BEST CONTEMPORAY DANCE PERFORMANCE

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Juries comments

The collaboration between choreographer Alise Madara Bokaldere, dramaturg Jason Dupree, and circus artist Izabele Kuzelyte is a unique synthesis of aerial acrobatics, hair hanging, and contemporary dance. The hypnotic power of this performance lies not only in its breathtaking physical endurance and skill but also in its ability to create a mythical, dreamlike space. Within it, two beings exist in an unfamiliar physical reality, simultaneously connected and separated by opposing forces—one being pulled downward, the other lifted upward. Their continual movement toward and away from each other becomes an endless, ouroboric motion where the body, gravity, and levitation merge into a unified story.

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BEST CONTEMPORARY DANCER

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Juries comments

Alise Bokaldere’s dance feels archetypal. Her body carries both Baltic and Scandinavian heritage, and it seems as though through her movement, the mythologies of both cultures become present—gentle protector Māra and fierce warrior Freyja. Alise demonstrates the unprecedented weaving of contemporary dance and circus not only with exceptional technical mastery but also with the emotional resonance of a single, simple hand gesture. The chosen circus discipline—hair hanging—is drastic and rare, yet Alise finds room within its limitations for nuanced dance. And she convinces us that even in restriction, there is freedom.