The ballet ensemble of the National Theatre Brno began the last season with a new tradition – choreographic workshops, where its members are given an opportunity to try out their own creations. A kind of a parallel to Prague Miniatures, but with a possibility for more frequent repeats. The stage of the theatre Reduta was given over to Debut .
This year, nine members of the NTB and four guests presented their works. There were several modern choreographies, neoclassical and folk inspiration, and three comic pieces. Some of these works touched upon the boundary of contemporary dance, which however has not yet fully let go of the ingrained patterns of classical ballet – be it in the use of elements, or at times rather in deep-rooted principles of movement. Their so far little experience with contemporary works does not yet allow these young authors the distinctiveness of style, and during their presentation of the choreographies sometimes it was not apparent whether this mingling of styles became an intention or an error. The employment of classical elements sometimes felt like an anomaly, which did not fit into the chosen style, especially in cases of specific movement coupling, jumps, or arms movement. The details compose a coherent whole and the contrary felt to be the most pronounced during the first three pieces.
The first of the choreographies, Concierto de Aranjues, was presented by Markéta Habalová. A compact story of three couples followed a relatively popular plot line: a unified group of people – a brave individual persuasion – joy of freedom – sudden fear of freedom – return to unification, which cannot be prevented even by love. Costumes remotely reminding of prisoners´ uniforms have served as props here.
This was followed by a study from a life of two couples by Aki Nishio Život je pohyb (Life is movement), where the title corresponded with the choreography, nothing more and nothing less), and then by a typical representation of a love triangle in the piece Tango per Amore by Gianvito Attimonelli. A piano sounded in the opening part of the scene (Tomáš Ibrmajer), which immediately brought a livelier atmosphere onto the stage. The setting was some dance hall, as if perfectly fitting for enticement by two men: but the tango character was crushed by unnecessarily excessive tenseness of classical elements, and even by the entire men’s variation. The result was not contrast or augmentation of the atmosphere, but instead it led rather to its fragmentation.
Karolina Polášková Kovácsová and Michaela Schusterová´s choreography Jing Jang promised an interesting development of movement, but it ended too soon. Only as a brief sample which merely suggested a possible relation of two female dancers dressed in black and white. A perennial theme, to be sure, but its handling offered a different kind of movement quality than the previous pieces. This choreography would have deserved to be taken further beyond a mere prologue.
Nelka Lazović then presented her comic choreography Jsme jací jsme (We are what we are). A prince courting a cleaning-lady, then held by two jovial waitresses, a drunkard’s study of a lovelorn mistress and a small show at the end. The first part, which still felt like a serious performance, was a solo to a Russian song (by the Lube choir), and with the exception of some exaggerated gestures, the piece was an impressive creation.
Zdeňka Kerlesová made a surprisingly mature intrusion into the realm of physical theatre in her choreography Sin amor. Three women like soulless puppets controlled by commands from the outside and in vain struggling to flee from their brutal partners…Compared to this, the short solo Za tebou (Behind you) to a Spanish song, which was “supplied” by Prague choreographer Mirka Eliášová rather as a mini-study of movement for one dancer, passed unnoticed.
Markéta Habalová in the choreography My pajďom s kaňom (also a song from the repertoire of the Russian band Lube) for three dancers made use of a dynamic sequence of jumps. The dance of three boys however failed to stand on par to the massive background music recording of the choir singing.
The first part was closed by the sketch The Breakfast of Champions by Marek Svobodník. The author borrowed a refined music accompaniment by Zdeněk Merta, from the Laterna Magika performance Casanova. But it did fit perfectly to the scene from a restaurant, where one of the guests orders a punishment of a fellow upper-class guest for breakfast, who had forgotten his wallet, only to find out in the last moment that by coincidence he will be met by the same fate. It was rather a pantomime than a dance, but the audience was grateful.
Only four more choreographies awaited the audience after the interval. The Last Touch by dancer Eriko Wakizono could have been a beginning of a grand neoclassical pas de deux. Here, the author impersonates a girl, who encounters a dream or perhaps a memory of a man from a photograph, whom she is mourning. Her natural work with classical dance vocabulary caught the audience’s attention, but the choreography ended too soon.
Mário Radačovský, the current director of the Slovak National Theatre, contributed to the Brno program with a geometrically pure duet. The choreography Silence to the music of Gustav Mahler is a cultivated modern piece on tip-toes. It opens and closes with the same image, an image of a woman, almost of a femme-fatale kind, who is trying to awaken a man’s feelings. This is the type of choreography whose interpretation requires a mature classical technique.
Hana Turečková from the National Theatre in Prague arrived to Brno with her choreography Los Sueños. By coincidence we have already written about it twice and it was interesting to see this piece on a new stage. The dancers of the NTB interpret it precisely and synchronically, with tension which is required in this microstory about an encounter in dreams. Knowing the original, one cannot fail to note that the technical staff of the Reduta theatre clearly lost in their bout with the videoprojection here.
The program ends with a comic choreography by Tomáš Rychetský and Viktor Konvalinka, both also from Prague, with their piece Jakstohoven, which they had presented during the last Miniatures. It works equally well with the audience in Brno, be it in the sequence of a slow-motion running race of irresistibly (stereo)typified representatives of human races and nations, who are pushing each other out of the game, in the double to Michael Jackson strewn over with confetti and admirers, or the “janitor’s” dance with brooms to Monti chardash by Eva Pilarová.
The diverse evening in Reduta is a good enterprise, which makes it possible for the dancers to try out a different role in their theatre work than their interpretation of roles on the stage. It would not be just to view their works in the same way as we judge the works by acclaimed choreographers. They all deserve congratulations for their courage to step out in front of the audience in this position. The idea of choreographic workshops is common all over the world, and it s a great way to test new possibilities and to discover new talents.
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