Hybrid dance for hybrid spaces
#danceperformance #worldmaking #resistance
ZENITH
Zenith is a dance performance that places us in a future shaped by the threats we face today—social suppression, political unrest, climate change, inequality, and the loss of freedom. Governments are gaining more control, surveillance is everywhere, and people’s voices are being silenced. In this world, dance is illegal, art is gone, and people live in grey, broken cities without feeling or hope. Without creativity or connection, life is silent and empty.
Against this backdrop, Zenith emerges as a once-in-a-decade gathering, a rare moment where people come together to feel, to remember, and to resist. The dance is illegal, but it’s how memory survives. Through movement, sound, and shared ritual, Zenith brings people together to celebrate, to connect, and to fight against isolation. The party becomes a symbol of survival, filled with tension and strength, where time feels strange and rhythms echo through the ruins. Zenith creates a space where emotional release, human connection, and the joy of unity become acts of defiance. In a world of control and numbness, the catharsis of dance becomes a radical act of freedom.
Inspired by the ongoing suppression of culture in Slovakia, Zenith seeks to echo the challenges of the present moment. It responds to a climate where independent voices and artistic expression are increasingly threatened under the current government agenda.
Zenith asks: what happens when art and freedom are taken away? When the earth is destroyed, people are divided, and technology takes over? Zenith reminds us that creativity, connection, and unity are needed to survive—and that in the darkest times, shared resistance and togetherness can give us hope.
Workshop
We invite local audiences to join Zenith, an immersive workshop and participatory performance where dance becomes a ritual of resistance and release in a world fractured by social and environmental collapse. Rooted in collectiveness and world-building, the workshop invites participants to explore breath-driven, repetitive movement sequences that build toward a shared choreography, dissolving the boundary between audience and performer. Together, we’ll co-create a cathartic, flashmob-style experience during the show powered by rhythm, resilience, and radical expression —guided by a core cast and enhanced through immersive sound, technology, and environment. No experience needed—just a willingness to move as one.
What is happening in Slovakia?
What would a world without art look like?
Concept & Direction: Motionhouse asbl / Jamie Lee & Stanislav Dobák
Created with performers: Edita Antalová, Lukáš Bobalik, Kristína Chmelíková, Alexandra Mireková (and workshop participants)
Music composition: Laci Palmai
Production: T-O-K Tanec/Osobnosť/Kontext - Alexandra Mireková
Financially supported by Slovak Arts Council
Partner: Záhrada - cnk, Divadlo Štúdio tanca
Premiere 7th May 2025 at Záhrada - Centrum nezávislej kultúry