Ido Yeshayahu
17/11/2021
Wednesday, November 17, 2021, 00:00
Naked at the ballet performance?
"This is not a provocation, just part of the message"
For the first time since the outbreak of the corona, an international dance show is coming to Israel: the Czech National Ballet will stage the show "Bridges for Time" by the legendary choreographer Jerzy Killian.
Visiting the ensemble in Prague, we saw the dancers in the show and rehearsals in the studio, and understood from them what it is like to be exposed on stage in every sense
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The Bridge to Time Ballet by Jerzy Killian (Czech National Ballet)
Between a gloomy Friday and a gloomy Sunday, the sun somehow rose on a Saturday morning in early November in Prague. Crowds of tourists - and perhaps even locals - took advantage of the beautiful weather to march on the Old City. The historic Charles Bridge on the Vltava River is buzzing with people. Street vendors sold cheap jewelry or souvenirs, the painters persuaded passers-by to sit down to draw a cartoon in their image, many simply contented themselves with selfies over the glittering water or against the backdrop of the huge Prague Castle on the far side of the bridge.
A short walk away, in a large building that was once a monastery and now serves as the residence of the Czech National Ballet, four dancers were cut off from what was happening on the nearby river bank.
They were locked in one of the many studios in the place, a warm compound so they could move without fear of their muscles betraying them during rehearsals.
The session was short that day, only until 12:00 noon, because by seven in the evening they were already supposed to be in costumes of the "Swan Lake" show at the National Opera.
Despite the classic show on the episode, the piece we were rehearsing at the time was "Bella Figora" ("Beautiful Figure") by the legendary Czech choreographer Jerzy Killian.
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Make changes in movements even after the show is on the air.
From "Gods and Dogs" (Photo: Pavel Hejný)
This is one of the four works in the show "Bridges for Time", a tribute by the Czech national ballet to a native of Israel (and also a native of the city - also from Prague).
Killian has created over 100 works throughout his fifty years of career.
These particular four - formed between 1987 and 2008 and also including "Gods and Dogs", "Tiny Death" and "Six Dances" - were chosen for the tribute by the band and Killian himself.
Like everyone else, the Czech National Ballet was forced to close its doors due to the corona, which severely attacked his country.
But all the while, the ensemble dancers have continued to hold regular rehearsals, and they continue to rehearse even after the show went up in 2018 to the applause of the critics.
In fact, when we, journalists from Israel, came to visit them in the studio that Saturday, the four dancers even made small changes in the nuances of the movements, under the guidance of the Ballet Masters, coaches Michela Karna and Barbara Kohotkova.
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The critics cheered.
From "Tiny Death" (Photo: Sergej Gherciu)
Our visit there took place in preparation for the band's arrival and the show to Israel - the first international dance show to come here after the Corona.
Of the eighty dancers in the band, thirty will arrive next week in the Holy Land, and of those that morning we saw four, who were actually two couples working on the same duet.
The main duo was the Japanese Ogimoto and the Czech Mattei Sost, and the secondary duo - Christina Kornova, also from the Czech Republic, and Federico for the Italian Bulli.
In the background, Vivaldi's "Concerto for Two Mandolas in G Major" was played, and the two couples entered a kind of marionette state: the dancers moved like wooden puppets, each limb being built separately.
One moment the man activates the woman, the next the woman activates the man.
Pressing on shoulder, vibrating foot, nod head.
As if four Pinocchioes had come to life.
It was completely coincidental that we had the opportunity to see the rehearsal of this part, but it completely exhausted the beauty of the dance.
Illustrated both the way these people control every muscle in their body, and the barbed wire of subtleties inherent in every movement, every dance and every creation.
Their body is their tool, so each element requires more and more repetitions and training, so each movement is a topic for discussion.
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Control every muscle in the body.
From "Six Dances" (Photo: Pavel Hejný)
The movements are part of everyone's being - or at least many of them - and it's funny to see how they are so "dancers" even outside of dance time. When Ms. Ballet Master - herself a dancer for a break at the National Ballet - greeted us with a smile, she stood in the doorway at a starting point of one foot ninety degrees from the other. So did Federico when we spoke to him on one occasion. It's just part of them, or they may have immediately felt that we were an audience and therefore should be treated accordingly.
These are automatic movements of people whose bodies are their art and their craft. And sometimes they are required to expose it to the naked eye: when they perform "Bella Figora" on stage in the show itself, all the dancers will wear a long red skirt - and that's it. Their upper body will be exposed, and with it they themselves in front of thousands of pairs of eyes. Behind the scenes, when asked how they feel about the nudity in the show, they answer that it is not a provocation, but only part of the message during the dance - body is body.
As is required from such a physical occupation in the body, part of the training is also meant to maintain his health and safety.
During the rehearsal, Michela worries that Christina's movement may be unsafe.
"When he extends his arm, do not grab it by the elbow," she tells Christina, "but more towards the shoulder. Otherwise you may hurt yourself."
In contrast to the tough image of physical coaches from the former Soviet Union, Michela is cordial and charming both to us and to the dancers in front of her.
She herself, like the other ballet masters there, was a dancer in the ensemble until she became a coach.
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A body is a body.
From "Bella Figora" (Photo: screenshot, Vimeo)
In addition to the nations mentioned, the ballet also included American, Canadian, Russian, Spanish and more and more. The ballet's artistic director, Philip Brankiewicz, himself was imported from Poland. His wife Cecil, who is also his personal assistant, Germany (and their two children together are Austrians. A long story, do not ask). As I walk down the hall with Philip, he encounters a troubled man in his fifties. "Everything okay?", Philip asks. "Under pressure," he laughs, without taking his eyes off the phone. As we walk away Philip explains that it was a bull, the director of the opera house, originally from Norway.
This is a real grouping of postcards, which despite its many sources gives a family and intimate feeling.
The opposite of the stories Hollywood loves so much about wars between ballerinas and tough art directors who push their dancers to the limit.
Brankiewicz's philosophy is completely opposite.
It does not allow for ego battles, dancers have a short rope in some contexts, and a very long rope in other aspects.
For example, one of the ballet shows is one that some of the dancers have created themselves, choreography and everything.
This warm feeling, and what made Jerzy Killian one of the most celebrated choreographers in the world, can be experienced first hand when the band arrives in Israel soon.
The performances will take place on November 25-27 at the Shlomo Lahat Opera House, Tel Aviv.
The writer was a guest of the show's production in Israel.
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ballet
Swan Lake