Guest: Poznań Ballet – 4: CLUG, LEÓN & LIGHTFOOT, BONDARA

ABOUT

Poznań Opera Ballet in Brno

The Poznań Opera Ballet, one of Central Europe’s leading dance companies, will visit Brno for the first time. Under the artistic direction of Robert Bondara, the company presents a repertoire ranging from classical ballet to contemporary dance and regularly performs on European stages. It collaborates with prominent choreographers from abroad.

The evening’s program consists of a triptych of three choreographies: Stabat Mater by Edward Clug, Shutters Shut and Subject to Change by the duo Sol León and Paul Lightfoot from Nederlands Dans Theatre, and Bolero by Robert Bondara.

Edward Clug – a Slovenian choreographer of Romanian origin who captivates audiences worldwide with his works. His unique choreographies are presented by the most renowned ballet companies.

Sol León and Paul Lightfoot – artists who spent 35 years at Nederlands Dans Theatre, one of the most famous contemporary dance companies: first as dancers, then as choreographers and artistic directors (until 2020).

Robert Bondara – dancer, choreographer, director, and teacher. He has staged performances in Poland and abroad. Winner of many awards and distinctions. Since 2018, he has been the director of the Poznań Opera Ballet.

The performance offers a showcase of different approaches to contemporary choreography and is a unique opportunity to see the Polish company in Brno. We will present only one date.

Stabat Mater / Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
choreography: Edward Clug
set and costumes design: Jordi Roig
lighting design: Tomaž Premzl
choreographer’s assistants: Gaj Žmavc, Tetiana Svetlična, Agnieszka Wolna-Bartosik, Elvis Val
Recorded live: soloists, chorus and orchestra of the Maribor Slovene National Theatre (SNG Maribor).

A moving choreographic interpretation of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater – one of the most famous musical adaptations of the medieval sequence describing the suffering of the Virgin Mary standing beneath the cross of her son Jesus. Clug’s interpretation emphasizes the hope contained in Pergolesi’s music; in its melodiousness, clarity of texture, and harmony, the artist sees optimism and even traces of irony or even humor, which contrasts with the pain and torment of the Mother. For the choreographer, it is a hymn in honor of women, where tenderness and delicacy are combined with sacrifice and devotion. The choreography has strong allegorical references to traditional symbolism, but presents them in a new way through the intimacy and timelessness of the dance, which reflects our personal understanding of the relationship between mother and son. Clug’s Stabat Mater gives Pergolesi’s work new life and meaning, inspiring the audience to reflect on their own place in the world and the legacy they will leave behind.

Shutters Shut (2003)
choreography / set and costume design: Sol León & Paul Lightfoot
poem: Gertrude Stein If I told him: A completed portrait of Picasso (1923) read by the author
lighting design: Tom Bevoort
lighting adjustment: Jolanda de Kleine
costume supervisor: Joke Visser
choreographers’ assistants: Chloe Albaret, Sarah Reynolds, Olivier Coelfard

Shutters Shut is a four-minute choreography which alluring and unique rythm is constituted by a Gertrude Stein’s poem, recited by the author herself. Stein was an American writer who spent a great part of her life in Europe. She came from an affluent family and the wealth she had at her disposal, as well as broad contacts, enabled her not only to live a well-off life but also to lend a helping hand to numerous artists. Writers such as Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Scott Fitzgerald and painters like Henri Matisse, Andre Derain or Pablo Picasso were visitors in her Parisian apartment. The latter described her as: ʺMademoiselle Gertrude Stein, homme de lettres”. She called him ʺa handsome shoeshine boy”. He presented her portrait to her. She embraced his in a poem. Sol León and Paul Lightfoot created choreography to Stein’s poem in 2003. Their choreografical concept lends itself to its meter, yet it also interprets it in a creative and amusing way. Both dancers delight with the precision of movement, frenetic play, which at times clearily mocks the partner, whilst on other

occassions reflects them and completes their words. There’s no room for mistakes here, for tripping, no time to ʺadd-say” something or to ʺadd-good-look”. In this very precise movement dancers are bare, entrapped in the snares of words, dynamics of phrases and dynamics of next interactions. Gertrude Stein is the author of a phrase which was eagerly addopted by Umberto Eco: “A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose…”. Looking at the choreography by Sol León and Paul Lightfoot one wants to rephrase: ʺA movement is a movement is a movement…”. So little, yet so much.

Subject to Change (2003)
choreography / set and costume design: Sol León & Paul Lightfoot
music director, conductor: Marta Kluczyńska
music: Franz Schubert – String Quartet No. 14 in d-minor, D 810 Der Tod und das Mädchen,  Movement 2: Andante con moto (arr. Gustav Mahler)
lighting design: Tom Bevoort
lighting adjustment: Jolanda de Kleine
costume supervisor: Joke Visser
choreographers’ assistants: Chloe Albaret, Olivier Coelfard

Every sheet with cast, schedule, or work plan in the Nederlands Dans Theatre contains text that reads: “Subject to Change”. This brief information determines the teams everyday life: introduces unavoidability and readiness for changes. Bear in mind: “Subject to Change”, so it can be altered, expect amendments, don’t get attached too much… These three short words defining dancer’s work have – however hard it is for us to admit it – their reflection in outer-dancing reality. There is a personal story behind the 2003 made choreography. The artists suffered a tragedy: their friend Ruth was near death. This dire event determined the creative process as well as led to a search for new ways and interpretations. The composition, to which Sol León and Paul Lightfoot created the choreography, sounded and resonated trenchantly. Albeit, initially they were leaning towards Allegri’s composition, ultimatelly they staked on Der Tod und das Mädchen. As they reminisce: “Suddenly, Schubert’s music revealed its inner message…”.

Bolero (2024)
choreography and costume design: Robert Bondara
music director, conductor: Marta Kluczyńska
music: Maurice Ravel – Bolero
lighting design: Wiktor Kuźma
assistant choreographer: Agnieszka Wolna-Bartosik
asisstant costume designer: Chiara Ruaro

Created with the intention for a female dancer, Maurice Ravel agreed in 1928 to write a Spanishstyle ballet piece for his friend Ida Rubinstein, the Muse of the Belle Epoque, who performer with Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes before founding her own dance group. The first rendition of Bolero was a huge success. From the auditorium, an exclamation of a terrified woman reached the musicians’ ears: “Mad! Mad!”. Ravel concurred with this succinct review. “This madam… She understood,” he commented on the listener’s utterance. He himself – despite enthusiastic opinions – considered Bolero one of his least important works. This is Robert Bondara’s first attempt to tackle Ravel’s composition, which has seen an extraordinary number of stagings. A piece of music so well-known, evoking strong emotions and even euphoria, represents for the choreographer, first and foremost, the next step in the history of the Poznań Opera House Ballet, and another stage in the development of both the dancers and the artist. In Bondara’s interpretation, Bolero is a record of unharnessed joy of on-stage creation. The structure of the choreography offers leeway to the viewer, encouraging them to search for details and moments of inspiration in the movements of the dancers.