VerTeDance company have celebrated their tenth anniversary with a retrospection of their, so far always successful, work. On the occasion of this special anniversary the creative duo and driving force of the company, Veronika Kotlíková and Tereza Ondrová, have been given a gift of a new production, created by Joseph Tmim.
In this particular premiere project they have been joined by Charlotta Öfverholm, who has made several appearances on the Czech alternative scene since 2004, and who in cooperation with VerTeDance mounted a production Found & Lost in 2011. Now she took her new piece LUCKY to Ponec Theatre and has performed it there for the first time since its premiere in Stockholm in May earlier this year. This one woman show is as dynamic and unrestrained as the artist herself. One would not believe that she has been dancing for thirty years (more on http://www.tanecniaktuality.cz/charlotta-oefverholm-musim-praze-podekovat/). Her energy is simply a phenomenon that can overwhelm you quite easily. It is not just about the artist's physical drive, but also about her ability to capture ideas in a consistently clean scenic form with thoughtful dramaturgy and direction. As much as she is straightforward and convincing in her motion settings, her work is similarly invasive too.
We Can Be Even Happy
On the rear screen there is a projection of a road with a white line in the middle that goes quickly forward and Öfverholm asks: What is important in your life? Do you want to live? Have you made someone happy today? Do you think of death? In doing so, she decided to have a look at the questions about the meaning of human existence a little bit from above. Therefore, when the film stops a lifeless body of the dancer hanging from a rope suddenly appears, introduced by an unpleasant sound. As if she came down to the ground from somewhere above, where everything might seem a bit different... However, her physis does not indulge in quiet meditation, on the contrary, she tastes the ground with almost every part of her body – on the floor she seeks support, security and repose as well as impulses for wilful flings into space. When she is on her feet, she enters rectangular light sectors, quickly runs around in a hectic pace of a musical collage, when her hands perform their own kind of sign language.
After a slow walk, when she stops in the middle of the stage while we can see a demonstration of sea waves on the horizon, she says: "concentration, education, meditation, relaxation“. Light floods the whole stage and Charlotta savours the sensation of freedom, liberty, repose. Adagio melody is disrupted by all sorts of noises and sounds, to which the dancer reacts with falls that make you believe that even her firm, ripped body would shatter to pieces. She takes up a yoga sitting position for a while only to transform herself into a cabaret singer when a red light turns on. She strolls amongst the audiences, asking them questions and "making" them draw something on her skin, already covered with drawings more than enough. She also calls Roman, who comes to her rescue and takes her down from the rope, from which she was hanging, looking in vain for someone to deliver her from the entanglement. In the end she climbs up a tall step ladder, sits on a high-mounted swing and shows a sign Lucky to be here. It seems that Öfverholm knows how to be happy, at least it looks like that. And you believe her because she passes this piece of possible lightness of being and good-humored light-heartedness on to you.
Traces of Bodies
The second part of the evening was actually the already mentioned birthday present, given to VerTeDance by Israeli dancer Joseph Tmim, who was brought to Prague by Charlotta Öfverholm. He is obviously close to her nature, with which both Czech performers Tereza Ondrová and Veronika Kotlíková are evidently in tune as well. All three dancers join together in the TRACES in a dance full of dynamic lunges and rapid changes. At the beginning they are relaxed – Öfverholm is sitting behind the desk with her torso placed on the top of it, while Ondrová slowly brings in buckets of soil that she empties over her partner. Meanwhile, Knytlová slowly walks to and fro between two piles of white stones that she endlessly carries from one to the other. A moment of silence before the storm, which breaks loose when the dancers begin to move.
Charlotta wildly sticks a fork and a knife into the table as if she would like to cut anything that gets into her way to pieces, including Tereza and herself. Dancers suddenly go wild, their bodies leave imprints
in the dirt, hang to each other, even briefly touch each other in a rather intimate way. They dance together in unison, there are both solos and duets. They continuously define the boundaries of their bodies, they look for and push their way through the obstacles that are set in their way, finding themselves among some bricks from which they build both holey and solid walls, they even lie on the bricks like fakirs on nails and burden themselves with stones. When Charlotta sits on a chair, fiddling with dry branches, the other two dancers move around a table, Veronika stays underneath it, while Tereza is emptying some soil over her.
The bodies of the dancers still resist something or someone. They cover themselves with stones only to move them aside a moment later. They refuse to bear any burden, they want to hover and fly. Finally, Tereza casually lights a cigarette and Veronika sits on the floor among the stones, while Charlotta is throwing some glitters that stick to the bodies of the protagonists. Coloured balloons are fixed to a lying body. After all, it could be so easy to take off, experience the feeling of lightness...
At the beginning the performance is accompanied by Spanish-sounding guitar and singing, but most of all we hear a medley of several Israeli musicians. Dancers are dressed in simple costumes in earthy shades. Physical interweaving and slithering, swift swings into space, contrasting changes in the centre of gravity and free falls thus leave even more exposed traces of bodies not only on stage but also in the minds of audiences.
LUCKYConcept, choreography and dance: Charlotta Öfverholm
Collaborator and codirector: Dwight Rhoden
Lighting design: Tobias HallgrenMusic: Alvina Lanselle
Music arrangements: Lauri Antila
Piano arrangement: Helen Olofson
Video: Anders J. Larson
Rope choreography: Linnea Backgärd
Czech premiere on November 18th, 2014 at Ponec Theatre
TRACES
Directied and choreographed by: Joseph Tmim
Music: Asaf Avidan, Rana Salvin, Meira Asher
Costumes: Máša ČerníkováLighting design: Tobias Hallgren, David Prokopič
Premiere on November 18th, 2014 at Ponec Theatre
Translation: Tomáš Valníček
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