Cryptic Bodies (2021)


How far did we stray from the Vitruvian Man? When good old Leonardo drew his infamous nocturnal sketches of anatomy and physiology, what sort of curiosity guided his hands? What did he find? When the cadaver opens up, does it reveal the same grimace as that of a living, functioning body?

Cryptic Bodies is a contemporary dance performance in which 5 dancers traverse through space, body and time to thumping experimental metal music. The work is inspired by ancient bodily practices such as Egyptian mummification and Mesopotamian occult healing rites. The piece imagines a self-indulgent, wilful and whimsically dangerous substance – dance that enters into a clandestine pact with all biopolitical parties involved.

In this work, Patrik Kelemen regards dance as a phenomenon. On stage, every touch explores, every dance dissects. Every movement is another opportunity to understand how bodies function. The performers are makers, subjects and observers of the unfolding events. Their attention scans, and wanders internally and externally at all times - sensually filtering noise.


The piece invites the spectators do the same and participate in this. Dancers are not indulged in managing their representation, they are not busy with what they mean – they simply don’t have time for that. They are on the move and on a steady watch whilst their attention makes the presence of a multifaceted, intangible substance – dance – excruciatingly tangible.

Pulsating networks weave through our bodies. We are a set of circulatory systems, neural pathways, muscle fibres: blood, lymph, electricity, hormones, white blood cells and antibodies, sweat, saliva. Our attention engulfs both our bodies and our environment in a similar fashion. The senses pick up the wide range of mechanical and chemical stimuli. A subtle, invisible network envelops us wherever we go: this attention is immaterial yet palpable. We sense ourselves, we observe each other, we monitor our environment. There is constant noise in the body – noise and metal music.


Our body is everything, our body is our mother, our body is our enemy, our body is our lover, our body is us.




The working process meant the impetus for Áron Porteleki’s album ‘Smearing’, that became the work’s sonic manifestation. Through the evolution of the musical material during touring, its every iteration lead closer towards musical independency, arriving to an autonomous material on its own right.





co-creation I performance – Alja Branc I Krisztina Ábrányi I Julija Pečnikar I Cintia Sebők I Balázs Oláh I Zita Thury I Imre Vass


costume I visuals – Csenge Vass

sound I music – Áron Porteleki


lights – Kata Dézsi

media I photo – János R. Szabó I Máté Kalicz

graphic design – Anna Ivanov


guidance – Éva Karczag


concept I choreography – Patrik Kelemen


special thanks to Balázs Busa & Luca Kancsó

partners I co-production – Artus Stúdió, National Cultural Fund of Hungary, Zoltan Imre Program Hungary, Sín Arts Center Budapest, Workshop Foundation Hungary