At the beginning, the author offers a connecting link between the stories of the main characters. Marquis de Sade and Marie Antoinette lived in the same time, in the century of riots that were the sign of the beginning of the French Revolution. Their unsettled life stories lead them to prison. And this is the reason why they both suffer in jail at the beginning of the story. Whereas Marquis de Sade remains in this position – of the suffering man strife-torn by his own deviations and sadistic tendencies – for the rest of the performance, the first scene is only a foreshadow of the end of Marie Antoinette. She remorsefully dances in a plain dress that is nothing compared to what she is going to dress during her narration of her life story.
The acts of Marquis de Sade always bring cruelty on the stage. First, he chokes and rapes Nanett, the servant (Marika Hanousková), and then whipping follows. Louis XVI (a character that appears in the staging during a story of Marie Antoinette) sentences him. He is in prison, he attempts to write forbidden books and he is wearing a strait jacket because he is considered mentally ill. His terrifying deeds are punished but he is also accompanied by Marquee de Sade (Valerija Radionova) who speaks for Marquis, personification of Pain claps her hand and pure Love wants to breathe on him. An honoured guest of the Liberec Theatre Vlastimil Harapes plays Marquis de Sade (Jaroslav Slavický is an alternation). The interpretation of the character is accentuated by acting features and many gestures that express inner instability of Marquis.
Karolína Miková plays Marie Antoinette. The story of her character begins with preparations for a marriage and a following duet with Louis XVI that represents an unsuccessful wedding night. Andrey Bayniyazov playing the character of Louis XVI does not have much space for dancing performance; he manages to play the hesitating king very well concerning acting. The real dancing pas de deux happens in the second act when Marie Antoinette meets Axel Fersen (Jan Čížek) and immediately falls in love with him. Karolína Miková is most convincing in this position. She dances very well through the whole performance and she – thanks to her looks – completely fulfils the image of a skittish queen. Jan Čížek is a nice partner but Karolína Miková beats him with her surer and more elaborate technique.
Their pas de deux was spontaneously awarded by applause of the audience who were as if relieved that light came to the performance because not many scenes have taken place until now. Another – and the last – pas de deux that audience can appreciated, was performed by imprisoned Marie Antoinette with Fersen after her unsuccessful escape from revolutionary revels. We need to mention a very impressive scenic solution of the following beheading of the queen.
Stage design of the whole performance (Eva Brodská) that consisted mainly of moved railings was plain but sufficient. Costumes by Josef Jelínek had the decorative and colour role that definitely belongs to time when the story took place. Unfortunately, effective crinolines on the wheels often substituted dancing choreography. The corps de ballet had very little opportunities for dance expression. But it proved during (almost the only one) group dance of revolutionaries that it would succeed in future dance performances.
Alexey Yurakov had more opportunities for showing his art of dance in his role of Death / Executioner – and he had a lot to show. He mastered technical elements like jumps and pirouettes as well as expressive formulation of the role and corresponding character of movement. His partner was Pain in good interpretation of Valerija Radionova. Maria Gornalova played another symbolizing character of Love. Her technical qualities are undeniable. The choreographer relied more often on her perfect arabesque and therefore a solution of a movement of this lyrical character was not very original.
In general, the staging had a drift thanks to a quick change of scenes and costumes and it was attractive for viewers. Recurrent images of Marquis de Sade and Marie Antoinette caused that there was no space left for their detailed description. It is difficult to express Marie Antoinette as a votaress of spectacular festivals and a passionate participant of court intrigues. But there is still a question whether one card game was enough to indicate her moody activity that also contributed to her perdition. The ensemble in Liberec would definitely master more dance instead of pantomimic scenes with its niveau and dance could contribute to a more detailed expression of the chosen topic.
Written after the premiere on 27th March 2009.
Autor: Jana Bitterová
Translation: Eliška Hulcová
Josef Bartos
Thank you for your thoughts. One got stuck in my mind – that passion makes us different from AI. Just yesterday I read…I am a dance critic. I am a member of an endangered species