About the Nyári Mozi Theatre Community
The Nyári Mozi Theatre Community is a non-profit organization founded by civilians and formally set up as an association in 2001 with the aim that the permanent members of the community as well as the related artists together create a variety of genres of contemporary theatre (especially in movement and dance theater) as well as in the field of film. At the heart of their work is always the human being and his body as well as the importance of community in everyday existence. Their unique and niche activities in the region have produced over the past years a diverse creative community based on intercultural relations which contributes to the creation of a more open and free-thinking society with a European ethos, in addition to individual artistic fulfillment.
Members of the Community are freelance dancers and actors as well as actors working in classical theatres of Vojvodina. They experiment with fusions of dance, theatre, music, circus, fine art and literature. Their performances are created through lengthy experimentation and as a result of the joint, free and creative work of the participants. In their work they seek to review existing theatrical conventions. The boundaries of their stage and playing field are sometimes extended to the entire city.
Since their establishment in 1987 more than 50 performances have been created and presented in many cities of Europe. From 2000. summer international courses have been regularly held under the leadership of Dénes Döbrei and Heni Varga, as well as by invited visiting professors. So far, their guests have been Min Tanaka (Japan), Shiho Ishihara (Japan), Tamai Yassunari (Japan), Christine Quoiraud (France), Oguri (USA), Frank Van de Ven (Netherland), Kathleen Raynolds (France), Katharina Seyferth (France), Heni Varga (France-Serbia), Tomi Janežič (Slovenia), Stefan Heves (USA) and Andrea Sitter (France).
After graduating from the Novi Sad Academy of Arts, Dénes Döbrei, leader of the Nyári Mozi Theatre Community, was employed in the KPGT troupe of the National Theatre in Subotica. From 1989 he has become a dancer at the National Choreography Center in Orleans, led by József Nagy, and in 2006 he founded the Kobez – Body Memory Center group in Toulouse. In 2011 he returned to Kelebia in Serbia and established the base for the Nyári Mozi Theatre Community.
History of the Nyári Mozi Theatre Community:
In 1987 the Nyári Mozi Theatre Community began their work as a non-formal organization under the leadership of director István Lálity and actor Dénes Döbrei in the multicultural Subotica, which was then part of Yugoslavia. During that time they relied mainly on the members of the well-known AIOWA group and on the artists and infrastructure of the National Theatre of Subotica led by Ljubiša Ristić. The projects and lectures they carried out were titled Szentély Őrei (Guardians of the Sanctuary.) The seven-day long festival of Nyári Mozi was held four times and consisted of lectures, performances, happenings and meetings involving artists from the region as well as from the former Yugoslavia. Together they created a diverse, intercultural environment and encouraged communication between cultures and artistic branches.
Some of our early, significant works include: Franz Xaver Kroetz: Meierék (The Meiers) (directed by István Lálity); Petko Vojnić Purčar: Szentély Őrei (Guardians of the Sanctuary.) (directed by István Lálity and Dénes Döbrei); János Sziveri: Szelídítések (Tamings) (directed by Lea Tolnai, István Lálity and Dénes Döbrei); Microorganizmus (Lálity and Döbrei’s one-man dance to silence); Lifka Present (Musical play by István Lálity); Ferenc Jeli: Eszterházy (world premiere); Danilo Kiš – Attila Balázs: Solanum Tuberossum (premiere).
During the Yugoslav Wars, due to forced emigration of community creators, the Nyári Mozi could only give a sign of life in the form of occasional manifestations (especially on the other side of the Yugoslav border). However, due to their professional skills, the founding members were given assignments as dancers, actors, choreographers or directors in many major dance and classical theatre companies in Hungary and Western Europe. During their work abroad they came into contact with many internationally reputable theatremakers and masters of theatrical art.
After the turn of the millennium and a change of regime everything was ready for the restart of the creative work in Kelebia near Subotica. Since 2000 the main goal of the members who had returned home has been to widespread their experiences as much as possible including in that way that their homeland enters into the cultural circulation of Europe.
For that reason, the Community has organized from the very beginning BWL courses called Body and Dance Workshop. That meant active dance classes as well as forums for rethinking modern dance, where participants who wished to improve their dance skills could learn from well-known and highly professional guest teachers. Mostly groups of 30-40 people have been working, 15-20 of who came to Kelebia from Serbia and Hungary, and 15-20 from western European countries (the Netherlands, England, Belgium and France).
Activities of the Nyári Mozi Theatre Community:
In 2000 the Association of Citizens of the re-established Nyári Mozi organized its first international Body Weather Camp for movement and theatre dance in Szentmihálytelek near Szeged with the support of the MASK Association (Szeged) and the Thealter Festival (Szeged). The laboratory was led by Christine Quoiraud (France) and beside Yugoslav and Hungarian participants there were students from almost all countries of Western Europe.
In 2001 the Body Weather Workshop was held in Palic near Subotica, in the area of Etnocamp, and was be led by three western experts, Christine Quoiraud (France), Oguri (USA) and Frank Van de Ven (Netherlands). The camp had a multi-artistic character. Besides the Body Weather dance laboratory a Déli Szél Kortárs Alkotói Fórum from Pécs took part, while the forty-member artistic community called the Forbidden Friuts from the Netherlands worked and performed on the site for a week, as well as Lajkó Félix, who held an informal music workshop.
In 2002 the third BWL camp was held at the same location. In that occassion under the guidence of the world-famous Japanese dancer and professional Min Tanaka, assisted by Shiho Ishihara. Members of Déli Szél continued to hold a fine arts camp that year as well. An occasional publication and catalogue was published from the artists` works.
In 2003 and 2004 Min Tanaka from Japan again led the camp together with Shiho Ishihara and Tamai Yassunari. In that occasion the fine arts department was made up of independent contemporary painters, Tünde Varga, Csaba Hegyi and Ede Sinkovits.
In addition to organizing camps and workshops, in the early 2000s the Nyári Mozi was the co-producer in realizing international projects. They organized exhibitions and also presented to the public the artworks created in the camps (e.g. in the Bucka-Gányó gallery in Subotica).
The Community’s objectives included expanding their in Europe unique annual international workshops, deliberations and exhibitions and making a tradition of it, as well as becoming the region`s increasingly important centre of communication, art theory and documentation, creating at the same time independent works of art.
Between 2006 and 2011 the community members carried out individual creative works and with the MASZK Association from Szeged as well as with the Kobez – Centre Memoire du Corps group from France they took part as partners and co-producers in the realitzation of performances.
2012 was the year of reorganization. The Citizens’ Association of Nyári Mozi, registered in Senta, officially won the name Nyári Mozi Színházi Közösség and transfered its location to Subotica, or more precisely to the nearby village Kelebia. The Community intended to gain new motivation by preserving the old principles and objectives. In addition to international workshops they worked on new performances, concerts and exhibitions that involved young people.
In 2013 Dénes Döbrei and Félix Lajkó created a joint performance called Lit és Mix könyve. Former members of the Community were also involved in the creative process. In that way a multicultural, multi-medial dance performance was created, which varied from performance to performance. Each time there was a new guest from a different part of the world (via Skype). In that way their performances were streamed live to Las Terrenas in the Dominican Republic, Cayenne in French Guinea and Toronto. They also participated in TESZT festival in Timisoara and the DESZKA festival in Debrecen. In April the Community presented the monodrama of dancer Heni Varga called Sommniare Somnia, accompanied by composer/musician Attila Antal. Among others the performance was seen at the TESZT festival in Timisoara,. In March, their performance Five for Two/Öt kettőnek was presented in Subotica, Senta, Kanjiza and Novi Sad. In June we held an international dance camp led by Kathleen Raynolds and Heni Varga.
In January 2014 they presented their performance called Factory which was created together with the Danish band Strange Party. The performance was played in Subotica, Novi Sad, Gyula and Timisoara. On the 7th of March the premiere of the performance Ég és Föld was held at the Csiky Gergely Hungarian State Theatre in Timisoara, directed by the members of the Community, Dénes Döbrei and Heni Varga. In September they held a week-long international movement theatre camp called Teljesség felé, led by Katharina Sayferth. During October, they presented their performances Székek és Villámok and Együtt. The latter was directed by Attila Antal. The Garden Quartett`s and the Nyári Mozi’s joint multi-media stage work Silentium – Átvalósulás was put on stage in December.
In 2015 a representative of Norio, the japanese Tate artist held a course at the community center and after the course a dance performance called Haguregumo was realized and directed by Dénes Döbrei with the participation of musicians Milan Nenin and Máté Ábrahám as well as with dancers Norio and Varga Heni. They also promoted the performance Furcsa hurok as a co-production of the Novi Sad Cultural Centre, Dezső Kosztolányi Theatre from Subotica and the Nyári Mozi Theatre Community.
In 2016 Yoko Higashi Buto held a course organized by Nyári Mozi at the Dezső Kosztolányi Theatre. After the course, they presented the Higashi-Döbrei dance performance called Bolygó hangja in Subotica, Ljubljana, Senta, Novi Sad and Szeged. The performance entitled Kép képzetek was carried out together with the City Museum of Subotica.
In 2017 the Omago Sonus dance performance was created by Heni Varga and Dénes Döbrei in cooperation with Jasna Jovicevic, a jazz musician from Subotica. Tizenkét téli nap was a joint production created by Döbrei and a sound sculptor Antez from France – the performance was played in Hungary, France and throughout Vojvodina.
In 2017-18 the Karton és Karfiol monodrama was realized as a joint production of Dezső Kosztolányi Theatre and Nyári Mozi, based on the works of the Kosuth award-winning poet Otto Tolnai. In memoriám Vidd hírét az igazaknak was the production of Nyári Mozi Theatre Community, Dezső Kostolányi Theatre and the Novi Sad Academy of Arts.
In 2019 MACIVA from Budapest organized the performance Hazatalálás directed by Stefan Haves and Döbrei with the participation of students from the Imre Baross School for Artistes. Milyen cirkusz was Stefan Haves’s summer course for clowns followed by an international production.
In 2020 Csodálatos hétköznapok based on Gitta Mallas`s book Angyal válaszol. Kilenc év után was a production of IPA Hungary– Serbia Cross-Border Programme called Colourful Cooperation. Coloribus nostril represented a joint production of the Nyári Mozi Theatre Community and the Novi Sad Academy of Arts.
For 10 years they have continually held their Test emlékezet courses in Kelebia at the community center.