Stir in Archa
The Archa Theatre has presented in May 13 and 14 for the first time the Polish group. Also it has visited Prague firstly. In their own country, it belongs to the theatrical top as for their meaning´s reaction of politic or society problems, as also for their personally way of expression. Akademia Ruchu from Warsaw.
The group - in English Academy of movement - connects theatre, moving, visual art, it moves on the border of film and performance art. Partly improvisation plays an important role in their performances. They just doesn´t represent their work on the stages. From the beginning in 1973, when the group was found by Wojciech Krukowski, the artistic leader to the present, Akademia Ruchu has been looking for the places to asking of wide public - people, who maybe don´t want to go to the theatre. It is the reason, why the members of group set out to the street behind them. To the streets, docs, galleries (Redaction´s notice: They played also in Prague under wide sky - short performance in May 12 afternoon, on the Old Town Square.)
Akademia Ruchu brought us with the more than one hour long project Song, where four men and one woman performed. Whole performance was created by many situations, which didn´t take up again logically on each other. In each, the couple or all company were communicate between them. Sometimes the partners feel each other really lively as a people, who respected each other, on the other time they made just some contact for helping of property within any inside coalesce. The audience just penetrated to inside of some situation and were waiting for explaining of logically ending at least, the situation immediately finished and something different started to do - and it was probably common for all parts of the performance. This continuous expecting and disappointing was calling me out this reaction: chaos. It is as you are changing the TV set from programme to programme and even no one you don´t see to the end. Late I didn´t try to think about it, but I let the pictures to worked spontaneously on me. And suddenly everyone had a different color, different mood, different emotions. At last even contents had partly some meaning.
The performance was founded on the basic of very well work with the space. A big wall building across the stage, provided to the author Wojciech Krukowski many inspirations for originally ideas. The movement could be played even bear along the wall, which remembered not just the border of realistic space, but also the common place of understanding. Thanks this situated wall, the actors weren´t loosing the contact with audience, because they used it also for quick changing the dresses and own changing on the stage.
The average age of the actors is interesting too. It is around fifty years. By this mellow project they managed, that they are able to created non-fetter performance having not be touched by usually conventions even in their age. I have to really admire them thank to their spontaneous and also professional perform.
Hana Barochová, Taneční listy / Harmonie, 7/1997
Akademia Ruchu (programme from the performance)