Dance performance „Two or Ten“ (chor. Marek Menšik, CZ)

Author and perfromer: Marek Menšík
Musician: Lukáš Urbanec
Dramaturg: Jaro Viňarský
Stage designer: Marie Gourdain
Lights designer: Zuzana Režná
Premiere: September, 2017

Duration: 55 min.
Place: Small Hall of Klaipeda Drama Theater (Teatro str. 2)

 

This perfromance is an immersion into the life and work of the Czech Jewish poet Jíří Orten who lived and created his works in Kutná Hora and Prague in the times of the First Czechoslovak Republic and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Stigmatized by the Jewish fate, he was living through a strong experience of being aware that the human life has its inevitable end. He himself, aware of his approaching death (he died at the age of 21), created a work of art exceeding the importance of just one human fate. This carried a special meaning for Jiří Orten – living in spite of death.

 

The most important and central material for the creative process of the performance is The Blue Book (Modrá kniha) – the first volume of Orten’s journals, comprised of poetry, short prose, journal records, and excerpts of the literature he was reading. They provide rich material both content-wise and image-wise for the scenic narrative which combine word, movement, and image. 

 

The performance plays with the thoughts ABOUT DEATH which can be an important master and guide in life, which teaches us to live. To live with thoughts of the inevitable end of life in a way that life is not controlled by fear. Fear can become a path towards suffering, whereas trust in a dignified and ‘beautiful’ end of human life can bring real freedom of spirit into our lives. An important topic is also SOLITUDE. In solitude, Jiří Orten experienced the freedom of the creative process and the freedom of spirit which thus obtained immense space to fly and to expand fantasy. Solitude is nowadays not matter-of-course anymore, but rather is becoming sometimes unreachable and sometimes, on the contrary, unwanted and terrifying. Solitude is an ordeal and an intimate space which guides us to ourselves.

 

Marek Menšík (1984) graduated from the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre, the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. M. Menšík combines physical theatre and dance with both classic and puppet acting. He also creates theatre performances for children and youth. He is and/or has been collaborating with the dancer and choreographer Jaro Viňarský, Kitt Johnson, companies “Vertedance”, “Spitfire Company”, “Radim Vizváry”, and “tYhle”.

 

Jaro Viňarský (1978) studied Choreography of Ballet at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Slovakia and Choreography at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Czech Republic. Since 1998 he has collaborated as a dancer and choreographer with various artists from Slovakia and from abroad. He also gives dance workshops, mainly to non-professional dancers. In 2001 and 2003 Jaro received the 2nd award of the “Jarmila Jeřábková Award” in Prague for “Sorton” and “Tea Never Brewed”, respectively. In 2004 he received The Audience Award at the Czech Dance Platform and the Award of Sazka for “Discovery in Dance” in 2006, both for his work “The Last Step Before”. In 2011 Jaro founded a non-profit organization SKOK! working for the development of contemporary dance and physical theatre in Slovakia. In 2014 Jaro received The Bessies 2013, The New York Dance and Performance Awards in category Outstanding Performance in Pavel Zuštiak Palissimo’s Bastard at La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival.

 

 

 

Photo: Hedvika Drenceni