Eastern Block

Catwalk concerts are a new performing arts genre at the intersection of theatre, choral concerts and extreme fashion shows. The performances are themed and feature a group of performers who present vibrant, innovative, storytelling costumes on a catwalk-like stage while singing original contemporary compositions. The music and the costumes themselves become the primary art forms, dominating the stage and creating a new arena for theatre.

The Eastern Bloc draws on aspects of social, aesthetic and everyday life during the communist-socialist era in the Visegrad countries. In collaboration with artists from each country, we have created a project that speaks to our common past, with references to the societies of the present and future. The aim is not to evoke nostalgia for the socialist era but to initiate a dialogue between countries and different generations – who have very different memories of this period – and reflect on how our common heritage lives on in our present, raising relevant questions for our lives today.

Catwalk Concert Productions is a new concept created in 2015 by costume designer Fruzsina Nagy and composer and conductor Dóra Halas to define collaborative performances that do not fit into any conventional performing arts categories. In Hungary, Nagy and Halas collaborate with the experimental choir Soharóza. Soharóza improvises with the human voice, language and movement, exploring different areas from folk music to composed pieces, constantly searching for new forms and sounds.

Audience: Adults, Children 14+

Soharóza – founded in 2008 – is an experimental choir led by Dóra Halas. We play and work with the human voice, different tones and timbres and sounds of the human body and surrounding space to create unique performances that defy categorisation. Our methodology is collective composition, with members not only performing, but co-creating each performance. Our common interest involves the formation and perception of sounds through extraordinary means, whether through choral improvisation or sound-choreography, resulting in unusual performances. Our repertoire is constantly growing through collaborations with artists from a wide range of fields. Our first catwalk concert, Taboo Collection (2016), was created in collaboration with costume designer Fruzsina Nagy as a result of experimentation with cross-disciplinary forms and was followed by The Issue (2018).

We enjoy working in extreme venues and have sung in caves, abandoned factory buildings, baths and courts in Budapest. We have performed at the largest theatre and music festivals in Hungary, the Budapest State Opera House, the Hungarian Embassy in Berlin and an international choir competition in Macedonia.