Josef Nadj is a choreographer, director, visual artist and photographer born in Vojvodina, former Yugoslavia, and based in France. Since founding his company in 1986, he has developed a highly distinctive artistic language that moves between dance, theatre, visual art and literature, often drawing inspiration from the landscapes, histories and cultural memory of Central Europe. His breakthrough works, including Canard Pékinois, La Mort de l’Empereur, Woyzeck and Les Philosophes, established him as one of the most singular voices of European contemporary performance. His creations have been presented at major international venues and festivals, including the Festival d’Avignon, Venice Biennale, Festival de Cannes and ImPulsTanz. From 1995 to 2016, Nadj worked as a director of the National Choreographic Centre in Orléans, France. Throughout his career, he has collaborated across artistic disciplines and generations, creating an influential body of work recognised for its poetic imagery, physical precision and deep engagement with questions of identity, memory and transformation.
At the heart of Dark Union is a tragic story of newlyweds who only manage to live a few fleeting moments of happiness before the impermanence of life steps between them. Nadj and the dancers try to evoke the gloomy emotion accompanying this sad relationship, which became almost legendary in his home town. The event that Josef witnessed as a child acts like a projection in his choreography serves as a metaphor for the passing of time and eventually leads us to the beyond. Nadj sees this new work as an opportunity for the new generation to face the core subjects of the story. Interestingly enough, the new piece is much shorter than the original work, while its topic has become much wider – as if one wanted to immortalize the moment for eternity. Based on a personal story which transcends the subjective and, through artistic transformation, becomes an intimate mythology blossoming into a universal piece of art.