Phenomenal success: thousands of viewers flock to A. Cholina’s “Jaunysta” both in big cities and regions | Culture

From Klaipėda to Rokiškis, from Alytus to Mažeikiai, from Biršton to Šiauliai – “Jaunystė” does not leave anyone indifferent either in the big cities or in the regions, and as soon as the new tour cities and dates are announced, they immediately get a stir – all the performances that have taken place so far, and they were shown within eight months even 31, sold out to last place. Analogous success with the sign “sold out” also accompanies other performances staged by A. Cholina and currently being shown.

The success of the latest ACH theater performance is also evidenced by the just-announced sales results of the largest ticket distribution platform “Bilietai.lt” last year – the most popular 2023. “Youth” took first place in the category of dance performances.

ACH theater archive photo/Anželika Cholina

The managers of the theater speak regarding the unchanging desire to bring high stage art to everyone, not only to the spectators of the capital, and they are seconded by the touring partners of the ACH theater in different cities of Lithuania – A. Cholina’s performances are always welcome here, and loyalty to regional audiences has become the hallmark of the ACH theater over time. card.

The geography of tours is impressive

“This year’s closing performance of our festival, “Youth” by Anželika Cholina, was sold out the very first time. This is the truest proof of how important it is that this theater is coming to the region – Vaiva Baltrūnaitė-Kirstukienė, the director of the city’s Culture Center, speaks regarding the performance of the ACH theater in the program of the jubilee, already 40th Rokiškis professional theater festival on April 16. – It’s good to feel the ACH theater’s loyalty to the festival and the audience. We are always happy that this theater’s desire to be in our festival repertoire is guaranteed.”

Rokiškis is just one of the stops where the ACH theater stops with its performances this season. Only A. Cholina’s latest work “Youth” has already been shown in Lithuania (in chronological order from the premiere on July 17, 2023) in Kaunas, Palanga, Vilnius, Birštona, Marijampole, Panevėžys, Alytus, Šiauliai, Klaipėda, Mazeikiai. In addition to Rokiškis, the play will be shown twice more in Kaunas and Palanga before the end of the season, and will also come to Birštonas.

According to ACH theater director Greta Cholina, the accessibility of performances and the reduction of the cultural gap throughout Lithuania, not only in big cities, has always been a sensitive issue for the dissemination of the country’s culture. “The aspiration to bring performing arts to where the audience is has been and remains one of the most important priorities of the ACH Theater, and the geography of the recent premiere “Youth” is the best proof of this statement – the tour routes cover most of Lithuania, not only Vilnius and Kaunas.

We go where there are conditions to show our performances in high quality and ensure technical performance. Over the years, long-term and strong partnerships have been formed with many partners in the regions, and both the institutions and the audience are always waiting for us there,” she says.

“Audiences know they will leave changed”

G. Cholina’s words are confirmed by numerous feedbacks from theater partners in different cities of Lithuania. The director of the Alytus Cultural Center, Kristina Daugelevicienė, is happy with the cooperation with the ACH Theater, whose performances, according to the interlocutor, touch everyone’s heart and – most importantly – develop love for the art of dance.

“Each premiere of this theater receives a full audience and gathers not only the townspeople, but also the residents of the surrounding districts and guests of the city. We can confidently say that this theater is very loved and welcomed in Alytus, – says K. Daugelevićienė. – We are very happy to be able to create conditions for the dissemination of professional art in the Dzūkija region and to offer the viewer a culture of high artistic value.

ACH theater archive photo/Greta and Anželika Cholinas

This also encourages us, the Alytus Cultural Center, to constantly update the available technical capabilities and look for new, modern technical solutions, in order to ensure the opportunity to offer the audience the widest possible range of exclusive cultural events.”

Arūnas Peštenis, manager of cultural activities of other cultural institutions, the Klaipėda Fishermen’s Chamber, with which ACH theater has a long-term and harmonious partnership, supports her. According to him, the ACH Theater is one of the few professional theaters in the country, which has been receiving regular sell-outs at the Fishermen’s Palace for several decades, and each performance of this troupe becomes a holiday for the audience of the port city, an important cultural event in the panorama of events taking place in the city.

“Anželika Cholina Dance Theater is always a guarantee of high artistic level and stage culture. The circle of fans of this director’s work is obviously only increasing every year, Klaipėda residents are fascinated by the choreographer’s inexhaustible fantasy, tragedy and humor are ingeniously “mixed” in the performances, the harmony of choreography and great music, acting roles of dancers” – the reason why Klaipėda residents have been waiting for the ACH theater performances on the seafront for many years , named by A. Pestenis.

Anželika Cholina herself, whose creative career has been going on for three decades, does not say much regarding her success and that of the theater: “The audience knows that they will leave changed following our performances. It always happens, and that’s my goal. You can’t fool people – theater either touches you or you don’t. ACH theater touches because it speaks the language of the soul.”

Commenting on the phenomenal popularity of the latest play “Youth” and last year’s ranking published by “Bilietai.lt”, in which the play was ranked first among the most watched of the year, A. Cholina says: “Such a result for me, and for the entire theater team and troupe, is the greatest love of the audience proof.”

Looking for opportunities abroad

Since its establishment in 2000, ACH theater has already released 20 premieres of dance performances, shown over 650 performances, which were seen by over 400,000 spectators in Lithuania and abroad. As the 25-year anniversary of the theater’s creative activity approaches, the search for ACH theater tour routes and partners is also directed abroad, although an impressive premiere is already being prepared for Lithuanian audiences – currently A. Cholina is rehearsing the dance performance “The Tale of the Kings”, dedicated to Mykaloys Konstantin Čiurlionis and to the love of his life, Sofia Kymantaitei. The premiere of the performance is scheduled for next year, when Lithuania celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of this outstanding artist and composer.

“We have been touring a lot and everywhere in Lithuania for a long time. We are probably the most widely traveled theater in Lithuania, mostly performing in the regions, – says G. Cholina, director of ACH Theatre. – Historically, we used to go abroad a lot on tours, but during the pandemic and following it, such trips decreased – our last tours took place in Italy last year. We want to renew both the connections and the geography of international tours, especially since we have something to show – we are currently constantly showing three dance performances, and the premiere is waiting.”

For this purpose, the ACH theater, which passed the selection a few weeks ago, was accepted into the international association “Opera Europa”, which unites the largest opera and ballet theaters, as well as professional performing arts festivals. Currently, it has 233 members from 44 countries, and only four of them are from Lithuania. in 2022 following the establishment of a department dedicated to dance at this organization and following starting to organize the Dance Theater Contacts Fair in the context of the twice-yearly “Opera Europa” conventions, regarding 50 members participate in it every time. The ACH theater, which is actively looking for opportunities for cooperation in Europe and around the world, will present itself at the convention to be held next week in Vienna, the capital of Austria.

“For many theaters, this membership became a springboard for new partnerships and creative collaborations, and opened up new touring routes. Without abandoning our mission to continue showing our plays in our homeland, Lithuania, which has always been and will be our priority, we hope for opportunities to present the ACH theater to foreign audiences as well,” says G. Cholina.

Throughout the history of the ACH theater, its plays have been successfully and more than once shown in many foreign countries, including the USA, Great Britain, Denmark, China, Latvia, Poland, Luxembourg, Turkey, Hungary, Italy, etc.