Signed by directors Ferenc Sinkó and Leta Popescu, “Parallel” is based on experiences of performers Lucia Mărneanu and kata bodoki-halmen. Created from the proposals of the performers and written by the entire team, the show provokes by its direct approach towards themes like: body, sexual identity, repression and acceptance. Moving bodies, drag show as well as original songs by kata bodoki-halmen together with live mixed music by Danaga create a dynamic and penetrating performance.

In what way is your cultural identity (gender) expressed in your everyday life? Who can see it? To what extent does it define your social life? Does it affect your relations, your economic situation or your relationships with the people you work with, your friends and relatives? If so, then in what way? How has this influence changed over the years? To what extent was it conditioned by the then current social or economic context? And, last but not least, do you have anyone you can talk to about all this?

Lucia Mărneanu – performer

Graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, UAD Cluj (2010) and the Faculty of Theatre and Television, UBB Cluj (2013). During her studies she took part in a series of workshops (Silvia Calderoni, Bronwyn Tweedle, Sybrig Dokter, Peter Uray etc.), mobility programmes (Belgium, Croatia, Italy) and several national and international festivals (Temps d’Images Cluj, Bucharest Fringe Fest, National Festival of Independent Theatre, SPOT International Theatre Students’ Festival ). During the 2013 National Festival of Independent Theatre (Romania) she won the Jury’s Special Prize for interpretation with her first independent project: “10 Studies About Love With Small ‘l’”. Lucia is interested in ways of telling/distorting stories and narratives through extra-theatrical means.

Her blog in Romanian:

http://marneanulucia.wordpress.com

kata bodoki-halmen – performer

A freelance artist who was raised in a small town in Romania. During her elementary and high-school years kata started to flirt with music, photography, acting and literature. Later on, she went on to study philosophy and theatre; in addition to her university studies, she looked for other approaches to life through dance (contact improvisation and contemporary dance), clowning, acting, singing and playing different musical instruments (ukulele, guitar, flute, Jew’s harp, Ableton Live), meditating, reading. She has realised that she doesn’t want to choose one specific profession and started to work in a more syncretic and interdisciplinary fashion, combining her many skills. Currently, she is preoccupied with multi-modal performances where she mixes music, dance and theatre. kata loves to discover new forms of expression of the inner self as she is spontaneous and improvises as much in the field of art as in her everyday life. She believes that fusing different elements and collaborating with others can give birth to something unique, and help her to have an open mind and soul, to be more flexible, and to sustain her curiosity.

Ferenc Sinkó – concept/choreographer/director

Graduated from the Theatre and Television Department of Babes-Bolyai University in 2002 and has been an actor of the Hungarian State Theatre of Cluj since graduation. He has been teaching at the same faculty since 2002 and has been employed as a full-time assistant lecturer there since 2008. So far he has played parts in classic plays by among others Chekhov, Shakespeare, Buchner, Ibsen, staged under the direction of outstanding theatre directors such as Gabor Tompa, Andrei Şerban, Silviu Purcărete, Mihai Măniuţiu, and David Zinder. He has worked as a choreographer for more than 15 theatre plays as well as directed and choreographed numerous contemporary dance performances, including: Parallel (2013), Divas (2011), post.sync (2010), Message (2009) and sunSET (2007) – all produced by GroundFloor Group – and Samples (produced by AltArt Cluj – 2008, 2010). He also worked as a dancer and assistant choreographer with Melinda Jakab and Péter Uray. He is the founder and president of GroundFloor Group.

Leta Popescu – director

Having majored in theatre direction, she graduated in 2013 from the Faculty of Theatre and Television (Babes-Bolyai University) Cluj, where she is currently enrolled in the Master’s Programme. During her BA studies, Leta Popescu was an assistant director for Alexa Visarion, Alexandru Dabija and Bronwyn Tweddle in their projects at the National Theatre in Cluj and the Faculty of Theatre and Television. She also participated in various workshops led by Alexandru Dabija, Cristi Juncu, David Schwartz, Bronwyn Tweddle, and Cătălina Buzoianu.

Her blog in Romanian:

http://letapopescu.wordpress.com

Daniel Aga – musician

Danaga (Daniel Aga) began his musical adventure in 1998, first as a singer and guitarist in a rock band. His first album, Am n-am aripi is a collection of stories about a contemporary alienated hipster who tries to find his true self. So far, he has been working with a number of artists, among others with Florin Tarlea, Mihai Pop, Adi Tudoran (Electroclown), Bogdan Rakolcza, and Mircea Florian. He was featured with his own productions on the Culese din Cartier mix CD (2011), edited by the famous Romanian band “Subcarpati” as well as on the Buzz RO! 2011 compilation published by Local Records. In his spare time he plays the percussion in an improvised music band called “Your Brain on Drums”.

http://inspirationist.ro/danaga-am-n-am-aripi/