform, Red Brick # A and B. Gross Dance Company of the Dutch/Israeli choreographer Sagi Gross, surprised 200 spectators with 4 electrifying pieces, showing the individual in search of space and meaning, but often confronted with the limits and reduction of their environment-as in One Charming Night, a piece created in 2009, where the night is not all that quiet. The graceful bodies are quickly bent and curved, continuing with bowed heads under the yoke of love. A video projection, like an oculus, draws a green sun, signifying that all is always both similar and different. On the stage, the solos and pas-de-deux, both simple and complex, tender and violent, form an incisive choreographic journey, energetic yet tragic because the green sun grows to become a rain of mortar shells illuminating the sky and destroying the earth.
Identity and the notion of space are at the heart of Sagi Gross’ reflection. His two solos Skin and Side, interpreted by Jim De Block and Sagi Gross himself, are arid and troubling as well as baroque and stylized. They present a dissociated dance, contorted, physical, where the body faces its own limitations or those posed by the obstacles and the encounters that shape an identity.
Finally, in the amber-colored Moon, the element of unpredictability is expressed superbly in this journey of dance. Moon gives evidence to the fact that chance sometimes has a positive effect on life, leading it, against all odds, to a state of harmony. Sagi Gross and his 4 superb dancers repeat and re-interpret here the body movements of the choreography. At the same time rough and delicate, abrupt and fluid in the body-to-body combats, the movements are clearly formed in thorough neoclassical and contemporary dance foundations.
Sagi Gross illustrates a constrained freedom, close to a collective equilibrium. However, the individual is doomed to stay alone. Without a doubt, it is the most accomplished piece, a masterful synthesis of an existential reflection.
Brigitte Lemery / La Voix du Nord
Identity and the notion of space are at the heart of Sagi Gross’ reflection. His two solos Skin and Side, interpreted by Jim De Block and Sagi Gross himself, are arid and troubling as well as baroque and stylized. They present a dissociated dance, contorted, physical, where the body faces its own limitations or those posed by the obstacles and the encounters that shape an identity.
Finally, in the amber-colored Moon, the element of unpredictability is expressed superbly in this journey of dance. Moon gives evidence to the fact that chance sometimes has a positive effect on life, leading it, against all odds, to a state of harmony. Sagi Gross and his 4 superb dancers repeat and re-interpret here the body movements of the choreography. At the same time rough and delicate, abrupt and fluid in the body-to-body combats, the movements are clearly formed in thorough neoclassical and contemporary dance foundations.
Sagi Gross illustrates a constrained freedom, close to a collective equilibrium. However, the individual is doomed to stay alone. Without a doubt, it is the most accomplished piece, a masterful synthesis of an existential reflection.
Brigitte Lemery / La Voix du Nord
Nord Éclair, France
GrossDanceCompany / Sagi Gross, between identity and exploration
The National Centre of Choreography CCN Carolyn Carlson Roubaix received Gross Dance Company, to open the ‘Red Brick’ project. This project aims to support young talents in contemporary dance.
The performance consisted of 4 complementary pieces: One Charming Night, Skin, Side, and Moon. Sagi Gross, a choreographer and dancer, has brought together international dancers from the best ballet companies in Europe, to give body and soul to the project. His performances contain meditations on the motions of the body as well as a rigid musicality. Each movement was mastered and executed to perfection, to serve the choreographies.
The 4 pieces give evidence of the consciousness of a being facing its own body as well as exterior elements, with all the resistance and connections it might encounter. For Sagi Gross, the interpretation is fully personal and departs from the beaten track of the dance.
The music is a hybrid of influences, including Oum Kelthoum, Max Richter and Henry Purcell. The baroque music suits perfectly the baroque dance, in the sense that it is irregular with its desires and its roughness.
The project Red Brick is a wonderful springboard for young talents in dance. The show opens a project built around these young talents in dance. For this first edition, the choreographers came from all parts of the world: The Dutch/Israeli Sagi Gross, Spain or even Japan. It is a cosmopolitan project allowing the audience to immerse itself each time in the sensitivities of the world of each dancer. The artists, from their residencies at CCN until the performance, benefit from the tools and the status of the CCN.
Claire Thibaudault / Nord Éclair
The performance consisted of 4 complementary pieces: One Charming Night, Skin, Side, and Moon. Sagi Gross, a choreographer and dancer, has brought together international dancers from the best ballet companies in Europe, to give body and soul to the project. His performances contain meditations on the motions of the body as well as a rigid musicality. Each movement was mastered and executed to perfection, to serve the choreographies.
The 4 pieces give evidence of the consciousness of a being facing its own body as well as exterior elements, with all the resistance and connections it might encounter. For Sagi Gross, the interpretation is fully personal and departs from the beaten track of the dance.
The music is a hybrid of influences, including Oum Kelthoum, Max Richter and Henry Purcell. The baroque music suits perfectly the baroque dance, in the sense that it is irregular with its desires and its roughness.
The project Red Brick is a wonderful springboard for young talents in dance. The show opens a project built around these young talents in dance. For this first edition, the choreographers came from all parts of the world: The Dutch/Israeli Sagi Gross, Spain or even Japan. It is a cosmopolitan project allowing the audience to immerse itself each time in the sensitivities of the world of each dancer. The artists, from their residencies at CCN until the performance, benefit from the tools and the status of the CCN.
Claire Thibaudault / Nord Éclair
Dance Europe Magazine, London
Dance Magazine, The Netherlands
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A jump To Freedom in WHAT DO WE KNOW:
Written by Joanna Fox for Dutch Dansmagazine For a direct link click here WHAT DO WE KNOW - GrossDanceCompany Amsterdam Seen: 18th of January 2017 in Theatre Bellevue Amsterdam (world premiere). During the dance theatre performance WHAT DO WE KNOW six dancers of the GrossDanceCompany are waiting as refugees in a refugee camp, for bureaucratic approval and access to a safe life. In the meantime/While waiting cultural conflicts about sexual preferences and taboos cause some fiercely escalated situations. |
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WHAT DO WE KNOW created by artistic duo Sagi Gross (choreographer) and Jeroen Fransen (director) is based on stories of friends who are (LGBT-) Syrian refugees themselves, these intertwined with Kafka’s description of bureaucratic and parallel worlds in “The Process”. Gross and Fransen approached this, together with their dancers, in an innovative way.
Movement of thought, word and emotion The choreography WHAT DO WE KNOW show how bullying in a refugee camp starts in a subtle way but ends in physical violence. But there’s also a duet with a long, lingering kiss between two female dancers, followed by a passionate duet of two male dancers kissing each other on the lips. Truculent scenes alternate with beautiful duets. |
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Gross uses Physical Script and asks his dancers to translate expressions into movement. In addition to this Fransen focuses on expressing the movement of emotion and thought by directing. Because of this the bodies of the dancers become rigid due to trauma, nervous tension and the restrained urge to be themselves.
Renewing dance theatre performance WHAT DO WE KNOW gives a clear image of the relation between sexual taboos and violence. The six remarkable dancers, three men and three women, of GrossDanceCompany are capable of bringing a truculent theme with integrity and in a way that comes across natural. In his self developed working method Physical Script Gross asks his dancers to translate expressions into movement. Sometimes I experience the performance as very intense. Gross’ choreographic method and the certain acting techniques developed by Fransen together make the dance theatre performance WHAT DO WE KNOW very fascinating to watch. |
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If theatre director Fransen, would have to leave his country in war-time, via a dangerous boat journey, in order to make the big jump to an unknown country? That is the question. For that, there is a lot of courage needed.
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Blind Sight, Genova Italy
direct link:
http://www.ligurianotizie.it/sagi-gross-porta-lottima-danza-contemporanea-a-genova/2016/05/25/203130/
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Google translate from Italian: GENOA. May 25 We really have to thank the contribution the Goethe-Institut, Goethe-Institut Genua gave the Genoa Festival Outsider Dancer wearing last night at Casa Paganini a particularly interesting event of the highest quality, the choreography Blind Sight, the duo Sagi Gross (choreographer) and Jeroen Fransen (multidisciplinary artist).
The Gross Dance Company is a company made up of the most diverse nationalities (Israel, Germany, Curacao, United States, Netherlands, Japan), but with a strong relationship of training and exchange with the German dance school and a strong working relationship with major institutions of theater and dance in Germany. E 'was founded in 2012 by choreographer Sagi Gross and performative artist Jeroen Fransen, who defined as a focal point of their research and manufacture the individual's relationship with the cultural environment. What we saw last night, "Blind Sight", is a metaphor for the impact that technological and social change has on human relationships. Come on stage five dancers who seek physical contact, sometimes lotrovano, but this contact never leads to a real encounter, but collisions and rebounds. Through this language often humorous and sometimes dramatic Sagi Gross offers us a passionate exploration of interpersonal relationships. The five talented dancers (three males and two females) seem to seek with their eyes by scanning the perimeter of the room, but it's as if you could not see. Their physical confrontation is accidental, they collide and bounce immediately without being truly united, even when their bodies are connected. They must reach the other in a different way and spasmodically want a meeting that is not the case. All this inevitably leads the audience to wonder: is this what also happens in our relationships? So our senses react to the flood of information which technology exposes us and conflicts that the closeness between similar acts? One of the dancers as well recounts his journey in this performance with Gross: "The work is very intense and deep research for all of us. Really I feel that we all commit ourselves together in this research. For me every day is a different experience. D And I'm still looking for new ways to tell my physical history ". The show lasts about an hour and a half puts a strain on the dancers with strong technique that requires great preparation both physically and spiritually. Faizah Grootens, Richard Oberscheven, Asuka Watanabe, Rob Polmann,Jeffrey Stuut and the same Sagi Gross dancing yes, but also recite, and they do it really well all donado themselves "Anema 'e Core", say the Italians. Written by: FRANCESCA CAMPONERO |
DansMagazine, The Netherlands
direct link: http://dansmagazine.nl/review/volhardende-ontmoeting-blind-sight
Persistent encounter in 'Blind Sight'
Jaimy Stregels Dutch Dansmagazine
English translation by Regine Willemsen
It is special. At a dance performance the choreographer often remains out of sight. The name of the creator of the movement is mentioned. But Sagi Gross, for whom the GrossDanceCompany is named, goes further. In Blind Sight I suddenly found myself face to face with this remarkable young choreographer.
His creative partner Jeroen Fransen was absent, as the dramaturgical brain behind the content. Underneath the current and sometimes shocking events Blind Sight expresses precisely what Gross and Fransen want to say, though metaphorically and without words, and the dancers form extensions of their own bodies.
A deluge of... dance
Eyes continually scan the room but do not cross. Physical confrontations do not lead to real encounters, but they collide and bounce away. The oppressive uniformity, the murderous repetition, an empty and almost colourless universe. Is that what we are? Blind Sight refers to the deluge of information, images, tensions and conflicts in this world. Interested in its impact, as the sweltering dog days can fully paralyze a person. Hunted. Feverish. Continuously. In duets and trios the dancers show the cruelty of this tally.
Fortunately there is also the beauty of unison choreography, the humanity of exhaustion, my admiration for their mastery, their whipping rhythmicality or a liberating moment of recognition. Otherwise it almost becomes unbearable. For look, even where the dance movements at times become diverse, they quickly tend to stiffen into personal tics.
Something in me strongly wishes for someone to break free. If only one person would fall short, make a sudden wild move, break through the unity with a scream. And that's exactly what happens wonderfully and unexpectedly throughout Blind Sight. Dancers enter and exit, and yet you want it to continue: the weight of the movement, the weight of repetition and, added to that, the poetically long lines.
Gross will stick with me
The choreographer grants me a short rest as he extinguishes the bare yellow light and bathes the dancers in a dimming soft yellow and blue. For a moment they become icons, far away from me. Then suddenly Gross and Emanouela Merdjanova, soloist with the National Ballet, come in. It only lasts a moment. The movement starts once again, in what may be a portrait of himself, ultimately elusive (at each encounter).
In Blind Sight each individual's power comes to the fore in the whole and is strengthened by it. Thus it seemed as if the dancers stood up together in rebellion, in a tribute to human perseverance, to be able to see each other anyway and to want to meet that other person. That is the image that I'll occasionally see in my mind's eye in the days to come.
Blind Sight returns to Theater Bellevue in Amsterdam on May 17, 2016. Then it goes on tour. For more information, visit the website of GrossDanceCompany.
Gross will stick with me
The choreographer grants me a short rest as he extinguishes the bare yellow light and bathes the dancers in a dimming soft yellow and blue. For a moment they become icons, far away from me. Then suddenly Gross and Emanouela Merdjanova, soloist with the National Ballet, come in. It only lasts a moment. The movement starts once again, in what may be a portrait of himself, ultimately elusive (at each encounter).
In Blind Sight each individual's power comes to the fore in the whole and is strengthened by it. Thus it seemed as if the dancers stood up together in rebellion, in a tribute to human perseverance, to be able to see each other anyway and to want to meet that other person. That is the image that I'll occasionally see in my mind's eye in the days to come.
Blind Sight returns to Theater Bellevue in Amsterdam on May 17, 2016. Then it goes on tour. For more information, visit the website of GrossDanceCompany.
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MY SONG & SILENT FORCE - GrossDanceCompany
DANS - 26 maart 2014 - Korzo, Den Haag Prachtig verweven solo en duet door Elisabeth Oosterling gezien 26 maart 2014 De danseres strekt haar been, hoger en hoger, ze balanceert op één voet, steekt dan plots een arm uit, kaarsrecht, vouwt haar hand in een hoek, springt, duikt ineen. In Sagi Gross’ Silent force stuiteren drie dansers over de planken. Ze krimpen, strekken en springen. Hun ogen zijn leeg, blikken wisselen zonder aanleiding van angst naar extase. Wezenloos lijken ze, de dansers, zonder ziel. Mensen als lege hulzen, handelend op impuls na impuls. Hun bewegingen, even soepel als hoekig, steeds in die robotmatige routine. Choreograaf Gross laat zijn dansers botsen en duiken alsof ze deeltjes zijn: atomen in een dansuniversum. De voorstelling van de Amsterdamse Gross Dance Company (in 2011 opgericht door Gross en dramaturg Jeroen Fransen) valt uiteen in twee performances. Eerst danst Shirley Esseboom de solo My song; dan volgt titelstuk Silent force, een duet van Christian Guerematchi en Lauri Kee Schep. De toon verschilt, maar de signatuur van Gross en Fransen is duidelijk zichtbaar in beide performances. Dit is dans die niet om duiding vraagt: bewegingen volgen elkaar niet op vanwege hun betekenis, maar in pure esthetiek. Soms repetitief, meestal vol variatie. In de tweede performance, het duet Silent force, is de ‘afstand’ die de voorstelling kenmerkt, het meeste voelbaar. Het is een distantie van danser tot danser, maar ook van de dansers tot het publiek en zelfs tot de ruimte. Ze kijken wel, maar lijken niets te zien; ze bewegen, maar zonder doel of bestemming. De dansers nemen vormen aan, vervormen en bewegen. Er is geen toeval, geen opzet; alleen de vormen van lichamen in een ruimte die voor de dansers zelf onzichtbaar lijkt. De solo en het duet zijn prachtig met elkaar verweven, en zo voelt Silent forceals een krachtmeting die niet zwijgt, maar juist overdondert met veel dansant kabaal. http://www.theaterkrant.nl/recensie/my-song-silent-force/#sthash.50XT3qrF.dpuf |
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Sagi Gross: “Silent Force”. De schoonheid van de hapering
Het menselijk lichaam is in wezen een bijna onbeheersbare machine, een regelmatig haperend stuk mechaniek, dat (bezield als het nu eenmaal is) soms van zichzelf schrikt. In Silent Force, twee choreografieën van Sagi Gross, staat het mechanische in de mens centraal. Niet dat dit een kille voorstelling van zaken oplevert. Integendeel, bij Gross kleeft er een breekbare schoonheid aan ‘de hapering’ en aan het mechanisch menselijk tekort. En die gewaarwording kun je moeiteloos verbinden met de algemene eigen ervaring van onvermogen. Leven is een bezigheid die zo nu en dan op een ontroerende manier wringt. Shirley Esseboom (Den Haag, 1975, ex Nederlands Dans Theater, onderscheiden met de prestigieuze ‘oeuvre’prijs De Gouden Zwaan) onderzoekt in haar solo My Song wat een ouder wordend danserslichaam ‘beweegt’. Het lijkt een zoektocht naar de ultieme impuls van beweging. Het is vechten en verbazen. Ook is er sprake van een geraffineerde ontbinding in factoren: binnen de samenstellende delen van het geheel gaan de handen en armen eigenwijs op avontuur. Een subtiele vervreemding doorstroomt deze solo. Het tweede deel van de voorstelling, met de titel van het totaal, sluit naadloos aan op Essebooms zeer knappe tour de force. Christian Guerematchi (1981) en Lauri Kee Schep (1989) dansen Silent Force. Eigenlijk kent deze choreografie drie aanjagers: de twee dansers én de ongrijpbare ‘stille’ kracht, die ontstaat door de interactie. Mimiek, muziek en licht onderstrepen extra wat zich afspeelt in de tussenruimte. Zoals het wit bij poëzie is de lege bühneruimte het gebied waar de magie tastbaar wordt. Naderen, afstand nemen, aarzelen, dwingen. Het gaspedaal van de spanning wordt doeltreffend gebruikt. Resultaat: een indrukwekkende dansvoorstelling. Silent Force – Gross Dance Company; concept: Sagi Gross en Jeroen Fransen; choreografie: Sagi Gross; dramaturgie: Jeroen Fransen; dansers: Shirley Esseboom, Christian Guerematchi, Laurie Kee Schep; fotografie: Reuben Hamburger. Gezien in Korzo, Den Haag (première). Op 25 april in Theater Bellevue, Amsterdam. Erick KILA http://mededelingen.over-blog.com/article-sagi-gross-silent-force-de-schoonheid-van-de-hapering-123149125.html |
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