Petr Zuska has been the artistic director of the National Theatre Ballet for ten seasons already. This decade in the life of the whole ensemble is going to be celebrated accordingly by a festival retrospective of his choreographies. Under the title "Petr Zuska Gala X" six different evening programmes will be featured (all but one are mixed bills), showing a total of 18 choreographies by Petr Zuska. Audiences will get to see both recent and older opuses, some of which are no longer in the repertoire. Part of the festival is also an exhibition of large-format photographs covering the period of National Theatre's Ballet last ten years under the direction of Petr Zuska, featured at the National Theatre piazetta. On the occasion of this anniversary a publication that summarizes this period from different perspectives, including image material, will be published too.
The festival programme is divided into different-theme nights: on May 10 and 12 two gala evenings Gala with the Young are held at the Estates Theatre. The mixed bill showcases the pieces that have emerged from the collaboration between Petr Zuska and Jaroslav Slavický, Director of the Prague Dance Conservatory and the Bohemia Ballet company. The young (students) will encounter the “older” (National Theatre Ballet soloists) and share an evening with a certain gala flavour.
Between May 17th and 19th, the New Stage of the National Theatre hosts a triple bill called Crazy Stuff. As the name of the production indicates, these are slightly deranged, highly bizarre and lightly mysterious opuses. Works strongly contrasting with each other, with each of them containing a seemingly incompatible contrast within itself… And a cornucopia of humour, which belongs to “foolishness” too.
A year has passed since the ballet Brel-Vysotsky-Kryl / Solo for Three was last performed at the National Thetre. Now, from May 26 to May 28 another three performances are scheduled. The piece has been Petr Zuska’s most successful production to date, earning Thalia Award for Michal Štípa, Prize for the Best Solo Performance for Alexander Katsapov and Prize for Original Work that went to its creator. To that, Petr Zuska says: “When, years ago, I was thinking of a title for the unusual Brel, Vysotsky and Kryl “trio”, a simple and apposite play on words occurred to me, one that was not, however, entirely of my own invention. Perhaps the most successful and most famous duet from the celebrated Mats Ek’s workshop is called “Solo for Two”. I phoned him and asked whether I could use this principle in the title within another, completely different performance. Mats agreed, adding that in fact it should be called “Solo for Four”, since the fourth artist is me. At the time I didn’t take his advice, yet within this gala performance I will make an exception. Therefore, “Solo for Me”...
Another event held at the National Theatre is a triple bill Moves and Stops, scheduled between June 7th and 9th, which presents a unique opportunity to see the choreography Death and the Maiden. Since its premiere in Monte Carlo on 20 October 2011 it has remained exclusively in the repertoire of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, hence its current gala performance in Prague is truly exceptional.
On June 20, 21 and 22 a Tribute to Great Tones will be performed, once again at the National Theatre in Prague. The author describes the piece as follows: “Gustav Mahler, Antonín Dvořák, Bohuslav Martinů, Leoš Janáček and Igor Stravinsky – the composers whose music I “flesh out” here – were great artists and, in my opinion, great human beings as well. It comes then as no surprise that their tones too were, are and will remain “great”. And it does not matter how “great” the instrumentation is.”
The festival concludes with another triple bill The Touches of Folklore, running from June 28 to June 30 at the National Theatre. As the title suggests, each of the three pieces featured here is based on the folk tunes played live by the famous ensembles Čechomor, Hradišťan and Vyšivanka - Lada. The evening then continues with a happening at the National Theatre piazzetta, where Petr Zuska and National Theatre Ballet say goodbye to the 2011/2012 season.
Those who are going to see the entire programme or at least the bigger portion of it may take advantage of special discounts:
6 tickets for 6 different nights - 40% discount and printed programme guide for free
3 tickets for 3 different nights - 25% discount
2 tickets for 2 different nights - 20% discount
Source: National Theatre
Petr Zuska Gala X - A Large Retrospective of The Artistic Director of The National Theatre Ballet
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Petr Zuska has been the artistic director of the National Theatre Ballet for ten seasons already. This decade in the life of the whole ensemble is going to be celebrated accordingly by a festival retrospective of his choreographies. Under the title "Petr Zuska Gala X" six different evening programmes will be featured (all but one are mixed bills), showing a total of 18 choreographies by Petr Zuska. Audiences will get to see both recent and older opuses, some of which are no longer in the repertoire. Part of the festival is also an exhibition of large-format photographs covering the period of National Theatre's Ballet last ten years under the direction of Petr Zuska, featured at the National Theatre piazetta. On the occasion of this anniversary a publication that summarizes this period from different perspectives, including image material, will be published too.
The festival programme is divided into different-theme nights: on May 10 and 12 two gala evenings Gala with the Young are held at the Estates Theatre. The mixed bill showcases the pieces that have emerged from the collaboration between Petr Zuska and Jaroslav Slavický, Director of the Prague Dance Conservatory and the Bohemia Ballet company. The young (students) will encounter the “older” (National Theatre Ballet soloists) and share an evening with a certain gala flavour.
Between May 17th and 19th, the New Stage of the National Theatre hosts a triple bill called Crazy Stuff. As the name of the production indicates, these are slightly deranged, highly bizarre and lightly mysterious opuses. Works strongly contrasting with each other, with each of them containing a seemingly incompatible contrast within itself… And a cornucopia of humour, which belongs to “foolishness” too.
A year has passed since the ballet Brel-Vysotsky-Kryl / Solo for Three was last performed at the National Thetre. Now, from May 26 to May 28 another three performances are scheduled. The piece has been Petr Zuska’s most successful production to date, earning Thalia Award for Michal Štípa, Prize for the Best Solo Performance for Alexander Katsapov and Prize for Original Work that went to its creator. To that, Petr Zuska says: “When, years ago, I was thinking of a title for the unusual Brel, Vysotsky and Kryl “trio”, a simple and apposite play on words occurred to me, one that was not, however, entirely of my own invention. Perhaps the most successful and most famous duet from the celebrated Mats Ek’s workshop is called “Solo for Two”. I phoned him and asked whether I could use this principle in the title within another, completely different performance. Mats agreed, adding that in fact it should be called “Solo for Four”, since the fourth artist is me. At the time I didn’t take his advice, yet within this gala performance I will make an exception. Therefore, “Solo for Me”...
Another event held at the National Theatre is a triple bill Moves and Stops, scheduled between June 7th and 9th, which presents a unique opportunity to see the choreography Death and the Maiden. Since its premiere in Monte Carlo on 20 October 2011 it has remained exclusively in the repertoire of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, hence its current gala performance in Prague is truly exceptional.
On June 20, 21 and 22 a Tribute to Great Tones will be performed, once again at the National Theatre in Prague. The author describes the piece as follows: “Gustav Mahler, Antonín Dvořák, Bohuslav Martinů, Leoš Janáček and Igor Stravinsky – the composers whose music I “flesh out” here – were great artists and, in my opinion, great human beings as well. It comes then as no surprise that their tones too were, are and will remain “great”. And it does not matter how “great” the instrumentation is.”
The festival concludes with another triple bill The Touches of Folklore, running from June 28 to June 30 at the National Theatre. As the title suggests, each of the three pieces featured here is based on the folk tunes played live by the famous ensembles Čechomor, Hradišťan and Vyšivanka - Lada. The evening then continues with a happening at the National Theatre piazzetta, where Petr Zuska and National Theatre Ballet say goodbye to the 2011/2012 season.
Those who are going to see the entire programme or at least the bigger portion of it may take advantage of special discounts:
6 tickets for 6 different nights - 40% discount and printed programme guide for free
3 tickets for 3 different nights - 25% discount
2 tickets for 2 different nights - 20% discount
Source: National Theatre
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