Gazdina roba , music and dance theatre

Gazdina roba , music and dance theatre

Premiere:13.11. 2015 in Liberec
DFHS

G. Preissová - A. Peskova - G. Vermelho

Gazdina roba

Musical-dance theatre based on the drama of the same name

Libretto, direction, choreography by Alena Pešková

Music by Gabriela Vermelho

Scene: Richard Pešek, Alena Pešková

Costumes: Monika Kletečková, Alena Pešková

Assistant choreographers Filip Veverka, Anna Ščekaleva

Assistant director: Vlasta Vindušková

Dramaturgy: Helena Syrovátková

"I think the reason why I was interested in this topic is my fascination with the opposite extreme in which our society finds itself today," says Alena Pešková.

The Sacrament of Matrimony is an empty phrase. We would still like to break down some barriers, even though there are none. Or in the words of Vladimír Holan: "...there were so many of them that none of them prevented us from doing anything..." If there are prejudices, it is against lifelong unions. Recently, a friend told me how his ten-year-old son came back from school crying: what had he done, and how was he worse than all his other classmates who have two dads, two moms, celebrate two Christmases and get twice as many presents. Why don't they get divorced too?

Of course the sacrifice of Eve - if you can call it that - it had its meaning in its space-time. There were unhealthy prejudices and inhibitions here. And it is the personal tragedy of the individual that can change the attitude of society... Well, it has changed, today we might like a little bit of inhibition. Not that I'm fully in favour of common sense marriages, but transferred generally - to try everything is also to deny uniqueness.

As for the main characters, I don't really like them from today's perspective. Mánek is a coward who runs out of steam in our production maybe a few seconds before the curtain falls. And I don't trust Eva to "do" everything out of pure love. There's something a little "twisted." A nudge from the company. And to me, that's not pure love.

My concept does not, I think, alienate Preiss in the essentials; the main message of the drama, the motives of the characters and their development remain. There are, however, some "external" modifications that I find helpful in translating into "nonverbal". Samko is not a furrier but a carver, danced by Alexei Yurakov. Sawdust and his carved pendants can symbolically say a lot. Then there are also the characters of the Odd Couple, who are also the alter egos of Eva and Manek (played by Vladimir Kamenev and Rie Morita - our soloist from Japan - what else would she do in a Moravian village but be odd...). Eva is alternated by Veronika Šlapanská and Marika Hanousková - one is for me the type of the bigger "dude" and the other the bigger "tragedy". I myself am curious how they will accommodate the latter. Jaroslav Kolář dances the manka - I suspect that the folklore stylization will suit him. We will see the despotic Meshyanova performed by Maria Gornalova. Zuzka is not only Eva's friend, but she also helps out in the household of Samek - here she is danced by Margaux Thomas. And I actually quite like the character of the unhappy Marysha - here we see Annabel Pearce. And then there's the "voice of the people" - in our case, a couple of very important individuals, just to show the "opinion" of society. And of course, above it all, the alienation - Gabriela Vermelho, a composer who composes music for the Gazdina roba music and dance theatre right on stage. Her music, her lively singing and her playing of a strange overgrown "violin" - quinton.............................Alena Pešková

Libretto, direction, choreography by Alena Pešková

Music by Gabriela Vermelho

...…………….

.........How does this collaboration on writing music for a full-length ballet actually work?

AP: I will write a libretto and especially a musical scenario, where I will describe what is happening "technically" in the individual performances, what emotions are involved in my concept, the length of the performance, the tempo, sometimes even the beat, the rhythmic pattern, the use of instruments, certain tectonics... and then it's up for debate, "pre-singing" and "pre-dancing" :)

GV: ...and then I torture myself with it for about six months. Alena writes music scripts in great detail, thankfully! I usually understand the brief, I can get a feel for it... mostly...

For me it's a lot of work at home, in my own little studio. I do all my own vocals, violins, quintones, pianos, and this year I've added electric guitar or lyre. Then I create my own movements, sounds that I continue to work with. I use a kind of sonic kitchen home revue - potato graters, pasta bags, jars... all everyday objects make fantastic, specific sounds when it comes down to it and when you know how to work with them. Other instruments I don't know how to play, I invite my friends, fellow musicians. Either at home again, or if it's a more technically difficult recording for me, for the sake of perfectly capturing the sound of an instrument like a drum kit or a dulcimer, as it was now with Gazda's Roba, then I head to the recording studio.

Are you currently preparing any other joint project?

AP: Yes, we are currently up to our ears in preparations for the musical and dance theatre Gazdina roba based on the drama of the same name by G. Preissová, which we are preparing for the Liberec Ballet. Gabriela will perform here again. This time she will play herself - a composer who composes music for this performance, argues with the director, and unwittingly enters the plot... and Monika Kletečková will "dress it up" beautifully again.

GV: ...so I already revealed it in my previous answer... Otherwise, we would like to perform together more often in a combination of our ensembles GaRe and UMB, and maybe in time add my women's string quartet Gadrew Way. Personally, the idea of making a record for children has been playing in my head for a long time, so why not make a whole children's production, GaRe and UMB... The idea? A little girl with matches? In a suitable space, and maybe again in the friendly and supportive of these interesting projects Malostranská beseda. There would be many ideas, just to get enough money to implement...

What do you admire about each other's work?

AP: I fell in love from the beginning with the colour of Gabina's voice and the sound of the quinton. Then it's also Gábina's ability to open up, to connect, and to get sucked in by the theme... In this state, the melodies and rhythms flow ...until she has to tame herself:). It is also a sovereign transition from style to style - horror, flamenco, Moravian folk music...

GV: What I like about Alena is her precision, her style, the cleanness of her choreography, her imagination, her versatility, her taste, her insight... I like the way she behaves in the role of director :-), she is absolutely passionate, strict, but at the same time very polite and kind to people, she has a natural authority. But then I also like to tease her a bit, to make her angry, to loosen her up...

But such cooperation is certainly not just smooth. What, on the other hand, would you criticise each other for?

AP: Tardiness!:) ...and then when the aforementioned state of connection fails due to lack of concentration (sometimes on both sides, I point out), then the passionate duet becomes a lullaby... but nothing happens. I'll use it somewhere else anyway, although it's usually great!:)

GV: Well, yeah, my private space-time... believe me, Aya, I've been struggling with it since I was a kid, I'm really trying... but I'm just slow... And what really bothers me a lot is when Alena returns some of my creations... well, yeah, there must be an artistic ego... but I've given up after that long collaboration. Resist. If I can't convince her the hard way that my musical idea of a given theme is great! :-))), I always redo it to her liking.