Photos from the performance
Danse Macabre in Kutná Hora
Dance Macabre in Kutná Hora is a performance which juxtaposes two different genres - dance and theatre, as well as two artistic personalities: internationally renowned choreographer Jan Kodet and Martin Tichý, a new face on the Czech directing scene. The theme of plague, fate and the courage to struggle against our fate are given shape by expressive dance on one level, and by baroque poetry presented as theatrical text on the other. One theme - but two methods of expression, two points of view in contrast with one another, yet complementing one another. What will come out of this juxtaposition of danced movement and spoken word? Poetry in dance, dance making poetry, poetry in theatre, or theatre making poetry?
The performance is inspired by baroque poet Bedřich Bridel's 1658 work Co Bůh? Člověk? The poem is based on the contradiction of God's eternity and perfection with the mortal and sinful nature of man, and wields a deep and consuming tragic atmosphere, which Czech literature was not to see again until Mácha's Maj. The theatrical part is a selection of Bridel's verse composed in a series of associative images. The series' structure is based on Bridel's services to the sick, plague-inflicted people of Kutná Hora. Above all this is a search for parallels between the poet's emotional world, the baroque period and our presence against the background of deadly disease. The performance set is based on the principle of the Jesuit stage's multiple levels and on a "ladder to heaven" of sorts, a baroque path to God via this mortal world.
Bedřich Bridel
Bridel was born April 1st, 1619 in Vysoké Mýto. He was inducted as a monk of the Society of Jesus at the end of the year 1650. After this he worked in the Klementinum library, when he became head of the academic press. Four years later he left to work as a missionary, of extraordinary dedication and asceticism. When the a cruel bout of the plague struck in the districts of Čáslav and Kutná Hora and elsewhere in Bohemia, Bridel asked his superior to release him so he could care for the sick. This meant the ultimate sacrifice, or in other words his suicide: he died of the infection himself October 15, 1680 in Kutná Hora. A memorial plaque in Latin in memory of Bridel and three of his brethren can be found in the Cathedral of Saint Barbora in Kutná Hora.
Concept by: Aleš Roleček
Dance choreography: Jan Kodet
Script and theatre direction: Martin Tichý
Music: Ivan Acher
Set and costumes: Kristýna Täubelová
Lighting Design: Dan Tesař
Assistant choreographer: Martin Vraný
Dancers in the dance section: Helena Arenbergerová, Leona Qaša Kvasnicová, Tereza Indráková, Veronika Knytlová, Lenka Vágnerová, Michal Záhora, Petr Opavský
Acting in the Theatre section: Zuzana Dřízhalová, Eva Pospíšilová, Alžběta Täubelová, Pierre Nadaud, Petr Opavský, Vítězslav Březka
With the support of the City of Prague.