Both performances mesmerize the audience with expressive dance and deep dramaturgy, but “Stabat Mater” enhances the audience’s senses with the music performed by the KVMT symphony orchestra’s string group and the voices of soloists, while “Holy Spring” is exceptional as if water poured from the sky.
Like the first baptism
The Production Department of the Klaipėda State Musical Theater prepares especially responsibly for the presentation of “Holy Spring”, because during it, water spills on the ballet artists dancing on the stage.
According to the head of the Production Department, Aivars Tarvydas, this type of performance, when a huge amount of water falls from above in waterfalls on the ballet artists dancing on the stage, is like the first “baptism” for the stage. The show premieres in 2021. took place in the boathouse, later the performance was shown on the stage of the Fisherman’s Palace. “Responsibly planned, how to hold the water on the stage so that not even the slightest drop gets on the newly laid floor!” Visually, the audience will only see an ordinary scene, and technically it will be like a pool holding water”, says A. Tarvydas.
During the “Holy Spring” performance, it is planned to “pour” regarding a third of a cube of warm water, which will be heated to a comfortable temperature for the dancers, thus protecting the health of the ballet artists. After the show, the water will be pumped out with industrial pumps.
“Performances that pose great challenges are like the perpetuum mobile of the Musical Theater: the entire team concentrates and confidently moves on the path of improvement and success. I am happy and proud to be a part of the Klaipėda State Musical Theatre, because this theater copes well with productions that pose great challenges”, says A. Tarvydas.
Bright international team
Outstanding performances, 2021 elinge was built by an international team: choreographer Edwardas Clug (Slovenia), music director and conductor of “Stabat mater” Tomas Ambrozaitis, scenographer and costume designer Jordi Roig (Spain), “Holy Spring” scenographer Marko Japelj (Slovenia), costume designer Leo Kulaš (Slovenia ), light artist Tomaž Premzl (Slovenia).
At the invitation of the Klaipėda State Musical Theatre, Edward Clug, one of Europe’s most prominent creators of contemporary dance, choreographer and head of the Maribor Ballet Troupe of the Slovenian National Theater, who won worldwide recognition for his abstract, minimalist language of modern ballet and unexpected, provocative interpretations of the classical repertoire, came to the port city for the first time.
Martyn Aleksa’s photo. /Scene from Igor Stravinsky’s performance “Holy Spring”
On the Klaipėda stage, E. Clug made his debut with two ballets created at different times and for different troupes: “Holy Spring” was staged with the Maribor Ballet Troupe of the Slovenian National Theater led by him in 2012, and “Stabat Mater” was commissioned and staged at the Munich State Theater “Gärtnerplatz” in 2013 In 2014, both ballets were united in Maribor and became the business card of the local ballet troupe, toured many ballet festivals and theaters around the world, and received many transfers.
According to the choreographer, “both ballets are connected by the central figure – a woman and her extraordinary strength, which comes from humble acceptance of what is meant for her. It seems to me that this kind of acceptance with fate and the power that comes from it is more characteristic of women. In the Stabat mater, the woman must accept the sacrifice of her crucified son, while in the Holy Spring she herself chooses to be sacrificed. It is interesting to observe how both stories of sacrifice unfold in different trajectories in one evening.”
Martyn Aleksa’s photo. /Scene from the play “Stabat Mater” (music by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi)
The dialogue weaves through the music
In the performance “Stabat Mater”, the choreographer establishes a sensitive, but somewhat ironic dialogue of modern man with the masterpiece of the Italian Baroque master Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736). Created in the last weeks of the composer’s life, this particularly effective, extremely expressive composition for soprano, viola, and strings is based on a 13th-century piece. the sequence “Stabat mater dolorosa” (lat. “mother stood in pain”).
According to one version, its text is attributed to the Franciscan monk Jacopone da Todi. According to legend, he was a rich layman who was prompted to renounce his wealth and take the vows of a monk by the death of his wife, to which he had indirectly contributed. Thus, the hymn regarding the Blessed Virgin standing at the cross and mourning her crucified son was composed as a penance.
During the performance of “Stabat mater”, the dancers will be accompanied live by the string group of the KVMT symphony orchestra and two soloists: Rita Petrauskaitė and Beata Ignatavičiūtė. KVMT chief conductor Tomas Ambrozaitis will conduct.
I wanted something falling from the sky
According to Edward Clug, “Holy Spring” is a cult of the 20th century. a piece that marked a turning point not only in the poetics of Stravinsky’s own music, but also in the entire history of music. Even more: the entire 20th century. the evolution of dance is related to the rethinking of “Holy Spring”, starting with Nijinsky’s original choreography, then Maurice Béjart’s sublime aestheticism, and even later Pina Bausch’s unique work and her passion for life. The latter two “principles” in turn shaped the 20th century. The choreographic paradigm of the “Holy Spring” productions of the second half.
Martyn Aleksa’s photo. /Scene from the play “Stabat Mater” (music by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi)
“This ballet depicts the pagan rites of spring in a pre-Christian country. During the ritual, an innocent girl is danced to death – she is sacrificed to the pagan fertility deity, thus ensuring the fertility of the Earth. Listening to the “Earth Dance” that ends the first movement of the ballet, I realized that I wanted something heavy, falling from the sky. We tried to experiment with water, and it became obvious that it is water that gives meaning to these spring cleansing rites, the consecration of the earth, which prepares the soil for new life”, emphasizes E. Clug.
Anna Chekmarova, the soloist of the dance performance “Holy Spring”, is a nominee of last year’s “Golden Stage Cross”.
KVMT ballet troupe for the one-act dance performances “Stabat Mater” and “Holy Spring” in 2022. dedicated to the “Thank you Mask” as the theater art creative team of the year.
#story #Holy #Spring #told #stage #Klaipėda #State #Musical #Theater #pouring #water #Culture
2024-05-07 12:29:34
