The National Theatre ballet ensemble ended the season of this year in token of folk music. The double evening of 25th and 26th June 2009 in Estates Theatre was devoted to the company Hradišťan, which performed its own program during the first night, and during the second night came on together with the NT ballet ensemble.
The musical and dance piece O slunovratu (About Solstice) is the program which had its premiere maybe more than a decade ago, however still celebrates success and may already is considered fundamental part in the golden collection of the scenic-folk performances. The notorious lyrics inspired by the Jan Skácel verses and by the folk poetry texts are compiled into a dance performance in relation to the tradition and its principals. The choreography of Ladislava Košíková doesn’t only demonstrate the folk dance on the stage, but she seeks its depth, which she compiles into a very dynamic scenic piece presented by interprets, whose abilities exceed the standard of semi-professional companies, and the dance ensemble of Hradišťan belongs to this group with no doubt. The whole performance was only slightly harmed by the space, which was pushing the dancers to the back part because of the stage proportions. Despite this the humanity and sincerity, with which “The Solstice” was created and with which is being presented in all its possibilities, got across to the audience.
The second evening of the Hradišťan company was compiled only with the help of its musical ensemble. The whole evening had three parts: first part consisted of the concert itself with the opening speech of Jiří Pavlica. Pleasant songs, the cross section of the company repertoire, tuned up the audience for the second part, which was the dance production of the NT ballet ensemble. Two famous choreographies of Petr Zuska, Ne me quitte pas and Les Bras de Mer, proved again what a master Petr Zuska is in the chamber choreography and at the same time that he still is an active dancer. Both, very deep-felt duets full of bitterness and beauty of relationships were performed by the leading soloists (Nikola Márová and Jiří Kodym; Zuzana Susová and Petr Zuska) and belong among those pieces which will hardly pall on. The third choreography of this evening was also a duet, this time a duet of a promising choreographer Hana Turečková. Los sueños danced by Magdalena Matějková and Alexandre Katsapov had not only surprised the audience by its depth, but also brought a fresh breeze into the prevalent program. Beyond that, a stylish video projection put the finishing touches to the atmosphere and to the sting of this tiny story about searching and finding.
The third part finally intertwined the two groups: Ej lásko (Hey, love) performed with live music and sang by the Hradišťan company. This way the ballet ensemble director followed up his affection to remake his favorite music artworks into dance pieces which is attractive for the audience, of course. Petr Zuska brings an interesting view of folk artwork, he leaves the folk roots behind and finds his own story in music through the collection of several songs.
Ej lásko is again about relationships, this time less defined though. We may find desire and resignation there depicted through songs, even if sometimes in a descriptive way, the piece as a whole gives the impression of being compact, the images follow up and create its own world without depending on the music. The piece, representing typical Zuska’s dance phraseology, gives a pleasant and relaxing impression even in the case of performers (Nikola Márová, Edita Raušerová, Ivana Mikešová, Alexandre Katsapov and Petr Zuska), whose dance is released, and still of very good quality.
Both evenings brought two very inspiring views of folk music to the audience. An interesting project came out of those evenings, and it fits nicely to the end of the season time with no doubt, and it is a welcomed innovation, especially in the case of the Prague spectator with their distinct preferences.
Presented: 25th and 26th June 2009, National Theatre, Estates Theatre
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