Rehearsals for Peace

A tale from the 16th century narrates the story of Ursula, a female figure disguised as a man, who successfully chased away occupying intruders (at that time, the Ottomans) using the supersonic sound of a whip. This account purportedly originated in Cincu, the Transylvanian village which today houses one of N.A.T.O.’s key combat training zones in Romania.

Rehearsals for Peace choreographs the confusion within the landscape of the Transylvanian village of Cincu, where locals share their surroundings with a NATO military base. Constantly on the (dance) move, visceral and yet exhibiting very precise self-control, a young woman dressed in a mix of shepherd’s clothes, military uniform, and a traditional bear costume seems to alternate between guarding and preying on, between escaping and attacking. Artists Anca Benera and Arnold Estefán imagine the military ritual — with its scenarios, rehearsals, and costumes, and with its absence of a stage, and so without any delimitation – as a possible, and increasingly more probable, traditional custom, with no beginning and, especially, with no end. (Călin Boto)