Due to injury of one of the dancers, we are obliged to change the program. Monday and Tuesday production of MELANCHOLY will have only the first part of the trilogy – a solo by dancer Dominika Wiak. It will be followed by dance performance SOMA by Slovakina choreographer Martin Talaga, which was awarded the Dance Production of the Year. The audience will therefore see not only one but actually two amazing productions! The tickets are still available.

 

SOMA

Choreography, visuals Martin Talaga

music Myko

supervision Kara Rooney

light design Karlos Šimek

stage design Kateřina Soukupová

costumes Kateřina Jirmanová Soukupová

production Dominika Skálová

photography Petr Kurečka, Michal Hančovský

 

performing Radim Klásek, Anton Eliaš, Marek Menšík

As the human body is at the heart of SOMA, our dictionary of the physical movement within the performance is defined by its abilities and inabilities. We ask ourselves what the human body is capable of expressing and what are its limitations. We use parts of a mannequin in order to shed light on the imperfections of the body contrasting with the seemingly perfect and proportionate pieces of plastic. We conclude that in spite of its flawlessness, the mannequin remains cold, breathless and soulless. The mannequin is meant to function as a memento to the mankind and thereby, it is to reflect upon the current trend of worshiping perfection and outer beauty while forgetting about the real values and inner beauty. We have become colder, we care less and without realising it, we have transformed to be more robot-like than ever before. We are slowly, but surely losing what makes us human.

Once again, he (Martin Talaga) tries not to please, or in any way formally or purposefully, gratify the audience. Because of this his work feels sincere and pure… Refreshing, simple movement vocabulary, functional lighting, the space, the props, and the concept of the entire choreography – raw and new. All this leads us to an unexpected destination “a movement installation“. Jan Kodet, choreographer

The main strength of the performance is in the associative play with the viewer, in the hints, fleeting gestures and abstractions that stimulate the imagination… LUDVÍK PÍZA, nadivadlo.blogspot.cz, 12 June 2017

Martin Talaga is a Prague-based artist. He works as a dancer, choreographer and performance artist mainly in the field of physical theatre and contemporary dance. Besides contemporary dance, he focuses on experimental and visual performances as well as traditional folk dances. Over the course of his studies and professional career he has had the chance to collaborate with various choreographers, theatre directors and companies, including LATERNA MAGIKA-National Theatre (CZ), VerTeDance (CZ), Spitfire Company (CZ), Radim Vizváry (CZ), Csaba Molnár (HU), Matthew Rogers (US), Alexandra Karabelas (GE), Stefan Dreher (GE), Mia Lawrence (GE, BE), SAJU HARI (UK), Jaro Viňarský (SK), Peter Šavel (BE/SK), Vera Ondrašíková (CZ) and others.