Doggy Rugburn is a dystopian dance performance about power imbalance, privilege and the exploitation of those beneath us performed by 8 dancers of Aura Dance Company.

The Doggy Rugburn world is a parallel world that resembles ours but where time is elongated and stretched out. It’s inhabited by a group of beings called “The Rugburners” that have the ability to shape shift using their eccentric bodies.

Just like us they struggle with the fixation of the ownership of objects and the never-ending fight for territory.

When one day the Rugburners discover that there is little reason to walk when someone else can carry you, bodies become vehicles, chairs, playgrounds and companions for amusement. They climb onto backs, ride across the room, race one another and use the bodies beneath them whenever they need to travel or simply want to have some fun.

For those underneath, there is very little time to stand still. They carry, crawl, pull and bend, constantly adjusting themselves to the weight and desires of those above. The distinction between work and play has disappeared to the point where one person's recreation is another person's labour.

Now because everyone is busy playing their part, nobody seems to question the rules of the game.


They buy therefor they are. They consume to exist.

We shuffle through our days covered in dust and regret.
While the carpet burns our skin and the air poisons our lungs.

It’s taking a long time to die.

“Motion goes beyond the normal human movement.
The performance becomes an exploration of the unexplored possibilities of the body.
It is a completely different modern dance performance.
In it, physicality and its beauty triumph.
And it is, indeed, infinitely beautiful.”
— journalist Deimantė Dementavičiūtė-Stankuvienė

Choreography: Brandon Lagaert
Music/sound design: Felix Machtelinckx
Light design: Vladimiras Šerstabojevas
Rehearsal director: Carson Reiners
Artistic advice: Mateo Dupleich Rozo
Costumes: Kristina Čyžiūtė
Pictures: Kristina Čyžiūtė

Performance and creation/original cast: Arno Verbruggen, Hayleigh Smillie, Heung Won Lee, Julija Mintautė, Laura Cornejo, Lin van Kaam, Marine Fernandez, Matthew Livingston, Natsuho Matsumoto, Thibault Rousselet

Dancers second cast: Arūnas Mozūraitis, Ester Bega, Francisco Ladrón de Guevara, Heung Won Lee, Julija Mintautė, Marine Fernandez, Natsuho Matsumoto, Tse-Wei Wu

Dancers third cast: Ester Bega, Heung Won Lee, Julija Mintautė, Marine Fernandez, Natsuho Matsumoto, Kris Dao Nicholls, Pepe Jaimes, Chih-Yuan Yang

 

Doggy Rugburn has won the 𝐂𝐎𝐌 • 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍 • 𝐀 Best Performance Award at the 𝐂𝐎𝐌 • 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐀 Festival in Alytus, Lithuania.

Doggy Rugburn has won the 𝐂𝐎𝐌 • 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍 • 𝐀 Best Performance Award at the 𝐂𝐎𝐌 • 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐀 Festival in Alytus, Lithuania.