#EmojiPlay

The way Gigi Căciuleanu conceived it, the choreographic theatre performance  #EmojiPlay combines, in a seemingly ludic manner, a 3-D language (the one of danceActors) with the strange (still!) and visual 2-D world of these very young 'metaphors",  called "emoji".

The creator says that the performance might also be called " Do You speak Emoji?” - a question more and more people seem to be asking themselves, and to which the youngest inhabitants of the planet can answer.

We are invaded by all sorts of emoticons. Emotions are re-codified and concentrated in  stylized images. "Emoji" comes from Japanese: 絵文字 or えもじ  (EImage and Moji: Letter).

Official selection of the National Theatre Festival, 2017

REVIEWS

(...) Four young danceActors (Ana Vişan, Irina Strungăreanu, Adrian Nour, Alexandru Călin, alternating with Bianca Bor and Vlad Troncea) transfer in coreographic expression the actions and emotions that are typical of emoji users, in a choreographic theatre performance I recommend. It is ludic, unpredictable, and it shows that in our world socialization rituals impose new languages, to which we have to adapt. The dancing sequences flow one into another, they follow one another in a fragmented fashion, while body expression is doubled by an image component, with fluxes of emojis that 'dance' on a screen. In rhythmic music sounds, at the same acoustic pace with the other layers of the performance, enriching the fold of sources of meaning.

Oltița Cîntec – Adevărul – Emoji – pictograma, spectacolul şi filmul

http://adevarul.ro/cultura/teatru/emoji-pictograma-spectacolul-filmul-1_5993fa6a5ab6550cb8097d6c/index.html

(...) a woman much younger than myself told me that her son, 15- years old, asks her why she writes so many words in an email and doesn't save words, by shortening them. Those in my generation are confused by such a communication method, but Gigi Căciuleanu's show managed  to delight me. Why? It is very simple. It was very well thought of choreographically and it stuck to the subject. It was inspired. Many movements were broken, interrupted, arrested. The duets were among the best compositions created by the choreographer, and the chair play was excellent. And among some arid movement formulae, a tinge of lyricism was stealthily making its way, because it was about, still,  real people, and not virtual beings, and the shadow game, on a bright screen, contributed to the poetry of the performance. Humor was also there - this feeling since forever saving humankind, whichever direction it might take - such as the prohibitory traffic sign that appears on the apple from Heaven. The dancers perfectly illustrated the intentions of the choreographer and Corinei Boboc's costumes integrated very well in the context, both the simple ones, predominantly white at the beginning,  as well as the black ones, cut out, at the end (…)"

Liana Tugearu – România Literară – Evenimente în lumea dansului românesc

http://www.romlit.ro/evenimente_n_lumea_dansului_romnesc

 

The choreographic theatre performance #EmojiPlay  is delicious  because, apart from transplanting emoticons in dance - even traffic signs, I'll bet you've never seen this! - the play is based on irony, ludic spirit, and the lyricism of legendary Gigi Căciuleanu. Emoticons come to life, flirt in dance moves, intertwine with hieroglyphs from "visuals", express themselves n abbreviated forms, the way everyone started doing on their smartphones.


Horia Ghibuțiu – Blog de Ziarist – #EmojiPlay, piesa milenarilor. Când emoticoanele dansează și vorbesc abreviat
http://horiaghibutiu.ro/emojiplay-piesa-milenarilor-cand-emoticoanele-danseaza-si-vorbesc-abreviat/



WOW!!! The title of the commentary is imposed by this extraordinary "choreographic theatre" performance, created by master GIGI CĂCIULEANU… His "play", text, or screenplay deliciously tells the story of a possible conversation taken from daily life of a couple, depending on the situations, moods, and feelings. #EmojiPlay is a play of fine irony through Gigi Căciuleanu satirizes the type of communication created by new technology and warns that it could be a danger to the motion in our soul. This event performance speaks originally about the "disease" that is destroying communication between people. The audience laughs but the laughter quiets down when people realize how absurd this new communication method can oftentimes be. 

Ileana Lucaciu – blog – WOW!!!
http://ileanalucaciu.blogspot.ro/2016/12/emojiplay-teatrul-excelsior.html

 

Căciuleanu manages to surprise us again with his way of peeking into closed but relevant universes. He shows us stories by way of written signs (from the youth's world) alongside other codes, kinetic, gestural, that he knows very well. Two non-verbal languages side by side together, in order to tell us stories with meaning.

Corina Dima – ziarul Metropolis – #EmojiPlay de Căciuleanu: CSF, NCSF, dans!
http://www.ziarulmetropolis.ro/emojiplay-de-caciuleanu-csf-ncsf-dans/ 

 

#EmojiPlay  represents the dramatization of our daily conversations. Online jargon is translated hypnotically, into dance, smiling faces and little hearts finding their correspondents on stage. #EmojiPlay  is emotion and the mundane, and life. It made me laugh, thinking of my own online life. I came to the conclusion that people are alike more than they imagine. In the end, we choose from the same emojis, don’t  we?

Andrada Pavel – Societate și Cultură – #EMOJIPLAY – REALITATEA E VIRTUALĂ
http://societatesicultura.ro/2017/01/emojiplay./

We are witnessing a pair dance, a game of seduction, that is then repeated and explained in words and emoticons just like a translation from a foreign language. Everything becomes clear when dance is repeated in translation and, indeed, the spectator realizes that there are communication methods available to  whole generation and that works just as efficiently as the verbal language used for so long, and all you need to access it is the key.

Andreea Tănase – Semne Bune – #EmojiPlay la Teatrul Excelsior. Un spectacol de #GG Căciuleanu
https://semnebune.ro/2017/emojiplay-la-teatrul-excelsior-un-spectacol-de-gg-caciuleanu/#axzz4XusrCVgo

 

#EmojiPlay  is a courageous staging of a reality that is made out of symbols and letters and that, without us realizing, is creating the new alphabet of the young people who have radically changed their communication style. Love letters are now written as messages on social networks using hearts, smiley or sad face, kisses and colorful bows. Superficially, we might say, empty of meaning and emotion, and yet how clever you must be to interpret such a txt, that might at anytime be misunderstood if you are unfamiliar with the meaning of the symbol! Gigi Căciuleanu staged his ingenious idea to explore the unseen world on teenagers screens.

 Oana Bogzaru – Yorick – Mostră dansantă despre cei care vorbesc emoji
http://yorick.ro/mostra-dansanta-despre-cei-care-vorbesc-emoji/

 

…The performance shows us, directly, what would happen if we used in writing the exprssion we use with such ease in writing. Moreover, for younger generations the easiest way to hide from parents is not to hide your phone or laptop, but to speak in a language they can't understand.

… The performance shows us the generation of teenagers, former, present, and future, from their perspective.

… As such, what other performance could be more representative than this?

Emil Călinescu – Lateatru.EU – #EmojiPlay. Opinie
http://lateatru.eu/emojiplay/

Choreographic theatre performance by: Gigi Căciuleanu

DanceActors: Ana Vișan, Irina Strungăreanu, Adrian Nour, Alex Călin

alternating with  Bianca Bor and Bogdan Iacob

Assistent: Lelia Marcu-Vladu

Video Scenography and animation:  Les Ateliers Nomad

Costumes: Corina Boboc

Soundtrack: Pro-DJ Event

Light Design: Cristian Petru Simon

Producer: Teatrul Excelsior în parteneriat cu „Gigi Căciuleanu Romania Dance Company”

Photo: Adi Bulboacă

Running time: 1h

Premiere date: 14 decembrie 2016

Age recommendation: 12+

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