Máté Mészáros

Artist statement

Máté Mészáros is a Hungarian choreographer, dancer, and teacher. He initiated his movement and artistic studies in 1995 and achieved a BA degree at the Hungarian Dance Academy in 1999. In 2021, he attained an MA degree in contemporary dance teaching at the Budapest Contemporary Dance Academy. Following three years with the Szeged Contemporary Ballet as a young dancer, he engaged with diverse European companies, namely Carte Blanche (NO), Lanònima Imperial (ES), and Última Vez (B), accumulating a span of 15 years. Notably, he served as the movement assistant to Wim Vandekeybus for four performances in Ultima Vez.

Upon his return to Hungary in 2014, Máté Mészáros conceived his premiere work “Hinoki,” presented at Budapest’s Trafó House of Contemporary Arts. “Hinoki” was developed within the framework of the LifeLong Burning Creative Europe partnership program and was showcased at the Impulstanz Festival in Vienna (A) and the Next Festival in Kortijk (B). Subsequently, his full-length production titled “United Space of Ambivalence,” featuring a cast of five dancers, debuted in 2018, also at Trafó.

In 2019, Mészáros ventured into new artistic terrain with “Mechanics of Distance” (MoD), leading him to evolve his method and artistic interests. From this juncture, his primary focus transitioned from traditional stage performances to the creation of participatory works. MoD was highlighted in the Aerowaves Priority Selection of 2020, extensively touring Europe. In 2022, it was one of the 19 selected projects titled “East Goes to East,” encompassing five site-specific tours, under the aegis of the Perform Europe Programme.

Máté Mészáros collaborates with SÍN Arts Centre, a Budapest-based production house, to foster the project development and global dissemination of his choreographic endeavors. He is a recurring guest choreographer with Unusual Symptoms (D), having crafted two performances for the company. Presently, he is immersed in the creation of a participatory adaptation of his most recent work, titled “Spektrum,” in collaboration with Kunsthalle Bremen and Urbanscreen. Furthermore, he imparts extensive partnering expertise internationally, spanning over a decade, and accepts invitations to contribute as a guest professor in academic dance education programs.

Throughout his creative journey, Máté Mészáros maintains an unwavering commitment to evolution. His decisions have consistently been driven by the desire to cultivate momentum around himself, propelling him into uncharted territories to explore the essence of creation and performance. This approach has resulted in a myriad of collaborations, not limited to the performing arts but extending into various art forms.

Mészáros centers his work on the corporeal and dynamic aspects of the body, considering it the quintessential conduit of expression. Each of his works distills intricate intellectual inquiries to their elemental core, transforming them into movements that seek complexity. His final artistic outcomes are equally indebted to space and light. He deliberately reserves room for individual viewer experiences, requiring the incorporation of personal and cultural histories to become integral parts of the creative process.

Motivated by an enduring fascination with the expressive potential of the human body, Máté Mészáros has persistently delved into the realm of dance and movement. His research underscores the vital importance of an intuitive rapport between performer and audience that dance uniquely communicates. He regards dance as a direct yet malleable structure, ideally suited for interactive experiences. In recent years, his emphasis has gravitated toward audience engagement, manifesting in performances where he offers spectators a spectrum of perspectives or tasks them with constructing the work based on provided instructions. This heightened spectator presence has emerged as a hallmark of his work.