Does the public – the audience gathered in the theater – have the potential to become a republic, a community with agency?

Publika is a dance performance where the viewers leave their belongings on their chairs and move to the stage. Together with the performers, they immerse themselves an event that may become a performance, perhaps a collective dance, and above all an encounter, an exploration of what it means to be together in a shared space and time. Does the public – the audience gathered in the theater – have the potential to become a republic, a community with agency?

The tool of exploration in Publika is choreography, yet its meaning changes over the course of the performance, and makes us question the difference between movement, dance and arrangement. As we gather and take part in the performance, however, we do not forget the significance of individual needs and choices. How do they affect the entire constellation of Publika?

We will endeavour to activate other senses of theatrical perception than sight and other functions of language than naming and defining situations. Publika is also intended to be a bodily experience and a pleasure derived from collective movement.