AWOL Simon Bus / Alesya Dobysh

The creative duo Simon Bus & Alesya Dobysh have their roots in hip hop and draw inspiration from the individuality of the performers, visual arts, and street and club dance styles. In their work, they interweave distortion, confusion, and discomfort with humour.

In AWOL, three dancers explore what it means to live in a society of strict rules and fixed norms. Three men, trapped in a system. Military discipline, tight suits, camaraderie and competition.

The performance exposes the tension between individuality and uniformity, between vulnerability and authority. What happens when you break away from a structure dominated by power and expectations? What if a perfectly trained body begins to falter?

Living painting powerfully subverts the symbolism of “boys will be boys”.

‘Dobysh and Bus once again prove themselves to be the strong professionals they are. Just as William Forsythe does with ballet, in AWOL they take the dance techniques they have mastered out of their context (performers and creators come from the world of club and street styles). They bend them as they wish to let them shine as an abstract “language”.’

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