"Heralding the season of love and hope, spring in Budapest will ushered in by the March 8th and 9th debut performances of Passion-Ballet Night performed by the Hungarian National Ballet Company (HNBC).This original Hungarian production is yet another creative project premiering at the Hungarian State Opera House performed by members of the versatile and talented HNBC.
Housed in the magnificent landmark of the Hungarian State Opera House that is now dressed for the occasion with photographs of its dancers gracing the building, Passion should prove to be an evening of visceral consequence just as the striking photographs would suggest.
The Three Ballets in One Act is choreographed by Yvette Bozsik, Antal Fodor and Iván Markó who have distinguished themselves with two Kossuth Prizes, two Merited Artist designations and one Eminent Artist among the three of them. The three one act ballets reflect three distinct perspectives on the subject of Passion. The title choice was not a coincidence as Yvette Bozsik, Antal Fodor and Iván Markó’s unique works focus upon human relationships, overheated emotions and passionate relationships that are forever in a state of flux.
Yvette Bozsik’s piece, the Wedding is choreographed to Stravinsky’s 1917 Ballet music, Les Noces (The Marriages) and consists of four pictures of emotional states surrounding a wedding. These vignettes are subtitled as “Hair-knotting” “The House of the Groom”, “The Departure of the Bride” and “The Feast”.
According to the choreographer, the subject of the performance is Woman and Man’s mutual anxiety about the prospect of marriage; the angst is derived from the paradoxes that naturally manifest from an impending union. A duality is created that is born of their common yearnings for unification that is complicated by the unknown fears that accompany the prospect of any permanent union. Marriage presents an unknown yet it is that very element that can produce such unparalleled excitement. Ever present, however, is the lurking fear that one’s independence and identity might disappear as two become one.
Antal Fodor’s piece, Woman Times Seven, is a journey, where one man and seven women‘s successive meetings and separations become the central theme of focus. Fodor’s work depicts life itself through such interchanges as a matter of life’s ongoing dynamic: successions of journeys, interactions and subsequent transitions without conclusions. We come into the world, we seek to join with others and yet we divorce ourselves from our relationships that were long sought. Every separation proves painful while every meeting represents a new chance. Fodor views hope not only as a perspective but as an option; hope as a path in “Times Seven” is one that is created through the devotion of women.
Another question is posed: Can there be true friendship between man and woman? If not, why not? Happiness and pain are revolving emotions until we die but how do we avoid the inevitable anxiety? This rhythm and cycle of life is a central idea expressed through Fodor’s “Times Seven”.
Iván Markó’s artwork, The Beloved of the Sun was choreographed for Carl Orff’s popular work, Carmina Burana. Orff’s Burana remains a long testament to sensuality that is derived from unrequited unions. Optimism, cheerfulness, innocent pleasure/joy, and this tenuous sensuality resonate from Orff’s music as well as Iván Markó's dramatization through the dance medium.
He mines the depths of human feelings through his contemporary ballet. In keeping with the theme, Marko allows the audience to visualize the wonders of human hallmarks that have a most unpredictable pattern: birth, discovering ourselves, finding love and each segment that will take us to a hopeful end. That end, according to Marko, would be coming to terms with the philosophical maturation gleaned from these life altering experiences.
These fine choreographers join the current trend toward prolific and original Hungarian works that have exploded in recent years under the Direction of Gábor Keveházi, Artistic Director. Keveházi’s support for new talent has seamlessly been reconciled with the Opera House’s year round calendar of traditional Ballet classics, new Hungarian ’classical” works and contemporary creations. Prolific as the HNB has been, it has been done without sacrificing Ballet’s foundation of the strongest of classical technique.
Passion is a word most often associated with the performing arts. It is also the description easily recognized as the underlying force that drives creative artists to strive to understand as well as depict the human condition. Three Hungarian choreographers have done justice to the word as well as to the art form.
Further Information: opera.hu
Ticket Information by clicking here
Premier Dates: 8th and 9th of March 2008
Further Performance Dates: 12th 13th, 16th, 20th, 23rd 24th of March 2008
06.03.2008