The award "Jovan Cirilov - a step further" within the 18th Belgrade Dance Festival, by the decision of the expert jury, went to the famous Belgian duo - choreographers Gabriela Cariso and Frank Chartier, founders and creators of the famous troupe Peeping Tom.
The award is given for Diptych: The Missing Door and the Abandoned Room, performed by the Peeping Tom troupe, on April 9 and 10, 2021, at the Belgrade Opera Madlenianum.
“Cariso and Chartier not only create a top-notch play theater, but also create a unique, unrepeatable theatrical experience. In a cinematic manner, their pieces offer a dazzling, extravagant experience, while touching the deepest fears and turning the journey into a hallucination. What makes their handwriting completely special are the miraculous images that are arranged in a lively, virtuoso montage, with a precise sense of stage time and a high level of aesthetic perfection. With mathematical exactness, they articulate the physical intensity and connection, that is, the justification of all the details and characters that appear before the eyes of the viewer, introducing him to their magical world. In strong synergy, Karizova and Shartije have built one of the most authentic artistic troupes of today, whose performances are awaited and perceived as a rare artistic event. ” - it is stated, among other things, in the announcement of the jury.
The presentation of the award "Jovan Cirilov - one step further" is planned within the 19th Belgrade Dance Festival. Previous winners of this award are Jiri Kilian, Sharon Eyal, Dimitris Papaioanu, Marie Shuinar and Jakopo Godani.
A native of Argentina, Gabriela Cariso started playing at the age of ten. Until the age of nineteen, she played and created her first choreographies at the University of Cordoba Ballet, and then moved to Brussels to work with Caroline Markade. In the following years, she was engaged in various projects, both in Brussels and in Paris. In 1994, her solo play "Et tutto sara d'ombra et di caline" was created. Since 1995, she has collaborated with Alen Platel on the plays "Sadness as an Ally" and "Pieces of Bach". Together with Frank Chartier, in 2000 he founded Peeping Tom, for which the plays "Caravan" and "Vain Life" were created. Cariso also collaborated with Needcompany on the play "Pictures of Tenderness." With Platel, she prepared the choreography for the opera "Wolf". In the period from 2002-2007. year, for Peeping Tom she created the famous trilogy "Garden", "Salon" and "Basement". After that, the productions "Vanderbranden Street no. 32 "(2009) and" Izdaje se "(2011), which were also guests at the Belgrade Game Festival. In 2013, Peeping Tom collaborated with the Dutch Play Theater. In 2016, Karizova began work on a trilogy about the family, which consists of the pieces "Mother", "Father" and "Child". "Father" was shown at the Belgrade Game Festival, as well as the diptych "Missing Door" and "Abandoned Room".
Born in France, Frank Chartier started playing at the age of eleven. Until 1986, he studied ballet at the Rosella Hightower Dance Center in Cannes. At the age of nineteen, he joined Bejart's Ballet of the 20th Century in Brussels, and then moved to Switzerland, where he remained until 1989. This was followed by collaboration with Angelina Preljokaz and the creation of the play "Dream of a Rose" for the Paris Opera Ballet. In 1994, he moved to Brussels and worked with the Rosas troupe, discovering Needcompany as well as the entire Flemish art scene. Together with Alen Platel, he created the play "Pieces of Bach", which gave him the incentive to continue working independently. In 2000, he co-founded Peeping Tom with Gabriel Cariso. The titles "Caravan", "Vain Life", trilogy "Garden", "Salon" and "Basement" were created, followed by "Vanderbranden Street no. 32 "and" Issued ". With the play "Father", the troupe develops the second trilogy in a row, inspired by family members. The first part, directed by Chartier. In collaboration with the Dutch Play Theater, after the play "The Missing Door" by Gabriele Cariso, he directed "Abandoned Room".
From an ad-hoc group that gathered around the production of Allen Platel, in twenty years, Peeping Tom has grown into a company of national and international reputation. The trilogy "Garden" (2001), "Salon" (2004), "Basement" (2007), and the plays "Ulica Vandenbranden 32" (2009) and "Izdaje se" (2011), were created as international co-productions, which are media and the audience accepted with enthusiasm. Gathered around its artistic directors, Gabriela Cariso and Frank Chartier, this troupe brings together various artists. A wide range of their interests, together with the peculiarity of the players, brings a completely original, multi-disciplinary choreographic language. Considering the playful heritage, movement and image are the most important means by which the audience is drawn into the intimacy of the stage space. Cariso and Chartier define this intimacy as showing and enlarging what is invisible, what at first glance seems insignificant, or is denied and hidden, and at the same time essentially significant. The condition of the people is the core of the artistic direction of the Peeping Tom troupe. Their performances deal with parallel worlds, an intermittent universe in which the usual logic of time, space and atmosphere is disturbed.
