26.08.2010 - F.X.Šalda Theatre , Vojtěch Havlík asked
"I like theatre and stories, there's nothing to add to that." Since the new season, the Liberec Ballet has a new director. She is Alena Pešková, a graduate of the Dance Conservatory in Prague, a dancer and choreographer, among others the founder of the independent association of professional dancers Ultra-minimal-ballet. Her choreography Klára... was awarded with a prize for the best participant at a choreographic showcase. For her title role in the ballet The Lady with Camellias, she was included in the wider Thalia Award nomination. She describes the performances she creates to her own libretti as more like dance theatre or drama...
As a dancer and choreographer you have been working as a so-called "freelancer" for a long time. What brought you to the position of the head of the ballet company of the Liberec theatre?
Of course, I was brought into this position by the director's offer, which came just as I was having a great season, filled mainly with three full-length ballets for three different companies - all of which were great to work with, but I was beginning to realise what a privilege it is to have a company that feels your style. I mean in the longer term, not just on opening night. Being a "freelancer" is a wonderful freedom, but you're always starting from scratch. You put in a few rehearsals and no sooner do the dancers know what you're about than there's a premiere, the regular repertoire, a quick rehearsal and it's all gone... And yet style is what contemporary ballet is all about. Technique should be a given, but style is the superstructure. You get to know a dancer who dances with Duato, Ek, Naharin - you feel them, you feel at home in their choreographies, you see it in their expression, in their freedom of movement, even in difficult figures... And it's what the big orchestras are lacking nowadays, for example. You used to be able to recognize the sound of the Czech Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic... today, thanks to globalization - the turnover of musicians, but also thanks to the fact that one personality doesn't stay in their leadership for a long time, you can hardly do it. They all "fiddle" equally well or equally badly. In the local ballet company there are also dancers with very different techniques - "Russian - classical", "Czech - all-round"... and we also have elites. My wish is immodest: to unify technique, style... and to let the Liberec ballet "sound" with its original and unmistakable "sound".
What are you coming to Liberec with, which direction would you like to take the Liberec ballet in?
There is no need to worry about any revolutions. Both extremes - we will do only "classical" or we will throw ourselves on the floor for three hours, pretending some abstract emotions - are alien to me. I like theatre and stories, there's no need to add anything to that. I would like to conceptually shape the ensemble. For example, just by unifying dance - ballet technique in daily training, by careful and balanced composition of repertoire, but also by choosing collaborating artists, composers, choreographers, teachers and accompanists. Getting Started
Peripheries - dance theatre based on Langer's drama, for which Martin Němec (bands Precedens and Lili Marlene) writes the music. I think it's going to be a bit "wild", so I'm calling out to all those who have ever considered ballet boring... but I'm also warning "conservatives" that it definitely won't kill them.
Next, it will be the well-known
The never-ending story - a family show, perhaps with elements of "black theatre".
And then probably "snow-white" neo-classical
Dangerous acquaintances - according to Laclos.
Do you prefer classical or modern, expressive dance?
Neither one nor the other, as long as it is just a form absorbed in itself. Conversely, if everything is subordinate to the content and the execution is perfect, I don't even ask myself where I would put it. As far as technique goes, of course I grew up on the "classics", which I am lifelong afflicted with, but I have been fortunate enough to have been exposed to modern dance techniques such as Horton, Cunningham, Limon... And if you're asking about repertoire, today I'd rather go for contemporary. I don't think the classical ballet legacy belongs in a museum, but unless it's perfectly executed, and I mean that artistically and musically... it just makes my feet hurt watching it :-)
You are involved in choreography as well as your own dancing. What do you enjoy more - preparing ballet or dancing it?
Of course, it's always what I'm not doing :-)
Do you dance in your own productions?
Yes, and I mostly dance in them now. Two years ago I had some kind of injury and I wouldn't be 100% available for other choreographers. Of course, I put on what works for me, and I avoid my left ankle. Although I have to admit that I often miss it, I mean becoming just someone's instrument, that kind of absolute, detached surrender of soul and body...
What comes to mind when you say Liberec?
Harald Kreutzberg - a native of Liberec, a great promoter of modern dance all over the world, a pupil of Wigman and Laban, a collaborator of Reinhardt... who returned to the Liberec theatre in the 1930s as a big star. The year 2012 marks the 110th anniversary of his birth in Liberec. And I would very much like to prepare a dance theatre about his life and work on this occasion, I think it would be a nice tribute of the city of Liberec to its famous native.
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