Torobaka or An Excited Dialogue Between Two Men

At the beginning of the last century Hellerau near Dresden was a venue of Modernist feats and searching. Since then a bundle of time has passed, after 1945 Hellerau ended up on the eastern side of the Berlin Wall and after its fall in the nineties it could build on the great tradition once again and the adjacent buildings of the complex have been reconstructed (a two-year reconstruction of the Festspielhaus was finished in 2006). The presentation of contemporary art, and above all, of dance events has gained rapid momentum especially under the artistic direction of Dieter Jaenicke. Fall 2015 was dedicated to the Romamor Festival, which was conceived as a tribute to gypsy culture – the programme consisted of dance and music productions that more or less illustrated the chosen subject. As a photo exhibition on the first floor of the theatre building documented, the Romani are still wandering around Europe, looking in vain for their home – the photos captured those, who after many years of their residence in Germany have to leave because they did not obtain permission to stay any longer in the country. There were also photos of one of the walls built in Slovakia that separate the homes of the white population and the Romani. The topic of migration is even more on the front burner today than it was during the festival preparations. Every day, thousands of refugees arrive in Europe, which they see as their salvation, but it is wrong to assume that the European continent can accommodate them all. But let us go back to one of the shows, to which those interested could go from Prague with the Archa Theatre, which arranged tickets to one of the productions. Flamenco versus Kathak  In one evening two strong personalities face each other on the stage, two different worlds meet. Spanish choreographer and master of flamenco Israel Galván enters the arena together with British artist Akram Khan, whose family came to London from Bangladesh. Apart from these two performers, several musicians are an active part of the show Torobaka as well. One percussionist, one male and two female singers accompany those two rivals, allies and dancing shamans. At the beginning Galván and Khan dance a duet, first they step on the forestage and stop with their hands held high, palms facing the audience, as if they exuded and at the same time received some kind of energy, as if they surrendered (I was particularly intrigued by Galván's large hands and long fingers). Male bodies touch and bump into each other. Galván and Khan dance side by side, yet each in his own way, at some points they are tuned to the same movement frequency, they egg each other on, they fight like two bulls, they embrace and tap each other on the back with their fingers. There is no story in Torobaka, it is all about rhythm structuring the body shaping, about precise and functional lighting design, about the high voice of the male singer and deep vocals of his female counterpart. Indeed, even the very name of the production is a pun – a combination of two words, meaning bull, a ritual animal in Spain, and a cow, which is a sacred animal in India. Flamenco Showman  Torobaka is a series of scenes, an elaborate dance performance of genuine, physical expression. After the opening duet Galván steps on a wooden board and overwhelms us with his energy. His solo is intense in terms of experience, enthusiasm and captivating due to the demanding character of the performance. Galván is simply a flamenco showman! Music is closely interwoven with the movement and uses not only drums, but also small cymbals. Khan comes barefoot and starts stomping the floor vigorously. While his "rival" holds his arms up in a Spanish manner and his stomping is elegant, Khan makes circles with his hands in the style of the Indian dance kathak and is more bound to the ground. His performance is rawer, more focused on low positions; in other scenes his walking, running and stomping is accompanied by a ringing of bells fastened around his ankles. In one scene he puts his hands in white shoes and, kneeling, steps with them on the floor. At some moments during the production the interaction between the vocals and movement is very expressive, especially when a dancer responds to voice with his movement. The spotlit circle is an arena, which all the performers enter one by one and employ their voices and physical movement based on the work of legs and arms.  For both artists Andalusian flamenco and kathak are the starting material for their dance compositions, into which a distinctive, contemporary creative insight is infused. Blending the voices, rhythm, clapping and movement into a breathtaking theatrical production is what this piece is all about. After one hour the performance ends, the white ring lighting changes to red, the thrilling dialogue between two men reached its peak and now may end in peace. A review of the performance held on September 19th, 2015, at Festspielhaus, Hellerau Dresden.  Torobaka  Choreography and stage direction: Israel Galván and Akram Khan  Music and interpretation: David Azurza, Bobo, Christine Leboutte, BC Manjunath and Bernhard Schimpelsberger  Lighting designer: Michael Hulls  Costumes: Kimi Nakano  Sound: Pedro León  World Premiere: June 2nd, 2014, Grenoble, France

Translation: Tomáš Valníček

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