2007 Autumn Dance Collection - Jana Návratová

The autumn collection on the independent dance scene is very luxurious.

Jara Viňarský, recipient of the prestigious and highly acclaimed Sazka Award, received a fantastic response with his long-anticipated premiere, Paisyn. Viňárský himself entered the stage as one of the members of the male dance quartet in the production. The title of the production comes from the Portuguese-Czech play on word “Pa (father) i syn (and son)”, and the piece itself describes the relationship between a father and his son. The psychoanalytical theme of the dance piece comes as no surprise. Viňárský carefully traces the steps in his own life and the mirror of his own creation ascribes to its levels, etapes and relationships.

The quartet performs all aspects of the father-son relationship. It appears as a prelude to the situations and motives that comes to the forefront of the theme in the form of dominance and subdominance. A man’s overcoat symbolizes the father’s strength – whoever has it becomes the father, and attains the strength of a leader; the others race around him, trying to grab hold of the jacket, copy his rhythm and pick up their own pace. The dancers on the stage are all the same age and the roles of the father and son are symbolically shared – without their own conversions. Often a “dance race” appears: contacts of power, exhibitions of efficiency – things that are typically competitive in the world of men, in the world of fathers and their sons. On the other side, the production does not lack even the family emotions, displays of devotion and caring, and a commitment to dependency. The dance piece has taken on today’s theme of the fragility and sensitivity of man. It isn’t controversial, but rather personal, very fragile and contemporary in today’s dance vocabulary.

Jara Viňárský: Paisyn (Paisyn) – Premiere September 2007, Ponec Theatre, Prague.

DOT 504 – the only independent professional dance company in the Czech Republic – recently presented their third premiere. The new piece, Holdin´ Fast, by dance duo Jozef Fruček (SK) and Linda Kapetanea (GR), was inspired by Kundera´s novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being and exposes the contrast between instincts, inherent meetings and the decisions against intellectualism and pragmatism. The choreographers examine interpersonal relations from this particular angle using three pairs of dancers who are led along the path of physical dance theatre. Fruček´s acting background and long-standing dance experience with Wim Vandekeybus can be seen in both the sharp, dramatic situations as well as in the dynamic, risky and frantic dances.

Seemingly never-ending, meditative musical motives accompany the choreography. The piece, attuned by the dull brown costumes and subtle lighting, conjure up an atmosphere of a private world. A Persian carpet eloquently works on the stage where, many secrets and scandals are cleverly hidden.

It is necessary to mention that the dancers – Helena Arenbergerová, Lenka Vágnerová, Michaela Ottová, Petr Opavský, Daniel Raček, Pavel Mašek – are becoming a company that will definitely experience a lifetime of achievements.

PHOTO

J. Fruček, L. Kapetanea: Holdin´ Fast. Premiere October 16, 2007. Ponec Theatre, Prague.

Young choreographer Lenka Bartůňková presented her short, yet masterfully created duet for women entitled The Library (Knihovna). Inspired by the magic of the library space, the piece brings about its own pacifying mood: a sense of humility before the accumulation of the spiritual richness of humanity. Bartůňková effectively and clearly identified the space, like a school table into the engraved trenches that divide the right and left halves of the stage. Two female entities ritually move about the two spaces – the dark-haired Andrea Lemešová and the Belgian dancer Lotte Nouwkens – both dressed in black dance leotards. Their movements are like statues – eventually becoming decorative, mystic poses, and making the performers appear like marshals or priestesses of some kind of rule. When their ritual journey eventually comes in contact with the books, they emphasis the side of the face, their foreheads, legs - drinking in all its contents with their bodies. Bartůňková is one of the most productive young Czech choreographers and she herself is a distinct, original performer, who exercises her talents creating her own pieces, as well as performing in companies from abroad.

L. Bartůňková: The Library (Knihovna). Premiere November 9, 2007. Ponec Theatre, Prague.

Krepsko Theatre recently presented their latest original performance that balances betřween non-verbal theatre, grotesque, clown and visual performance. The duet Alma Amanda is another element from the cycle Twilogy that researches the phenomenon of duality, coupling, antagonism and a complete range of situations that are found in relationships between two people. Linnea Happonen, the current leading creator behind the company, performed with Finnish acrobat Hena Kaikula in the duet. However, we were not aware that Kaikula is an acrobat. The young girl sits on a chair and does not know what to do with her hands and feet – in fact, she doesn’t know what to do at all. Not being able to handle this boredom, she decides to write a letter. What is amazing is how she performs this simple task: she slides down off the chair, raises her arched legs over her head, scratching the top of her head with the soles of her feet. During the performance, she uses her pliant body to perform brilliant numbers. The second character, portrayed by Linnea Happonen, answers to the call by initiating a walk on broken glass.

Although acrobatic, circus-like disciplines strengthen the production by creating an element of surprise and astonishing the audience, they are merely elements of the complete stage poetry. The same way in which Krepsko continues to satisfy its audiences when it crystallises the poetics of its creations. We find the inspiration for these poetics one hundred years ago, in the needlework of bodices and in high heel shoes that often exacerbated the gait of young girls and ladies and eventually draws blood (red corals poured from their boots). Let’s look at the layers of undergarments, and also in the dignified, disciplined demeanour of young women. Everything physical and social necessity slightly lapsed to abnormality, deviation, absurdity and phantasmagora, where they were first captured by the first cinemascope and by the diaries of Doctor Freud. Linnea Happonen has a special gift for this particular era and its characteristic elements. She demonstrates that she can masterfully take the time to construct performances for today’s adult audiences. In her own special way, she has discovered an infinite principle of stage lyrics and can compliment them in ways that they never seem to lose their magic.

KREPSKO: Alma Amanda. Premiere October 29, 2007. Roxy NoD Experimental Space, Prague.