The Czech Ballet Symphony - Roman Vašek

The project Czech Ballet Symphony opened with D.M.J. 1953 – 1977 that was created three years ago by Petr Zuska for the National Theatre in Brno. It was necessary to modify the piece for the Prague stage (primarily because the new production does not use a live orchestra), but this did not take anything away from the dream-like choreographic elements. The theme of the piece is that of a dying young woman. Perhaps she is the memory of one so dear; perhaps gradually becoming one of Death’s subjects. The dance piece cumulates during the largo of Dvořák´s New World, nervously pulsating through the tones of the 2^nd variation of Bohuslav Martinů´s 3^rd Symphony and resignedly concludes with Janáček´s On the Winding Path. D.M.J. 1953-1977 is not congested with movement, but rather with a natural “breath”, filling the piece with beautiful stage metaphors (being lost among black cubes or biers, or the way they fall like dominoes, illustrating the way life sometimes collapses).

Tomáš Rychetský speaks the most contemporary language in the second half of the programme – The Unspoken Silence. Rychetský gravitates toward an expressively visual stylisation. He works with two stage objects - an illuminated rectangle/cradle and wave-like object. He emphasizes the lighting effects (lighting designer Daniel Tesář), using elements of shadow play and sharp colour changes.

After a short relief, feignedly with its effect, but on the dance ideas of the governing 6 Halves Human by Zuzana Šimáková, Jiří Kylián´s Symphonietta created a pleasant finale to the programme. This “dance pastel” was again captivating with its own poetics and energy. The Prague dancers however succeeded in mastering the difficult and fast tempo of the choreography at the cost of only a few minor imperfections.

The Czech Ballet Symphony illustrates the outstanding direction that contemporary ballet has now taken. In each of the pieces, the artistic design is an equal and inspiring partner of the dance itself.

P. Zuzka, J. Kylián, Z. Šimáková, T. Rychetský: Czech Ballet Symphony (Česká baletní symfonie). National Theatre in Prague, premiere September 20, 2007.

More information can be found at: http://www.narodni-divadlo.cz