As the end of her active dancing career, she danced Csaba Szögi is the founder of the Central European Dance Theatre (KET) and the artistic director of the Bethlen Téri Theatre, the play Puszta. The Puszta is a monodance, a genre created by Szögi himself with his choreographer friend István Énekes, based on monodramas. The genre was thus born in Hungary and from here it started its conquering journey. Monodancing is a self-confession and therefore particularly difficult for the dancer, a long and deep work of self-analysis. This is why the celebration of the genre International Monodance Festival is also organised by the KET and Bethlen as a biennial event, for the eleventh time this year. We talked to Csaba Szögi, one of the founding fathers of the festival and monodance.

- Is there a history of the genre's birth?

- In 2005, my friend István Énekes and I were working with the Béla Bartók Dance Theatre in Dunaújváros, and we were looking for a project to do outside the repertoire of the ensemble. That was when we started the project Forum of Young Choreographers (IKF) and the possibility of a festival of solo performances was raised, because we saw that a lot of solo performances were being produced within the profession and were disappearing too quickly. We were not interested in solos that presented the beauty, technicality or novelty of dance, but what brought us closer to the theatre. These were all dramatised performances, with much more content, thought and message than a solo dance. We realised that this was the dance equivalent of monodrama, and at the Gárdonyi Géza Theatre in Eger there was a biennial monodrama festival. Based on this, we created the name monodance. That's how it started, and now there are theses, serious studies and articles being written about it, and the existence of a new genre has become natural within the profession.

- Today, mono dancing is practised almost everywhere in the world. How did you learn about this dance abroad?

- As the name suggests, this is an international festival, so we are always looking for partners to come to Hungary. Our first collaboration was with Bulgarian choreographer Jivko Jeliazkov, who created a performance called Monocrossing for KET dancer Hargitai Marian, and then the same for Jungin Lee from South Korea, and we presented it with the stage divided in two and the two girls dancing on it at the same time, but independently of each other. Jungin Lee has since been teaching in Linz and this year she will bring two of her students to the Budapest festival. Barna Petrányi (Pro Progressione), who has international projects, got involved early on, and Attila Kun, then artistic director of KET, was invited to give workshops in South Korea. This started the development of international contacts on several fronts, and cooperation with the South Koreans has since become a partnership, Sin Ae Park led by. He and his team often come to Europe, and after Paris, they usually present their latest performances at SŐT7, and also at the monodance festival, for the fourth time. Her organisation is the Monotanz Festival Soeul, the South Korean sister of our festival, which is held in odd-numbered years.

- Why do KET and Bethlen organise a mono dance festival every two years?

- On the one hand, we had a relationship with the now defunct monodrama festival in Eger, which worked in a similar way. On the other hand, it was to produce enough performances to be able to select a festival programme. The genre is that most of these are short, 15-25 minute performances, and although there are also 40-50 minute performances, two or three are needed for one day. However, from a dance point of view, it is an extremely difficult genre, and it takes a lot of work and time to produce authentic performances. To draw from ourselves is a serious revelation. I'm the one who thinks something and I'm the one who will convey it. I mean, these are always personal testimonies, even if there is a choreographer working with the performer, and he or she is shaping the dancer into what he or she sees. So we are not telling stories in the mono dance. A monodance created without a choreographer, alone, is perhaps even more difficult, because there is no continuous dialogue, no

interaction. When you're alone, it's terribly difficult to keep yourself motivated, and technically it's a feat to think up, record and deliver the performance.

- Can you define when a mono dance performance is good?

- If I'm sitting in the auditorium and the hairs on my arms stand up, that's good, if not, I'm left out, I'm not touched. It's not that the audience should feel this from the beginning to the end, but that there should be a moment when the piece draws you in, pulls you in. Otherwise, it's easier for the audience to identify with a soloist, even a duo or a trio, because they can find out which one is him. When we are watching groups, it is much more difficult, different mechanisms of action are at work. The former are therefore much more personal, you can put yourself in the shoes of one of the characters, which of course depends on the viewer's reception. From this point of view the creator takes a huge risk, he takes his skin to the fair, because he has an effect or not. The spectator looks and judges, and the creator bears the burden.

- How does the selection process work?

- I try to see every mono dance performance for two years. The Hungarian ones live, the foreign ones on video, and Barna Petrányi travels the world. My main concern is that the performance should have an impact, which I can test on myself and observe the other spectators. I look around after the performance, I don't rush off, I listen and talk to people. I read reviews - there are problematic performances that are being discussed. It's good because it brings something out of people, because they respond. What I like about this festival is that it can showcase the produce of the last two years. What we can do around this is also very important. When people come here to watch a commercial or read the programme, they will know that there was a tenth anniversary event, or that the South Koreans have a mono dance festival. So there is an educational purpose to the accompanying programmes. Between two performances, for example, we will show one-minute dance films about the SoloDuo Festival, or Dance photography exhibition by photographer Gábor Dusa can be seen just as Choreographer Krisztián Gergye's visual art exhibition. The latter is the third time that a dancer-choreographer has performed with us, in this case alongside his show. It is fortunate that the Bethlen Téri Theatre's facilities allow this. In the café there will also be a discussion about the genre and motivation, moderated by dance artist and university professor Dr. Katalin Lőrinc, entitled "What is monodance?", where the audience can meet the artists and ask questions.

- This year, several accompanying programmes will focus on South Korean guests.

- Yes, the fence exhibition will feature photos of their performances, a screening of a film about the Seoul festival, and a screening of a film at the SÍN Art Center a workshop on dance is being held by the three South Korean performers, and already a lot of dancers have signed up. It is a unique opportunity to learn from a master from such a far away country, both because of the distance and because of the huge cost. It is an honour and an excellent opportunity for both parties to be part of such an encounter.