Welcome to the new blog of dance company NETZWERK AKS, the Platform for Contemporary Dance + Art! We are an international network of contemporary dancers and artists currently based in Millstatt, a tiny town in the beautiful Carinthian Alps of southern Austria.
You are probably wondering, “What can a tiny town in southern Austria hold for a contemporary dance company?” Yes, it is true: many of the dirndl- or lederhosen-flaunting locals would rather drink beer, eat sausage and dance at a Polkafest than indulge in an evening of philosophical movement observation.
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But if you woke every morning to an avian serenade intermingled with a breeze through the leaves and jubilant church bells, and watched the mist rise from the silvery Lake over the evergreen-blanketed mountains and into the blue, blue sky, and could rehearse in an old monastery with windows overlooking a garden to the water beyond, and could sit in the evening as I am now, watching the sun painting a trail of pink in her wake as she sinks behind the mountain tops before the moon brightens and the stars appear … well, you’d feel like dancing too! The quiet and natural beauty here accommodate the whimsical ways of inspiration, giving her the freedom to work unharried by the rush, routine and unrest of city life.
Not to say our choice of workspace hasn’t lent itself to a few challenges: most of the locals are not exactly contemporary dance enthusiasts and large audiences are hard to come by,
(how the locals see our work)
and many in the greater arts community do not seem to take us seriously because they do not believe that High Art can exist in the provinces amongst the sheep and the cows.
(how the greater arts community views our work)
Still, we make the best of it and are happy to be here.
That’s all for now – please stay tuned to hear more about our upcoming activities and adventures! Next stop: kunstLABor.