In October 2007, when celebrating his eightieth birthday, Pavel Šmok has given Lucie Holánková a trademark for her ensemble – the Prague Chamber Ballet of Pavel Šmok. Since then, she is its artistic director and choreographer. About a week before the premiere of the Old Czech Legends, Taneční aktuality had the chance to interview Lucie Holánková about the functioning and future of her ensemble. We talked for almost an hour. Then she went to look for a throne for the new performance.

Do you remember when you first met Pavel Šmok?
The first encounter was very positive. It was at the time when the ensemble still performed in the State Opera. We worked on his choreography, so I met him as a dancer and it was a great pleasure and inspiration to work with him.

How did you come across the idea that you will lead the ensemble, which had been dissolved in 2004 after being assigned to the State Opera?
The initial idea came from Mr. Šmok. He knew that I was trying to create a small chamber ensemble that would specialize in Czech choreographies, so he came and simply said: “If you want to, I will give you the trademark. Take it and use it. Use the name and I will be glad.” That was a great honor but I also had doubts whether I could be a good director of the ensemble. You carry the whole history on your shoulders. You must continue in something that was very successful at a time, it is not like beginning anew. So it has both positive and negative sides. Of course I’m proud that I can call the ensemble Prague Chamber Ballet of Pavel Šmok.

Did Pavel Šmok give you advice from the beginning? Are you still in touch?
We still keep in touch. He was one of my professors during the studies at HAMU, which I finished in June. He knows about my career and he still gives me advice. But he himself says that choreography can not be learned, that it involves communication about how things should and shouldn’t be done. There is certain variability in the choreographies I have done. He always gave me his comments and he still does. So he knows about the performances we are preparing at the moment. We revive also some of his repertoire, so he is watching what we with them. But he is more of a patron now, he doesn’t want to participate actively.

Was it hard for you as a choreography student at HAMU to become an artistic director of the ensemble?
In my case, it all gradually evolved. I studied at HAMU and I wanted to do choreography, so I prepared my own events. The events were organized by me personally, rather than a certain ensemble. So I got to know the duties of a choreographer who must organize the rehearsals, choose the dancers, dramaturgy, book a venue, obtain the costumes and I don’t know what else. Nowadays it is even more intensive. We have much more shows and we have an excellent manager that takes care of the ensemble. My duty as a choreographer and the artistic director is to lead the ensemble in a way to tell them when the rehearsals will be and who will be in the ensemble, duties are the same but only grew bigger.

The original Chamber Ballet dissolved after being assigned to the State Opera. How did you build the contemporary ensemble? Did you choose the dancers and how?
The core of the ensemble was the same as in the State Opera. Now the lineup has slightly changed and there are new people who weren’t initially in the ensemble. But those are dancers with the same qualities. It is also given by the way we work which combines dance and acting together. These dancers are not just classically trained, but they are also very flexible, diverse and talented actors. I came to them with certain choreography and the collaboration was beneficial, so we continue in it.

What qualities of the former Chamber Ballet would you like to preserve and what should be done in a different way?
I would like to keep the dancers’ qualities I already talked about. He (Šmok) managed to choose extremely creative dancers also talented in acting. So the dancers on the stage did not look, think and dance the same. You could see the different personalities and the repertoire was adapted to fit with the ensemble. He wrote choreographies to fit the dancers. I would like to preserve the good creative atmosphere. He always had a great respect of the dancers. I don’t know if I will be successful in gaining so much respect. They respect me but at the moment it is more at the friendly basis. We are all the same age, sometimes I’m slightly older and sometimes they are slightly older. And I am a woman which makes it sometimes more problematic to solve problems with men. I would like to keep the regional character of the ensemble and concentrate on Czech repertoire. Pavel Šmok wrote mostly choreographies with Czech music. I believe that Czech audience will appreciate that more than some modern experiment. There is certain humanity in it. We want to come closer to the spectator not that the spectator does not have to discover us. We want to offer Czech audience with something familiar.

How would you conclude last year under your management?
We did a lot of work. Given the fact that we still do not have a fixed scene, we can not offer the dancers a stable engagement and pay them properly. But I think that we are becoming more and more visible. I hope so. Theatres keep on inviting us. So we are trying to reestablish our position at the scene after the ensemble hadn’t existed for some time.

Are you looking for your own venue or you want to preserve Chamber Ballet as a traveling ensemble?
We would need a stable place to rehearse rather than our own venue. That is the most important thing for the dancers and it is what we need the most at the moment. It would be nice to have our own theatre in Prague but we do not want to play in Prague everyday. We want stay a traveling ensemble. That is how it has always been and that is how it will be. We can afford to travel because we are a small ensemble. We can go to smaller cities, smaller stages and travel abroad. There is a prospect for our own rehearsing spaces but we have to come to it.

How popular is dance in smaller towns?
I think it is much more popular than in Prague. Those theatres are always full. It is also given by the fact that there is not much going on. In Prague, there are thousands of events every day. There, people come and take it as an important event. They dress up, buy tickets in advance.

Last year you performed in Germany. Are you planning any other shows abroad?
We were invited to an international dance festival to Bangkok. We managed to get official support so we will be officially representing Czech culture abroad. Now there is a problem with the political situation, so we hope that it calms down so that we can participate. We negotiate with German promoters but it is hard because theatres in Germany plan their programs longtime ahead and that is sometimes a problem. We do not know whether we will have the funds and we would also need to engage the dancers fulltime so that we could say yes, we will come in two years.

What about the trainings? Do you have your own at the Chamber Ballet?
At the moment, all the dancers are employed somewhere else. Some of the dancers also have a fulltime engagement, for example David Stránský in Laterna Magica or Michal Holánek in the Opera at the National Theatre. They have their own trainings. The others are freelance so it is their responsibility. We have preparatory trainings before the rehearsals. It depends because everybody has his or her own activities and different schedule.

Do you prefer classical or modern dance training?
Ideally I would like to balance it half to half. I consider both classical and modern techniques and training important. Classical does not necessarily have to be something old-fashioned and stiff. Classical training is important to me and I want to give the dancers enough of both.

The repertoire of the Chamber Ballet consists mainly of your own choreographies. How would you describe your style?
I can’t really say. Of course I’m influenced by the people I worked with. I can feel that and think that it must be apparent. But I also think that I make progress. Now I would do differently the things I did a year ago. So there is a constant development and that is good. I want to evolve so I don’t like being put in a box. I write choreographies for the music. So the way I interpret the music is important. The acting is also important. The choreography must make sense. I’m not a choreographer that would be preoccupied with dance without any deeper context. I try to incorporate a story into the choreography and to express something.

Are you the kind of a choreographer who has an exact idea about what will be staged or you create the choreography with the dancers?
What I usually have in mind is the number of the dancers and the basic shape of the choreography concerning the solos and the choir. But the exact steps and moves are created with the dancers.

The Old Czech Legends, your new choreography will come out next week. How would you introduce it?
We were looking for a show for children, because when we travel, the theatres often want to stage also a performance for children. The ensemble used to have two fairytales and a very popular show How to Do a Ballet, but those can no longer be staged because one of their main elements was Pavel Šmok. We wanted something new for children but not a fairytale. Something that would also educate them. So we came across the Old Czech Legends. We chose the most common legends, about Čech, Krok, Libuše, Bivoj and Přemysl because you can’t put more into one hour long performance. It should be done in an entertaining form in dance with spoken word. We shall see if they like it, because they are the most critical audience who don’t hold anything back. We shall see how they will react, if they will understand everything and what they will remember.

At the moment, are you planning any new shows?
In 2009 we will present a choreography with Martinů’s music because of the 50^th anniversary of his death. I will prepare the Garland and I contacted Jan Kodet who was very helpful and who will prepare the Touches of the Dream Book. He will combine the music from Martinů’s opera Julietta, a Dream Book. He gave me a beautiful description of what he would like to do. Another premiere will take part on the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution and it will also be a join performance. It will be done by David Stránský and because we wanted to include Slovak artists I asked Ján Ďurovčík and he also confirmed. Then we will restage successful choreographies of Pavel Šmok, the Bright Night and Stabat Mater.

If you could invite any contemporary choreographer for the Chamber Ballet, who would that be?
I would have to choose between Kylián and Ek.

What about the future of the Chamber Ballet? What would you like to achieve?
Presently, the most pressing problem is our own space. First I would like to guarantee the ensemble with a stable rehearsing space and financing. You can create on your own independently but to give it a certain level of professionalism you need a rehearsing place and finance. The dancers are great. They come to the rehearsals do not complain and do not want huge amounts of money but you can not run an ensemble like this forever. I want to continue in the tradition that has been established since 1964 when the ensemble began as Ballet Prague. I want to continue in the tradition and I want a permanent ensemble. I want the ensemble to develop, to gain confidence, to afford better projects, better scene and better choreographers. I want the professional level of the ensemble to rise.  
 
  

Lucie Holánková after her studies at the Dance Academy in Brno, she joined the ensemble at the National Theatre. In the season 1999/2000, she moved to the Prague Chamber Ballet directed by Libor Vaculík and later Pavel Šmok (the ensemble has become the core of the State Opera Ballet, where Lucie danced many of the main parts). She was three times nominated to the wider selection of the Thalia awards, the last time for the role of She in the My Country ballet. She also played in several film roles, for example Anna Balontay in the Lesson of Love and Dance. In June 2008, she finished her master studies in choreography at the Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts

Jana Bitterová         

Translation: Pavel Drábek                                                             December 2008