Ima
06 / 09 / 2024
7:00 pm
"a show with both scale and intimacy"
"...an unusually contemplative offering designed to make you feel part of a sacred ritual"
"...both an installation inspired by the night sky and an immersive circus show that questions our place in the cosmos"
"Eminently watchable and seriously impressive in just about every department. "
"IMA sets a new bar for what can be achieved by solo aerial performances "
"A five-star visual and aural feast "
"IMA is a one-of-a-kind supernatural journey "
"Circus that makes you forget for a minute that people can't fly. "
"this beautiful piece completely transports you "
"the must-see show of 2023 "
"A memorable moment of calm and extraordinary talent "
"Unlike any other show on the Fringe, this one certainly aims high and comes mighty close to nirvana. "
"An utterly mesmerising feast for the senses. "
"A jaw-dropping, magical piece of dance theatre "
"Even among the culture of new wave, pared-down circus, IMA is something different and very special indeed."
"An incredible spiritual, immersive theatrical experience. "
"IMA delivers on providing that astonishment, narrative and magic, in a way you may not have seen before."
"sensational physical display and spiritual force"
"Where the soul can find its real self."
"We can hear the sound of our existence."
"IMA is very likely to mean a paradigm shift in theatre technology, but it surely does in audience experience"
"In a meditative state of mind and ambience, created by the play of light and sound, the artist becomes the spectators’ guide."
"IMA reflects on faith as a ubiquitous phenomenon … faith is universal and not confined by any dogma or set of rules."
"... the performance itself is the space, which, through a play with shadow and light, becomes one with the artist – as though we the spectators were also floating in the air with them."
IMA (Pray) is an immersive theatrical experience elevating cirque danse, the genre created by Recirquel to a whole new level. In the installation space reminiscent of sacred places, we participate in a unique ritual guided by a non-gender defined performer, taking us into the unknown territories of the human mind. Religions, beliefs are distant matters in the infinity of IMA’s universal space, and only the human soul is in the focus of attention.
There is no need for religious faith to be able to absorb the experience of IMA, one’s personal beliefs are irrelevant in this space. As Bence Vági, the director-choreographer of the production puts it, “Prayer is universal, exists independently from religion or denomination.”
IMA premiered in 2022 in the program of the Bartók Spring in Müpa Budapest; it is a one-person show that is performed by Recirquel's top-notch acrobats, each offering a unique experience to the audience.
A sacred experience
even for the non-religious
“... our primary encounter is with the awe of creation and human grandeur, even more so of overflowing beauty. Experiencing this kind of beauty will draw you in so deep that even an atheist will associate it with something greater than humans. It will likely cause you physical pain to remind us how hundreds of thousands, and even millions, of people live their lives without experiencing anything quite similar. This language, however, is so universal that it may as well act as a common code between individuals.”
“...IMA does not simply have a stage, but a complete space created for this very production. It is a unique circus tent that is likely to mean a paradigm shift in theatre technology, but it surely does in audience experience. The “immersive theatre experience” – as the company calls the show – actually happens to the audience and is not only a skilful marketing slogan: the viewer dissolves in the theatre space, in which the performance takes place.”
Judit Lola Bognár, 24.hu
Creators
Performers
IMA won the Seoul Arts Award founded to reward the diverse range of high quality talent at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from around the world. At the Awards Ceremony Angella Kwon, Chair of the Global Cultural Exchange Committee said: “It's gratifying to be able to select outstanding performances as award-winners. The performances are beautiful and astonishing with each one delivering a unique sense of the ‘wow factor’. I cannot contain my joy at creating an opportunity to introduce such wonderful performances to South Korean audiences and I hope to use these awards as a chance to further strengthen global cultural exchange.”
Photo Gallery
