Photo: Alicja Byzdra.
On Friday, 15 November (7 pm) the Sopot Dance Theatre will premiere Puste ciało. Okazja do malutkiej rozpaczy[Empty Body. An Occasion for A Small Despair] at Teatr na Plaży in Sopot (al. Mamuszki 2). The piece consists of two acts, each drawing on the life and output of a different artist. Both Franz Kafka and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec struggled with uneasy family relations, finding an outlet for their sensitivity in art, each from a different angle, however. Curled up inside himself and shy, Kafka did not even want to publish his now most famous works (they were published only posthumously), while Toulouse-Lautrec merged into Paris’ artistic bohème, becoming its inherent element. One gave his full attention to reflecting on how an individual is determined by the society and our inability to achieve complete humanity, harmony and happiness, while the other would freeze a frame depicting the residents and atmosphere of his beloved city to praise life and the everyday of ordinary people and artists, considering “truthfulness” to be the most important of human features. Both could spot a detail, a moment, the fugitive aspect of reality.
The Kafkaesque part of the performance is dark and dynamic, while the one inspired by Toulouse-Lautrec’s works is seemingly more lighthearted, best exemplified by the deconstructed can-can it features. Both parts use different tools to tell the same story of the quest for understanding and acceptance of oneself and the world around that every one of us, regardless of his profession or background, must make.
Next performance: 16 November, 7 pm.
Concept, directing and choreography: Joanna Czajkowska and Jacek Krawczyk
Choreographic consultants and dancers: Magda Wójcik, Barbara Pędzich, Dorota Zielińska, Joanna Nadrowska, Joanna Czajkowska,
Jacek Krawczyk
Music: Mariusz Noskowiak
Costumes: Agnieszka Puławska
Lighting design: Artur Aponowicz
Stage design: Jacek Krawczyk, Artur Gołdys
Promotional photographs: Alicja Byzdra
Duration: ca. 1h30 (incl. intermission)
