Fot. Ada Mielke i Łukasz Rochna.
On 14 March 2017, the Łódź Grand Theatre held a press conference for the upcoming premiere of the dance show LAMAILA, scheduled for 25 march 2017. During the press conference Paweł Gabara, the general director of the Theatre, along with the artists who developed the piece, represented by Maciej Pawłowski (composer and director) and Andrzej Morawiec (choreographer) invited the audience to attend what promises to be a unique event, based on the romantic story of Lamaila, the Princess of the Day, and Namadil, the Prince of the Night.
Their seemingly unlikely meeting takes place during full moon, and involves cosmic powers and magic. The romantic perturbations of the couple of main protagonists are accompanied by a pantheon of fantastic characters, including large and small Planets; Mr. Glugger, a dance aficionado who lives in the swamp; the kind-hearted wizard Harrat; the cunning Sawora and the numerous Kubikuses and Kukłaks who accompany her alongside a plethora of astonishing diurnal and nocturnal creatures. The piece is addressed to audiences of all ages, although its fairy-tale aura will likely help it gain special following among the youngest viewers.
As promised by the authors of the piece, LAMAILA will be a unique event on many levels. It will mark the first time a dance show of such proportions has been presented at the Łódź Grand Theatre. The Disney-style music has been composed since 2007, and the impressive gallery of magical characters has been created especially for the imaginary world of the Great Wood, the locus of the story. Apart from instrumental music, LAMAILA also includes vocal parts performed by the couple of narrators who guide the audience through Lamaila?s enchanted world. Another noteworthy quality of the show are its visual aspects: masterful lighting, monumental stage design and improbably fabulous costumes (created in collaboration by six different studios) will be supplemented by minimalist visuals, so that ? as professed by the director ? the piece set itself apart from the now-fashionable technological shortcuts in favour of traditional, meticulously developed mise-en-sc?ne.
This interdisciplinary work will be integrated by dance in various stylistic variants, requiring outstanding acrobatic abilities and animations of various components of stage design of all forms and shapes. The choreography will be performed by an international company of nearly 70 dancers and acrobats, among them the artists of the Łódź Grand Theatre ballet company and a number of young dancers selected in the course of castings.
The preparations for the premiere of LAMAILA was accompanied by the launching of two educational programmes. One of them is a several months? workshop involving 20 amateur artists who will be cast as the Gilgolaks, i.e. particles combining outer space with earthly space, and the past with the future. The other programme is unique on a national scale, as it combines a stage piece with a science project. The artistic interplay with the audience?s imagination will be accompanied with the possibility to participate in popular science sessions covering the topics related to LAMAILA, prepared by the astronomers and presenters of Planetarium EC1 in Łódź.
The press conference was complemented with a fantastic prelude to LAMAILA?s premiere in the form of a two-volume score and certificate of a new star (you guessed it, none other than Lamaila) in the Cassiopeia constellation. Kaya and Marti (the duo of narrators) sang Ktoś inny niż ja (Someone other than me) as part of the musical promotion of the piece. During their performance, the audience was visited by the magical characters from the world of the Princess of the Day? It seems we are due for an energetic, colourful and thoroughly surprising show.
Compiled by: Anna Banach
The Łódź Grand Theatre is pleased to invite everyone to the presentations of LAMAILA, a dance show in two acts and 19 scenes
24 March 2017 | 6:30 pm | World premiere
25 March 2017 | 7 pm | 1st premiere
26 March 2017 | 7 pm | 2nd premiere
28 March 2017 | 6:30 pm | Premiere with the ?Express?
29 March 2017 | 11:00 am
30 March 2017 | 11:00 am
31 March 2017 | 6:30 pm
1 April 2017 | 6:30 pm
2 April 2017 | 5pm |
Developed by:
Music: Maciej Pawłowski
libretto: Liwia Pawłowska
lyrics: Anna Nowak-Otto
director: Maciej Pawłowski
choreographer: Andrzej Morawiec
musical director: Tadeusz Płatek
instrumentation: Bogdan and Maciej Pawłowski
stage design: Grzegorz Policiński
costumes: Anna Chadaj
lighting design: Tomasz Filipiak
sound engineer: Paweł Zawadzki
produced by: Łukasz Mitka
vocal coach: Dariusz Grabowski
acrobatics consultant (children and youth): Sebastian Błaszczyk
assistant costume designers: Agata Malinowska, Elżbieta Panek-Szewczyk
stage managers: Anna Krzemińska, Andrzej Kowalik
More about the piece:
