Dance democracy

Dance Democracy is a piece of the liberal present-day in which the audience democratically influences the course of the action, that is, each viewer will be able to cast their vote for one of the offered choices by raising their hand with the red or the blue side of the paper, i.e. the ballot, and that choice will take place on stage. In the spirit of the times, and with the aim of establishing complete democracy without exception, the viewers’ votes are detected automatically; they are captured by a camera and determined by a computer vision algorithm that visually analyses and recognises them in a fraction of a second. Of course, this implies that the performance is under video surveillance – and viewers can, if they wish, remain anonymous in their voting by wearing a mask over their face. A computer algorithm will determine the percentage of votes and pronounce the democratically selected choice, that might not be your choice.

Although in Dance Democracy the viewer has much more power compared to classical (dance) performances in the context of what is happening on stage, that is, the audience as a collective is placed in the position of authority that controls the performance itself, it may still happen that the viewer watches a version of this show in which none of her or his choices are represented because the majority decided otherwise, which might remind some people of the time-space framework we call everyday life. The viewers should also exercise caution and sharpen their attention when choosing what happens and how this will play out on stage, since it is very easy to fall into a passive routine caused by an automatism of democracy, which can give off the appearance that the elections are rigged, or that someone else is choosing for you.

In this piece, we explore democracy understood as the backbone of contemporary society, we explore the relationship between democratic choice and best choice, the relationship between collective and personal choice, and we explore the relationship between spectators and performers (How will the performers react to extreme choices? Do they have their own consciousness and needs too, or will they surrender to the choices imposed on them?); and to what extent we are willing to give in to the comfort and efficiency of technology, at the cost of personal privacy and intimacy.

Given its liberal-technocratic approach, each Dance Democracy performance will be unique since it depends entirely on the collective choice of the audience, therefore: vote as always, based on your wishes, based on your conscience – and most importantly, make an informed choice.

(Patrik Gregurec)

Dancers: Tea Vlahović, Tamara Vlahović i Marko Capor
Choreography: Jasna Čižmek Tarbuk
Dramaturgy: Patrik Gregurec
Music composition: Katarina Kralj, Gordan Kreković
Music recording: Katarina Kralj, Gordan Kreković, Boris Matešin
Software development: Antonio Poščić
Scenography/ Masks: Iva Patarčec
Light design: Marino Frankola
Techical support: Duško Richtermoc

Production: Artistic organisation Fronesis
Co-production: Zagreb Dance Centar