Plzeňská divadelní revue - 02/2005 - Eva Ichová
The character of Lady Macbeth in the new ballet production was also played by guest Alena Pešková alongside Ivona Jeličová. Although she decided to go freelance in 1999 after four years of engagement in DJKT, she remained faithful to the Pilsen theatre as a regular guest. Her Lady with Camellias is still fresh in the memory of the audience, and she also began to make a name for herself as a choreographer on the Pilsen stage.
Have you come across any of the dramatic adaptations of Macbeth's story before?
I saw the last premiere of Shakespeare's play at Vinohrady, about a year ago also the performance in DISK for DAMU by Mr. Rösner, and the opera production by director Vladimír Morávek at the National Theatre. Of course, I had read it several times before.
In which form did Macbeth appeal to you more strongly, opera or drama?
The drama touched me much more, at Vinohrady with the suggestive performances of Vilma Cibulková and Jiří Dvořák, while at DISK I liked the direction and movement collaboration of my professor Marcela Benoniová better. Shakespeare's text does not lose its power even after centuries, the translation of O.F.Babler used at Vinohrady is the freshest in my mind. I thought that if we can adequately retell it in dance language, it will be a success.
Mentally, then, you are ready for Lady Macbeth, though physically you seem too delicate and fragile for the task. Lady Macbeth is evil personified - is it possible to love such a character?
Surely, it's not just that Lady Macbeth is or isn't evil, there are basically darker sides to all of us. Of course, that doesn't mean we have to do evil to know what we want to do and what we want to serve. But I think it's in all of us, and it can be opened up in different ways, such as through education. When you grow up in a society where everyone tells you from the beginning that if you don't hurt others, they will hurt you, after a while you take that as a rule to live with. And if you don't realize the distortion in time, you will be contributing to the wrong.
So you're trying to understand her -
Sure, but that doesn't mean I come here at night to murder and mug people. I don't do that, but I think every man is capable of evil at his core, even if it's hard for him to admit it. The ability to empathize, to empathize and to delve into the darkest corners of the human soul is so important in the theatre. Through them, we are able to understand the motives of a character who is very distant from our nature.
Isn't this a time of intense work on the role and in private?
Of course I'm still full of it, but I don't think I'm really hurting people even now.
What was the most difficult part of studying the role for you?
We can't say yet, because the rehearsals on stage, in costumes and with props are still ahead of us. We have a lot of knife and rope acts, and you have to concentrate on not getting tangled up in it yourself. Then there's carrying thrones of different sizes, the big ones are quite heavy, so twirling it around in your hand and pretending it weighs no more than a feather is probably not going to be easy.
Did the rehearsal period also bring you some nice experiences?
Absolutely, I always like it when something is created, when it's not choreographies that are transferred from somewhere else. It's nice to be at the birth of something new, and it's good that almost all of us who have come together for this work have been through Mr. Vaculik's hands, so in that sense we hopefully understand each other.
What do you think will make the new ballet attractive to the audience?
The subject matter is strong enough on its own, there are no deaf spots in the performance. It seems to me that the movement rendering of expressive scenes can take the theme of violence to another level, where words cannot. When this is done, it is very effective; the combination of gesture and music stands out for its immediacy.
What place does Lady Macbeth hold among your other roles ?
It's something completely different. Everyone is as concerned as you are that I'm too gentle to portray such a monster. But I like it, not because it's a "counter-task", but because it's something I can think about more, everything is not quite in my nature. Like I said, I have to find it in myself - it's actually there, but it's not open.
You had to deal with the theme of violence already as the choreographer of A Clockwork Orange.
Violence simply cannot be separated from contemporary society, it is part of our world. You've choreographed quite diverse operas, such as Ariadne auf Naxos, Lucerna and Foxy the Cunning Little Vixen, and you've collaborated on the rock operas Juno and Avos - that shows a wide range. It was all music that I like, that touches me in some way. What I don't relate to are the classical operettas. I don't like showmanship, much less mere technique put on display but without substance. I don't like to watch it, and I don't like to do it - variations whose only purpose is to show off range or an astonishing thousand pirouettes and things like that; the technique is simply there to serve.
With the current workload in Pilsen, are you able to work elsewhere?
I spent the whole of January in Japan on business, and we performed with the Vienna orchestra as part of their concert. Roman Šolc, who was a soloist there and now, besides dancing, is also working on costumes for the ballet, also collaborated on the new musical The Three Musketeers.
Do you feel that you are missing something in your life with such a privileged focus on dance?
Not at all, I think you can find everything on all levels. And besides, I enjoy everything that happens around the theatre immensely. For example, I haven't had a television for ten years, it's a device that doesn't interest me at all and I even consider it dangerous. I don't feel I'm missing out. I even enjoy my daily classical training, it's a constant in the day.But I admit that lately I prefer to train alone, I can concentrate better on what I need to do. I can't afford to do more battements tendus in a group workout , even though I feel it is necessary today.On the other hand I need to listen to comments but I still have to work them out myself. Different things change and there are different messes in life but when I train I know that I am in absolute control of myself , I know how my body will respond . It's kind of a cleansing for me, a kind of meditation. I'm afraid I'm already addicted to it and I'll have to train until I die.
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