SUB.LAB.PRO / Mészáros Máté: Fight or Flight

Movement in itself is invisible in the darkness of the theatre. For dance to emerge, it requires that particular inner and outer “burning” that James Turrell speaks of: the energy that makes visible what had previously remained hidden.

The performance is not simply a contemporary dance piece, but a controlled somatic experiment in which the visual layer (video projection), combined with the dancers’ fast, fragmented movements, activates the audience’s sympathetic nervous system—the “fight or flight” response—causing the heart rate to rise and the pupils to constrict.

The human brain does not perceive the physical world directly; it perceives light, and our biological responses to light and movement are inevitable. In this piece, choreography and light art do not meet as separate elements, but work in symbiosis to rewrite the space and transform the audience’s experience. Here, light does not simply illuminate the dancers’ bodies; it shapes them, cuts through them, and reinterprets them.

Máté Mészáros is a dancer and choreographer who, throughout his career, has worked with companies such as Carte Blanche and Ultima Vez. His works have been presented at numerous major domestic and international festivals, and he plays an active role in the international contemporary dance scene both as creator and teacher.

SUB.LAB.PRO The Ensemble Program is a creative platform for contemporary dancers to expand their technical skills and creative capabilities through choreographic creations. The program is designed to sustain and nourish the dancers at the start of their career paths by offering a complete tool kit that fosters the understanding and realistic appreciation of a professional company-like environment. During the training, 4 choreographers create full-evening performances for the dancers. The company presents the finished works on Trafó’s main stage.