Polish Dance Theater
Poznan, Poland 

choreography, text, set: Jo Strømgren
music: Jo Strømgren, Viljo Vesterinen, George Brassens, Fryderyk Chopin, Giacomo Puccini, Francisco Tarrega, Serge Gainsbourg, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Antonio Vivaldi, Ronan Hardiman, Ich Troje, Astor Piazzolla, Alfredo Catalani, Eleni Karaindrou, Lars Årdal
costume design: Bregje van Balen
light design: Hans Skogen
production: Polish Dance Theatre, Poznan

co-production: Jo Strømgren Kompani, Oslo
supported by: Art Council Norway, EEA Grants

duration: 75’
premiere: 2015, Zamek Centre, Poznan

”Life is like a book, they say. But life is written on thousands of loose sheets. You can tell a story and say it is the truth. But it’s a matter of choice. Of deciding which papers in which order. Our story is one of these.”

Jo Strømgren

The performance follows a woman, from her birth in 1973 to her birthday in 2013. The timespan of 40 years reflects a period of doubts, hopes, struggles, choices, and unforseen events, driven by heroic virtues – the lust for life and the will to survive. On her journey through a chaotic Europe, she manages to find a compromise between her own ambitions and the circumstances that are forced upon her. The multiple layers of the performance aims to portray not only the quest of a single individual, but also the one of a country and a dance company. Poland has changed radically the last 40 years, what are the future prospects? The 40th anniversary of Polish Dance Theatre raises the same question. As a piece of artwork, the performance does not delve into facts and figures. The truth is never the truth anyway, it’s all a matter of which details you emphasize. Or exaggerate.

Jo Strømgren was born in Trondheim in 1970 and fulfilled the cliché of a Norwegian childhood with wild nature, social democracy values and violent troll fairytales. Apart from a traditional background, he also spent several years in tropical areas due to the occupation of his parents. This early mix of local identity and globetrotter confusion has been relevant in his professional work, both in themes, variation of genres, and perhaps especially in the particular interest in different languages After graduation, he was drawn between two alternative studies – chemical engineering at the Polytechnical College or Russian language with the Norwegian military. A stray application to the National College of Ballet in Oslo was however accepted. So he made an impulsive choice. Due to skepticism towards academic methods and extreme absence, he never managed to graduate neither in classical ballet nor choreography. He nevertheless initiated a fruitful career as a dancer which later led him to choreography and theatre direction. Literary ambitions evolved and was soon to become a steady career also in playwriting. Although these three art forms are defined as his main occupations, he has also been developing a particular style in set design and lighting design. Involvement in film-making, both in front of and behind the camera, is also worth a mention. The multi-disciplinary character of his work is however to be seen as nothing more than a natural interest in the overall process of storytelling. As an artistic director of Jo Strømgren Company, founded 1998, he has developed a significant personal style with a mix of theatre, dance, puppets, film, and live music – wrapped in a nonsensical language frame. As a choreographer he has been commissioned by a wide range of companies – from classical to contemporary. As a theatre director he has mostly been working with national and municipal theatres in Scandinavia, predominantly with plays by Henrik Ibsen. As a playwright he has written a long list of plays for theatre and scripts for film. He is a member of Writer’s Guild of Norway. Strømgren is currently Associated Choreographer with the Norwegian National Ballet.

20. mart u 20 časova
Velika scena Madlenianuma

ČETRDESET

Poljski teatar igre
(Poznanj, Poljska)

koreografija, tekst, scena: Jo Strømgren

muzika: Jo Strømgren, Viljo Vesterinen, George Brassens, Fryderyk Chopin, Giacomo Puccini, Francisco Tarrega, Serge Gainsbourg, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Antonio Vivaldi, Ronan Hardiman, Ich Troje, Astor Piazzolla, Alfredo Catalani, Eleni Karaindrou, Lars Årdal

kostim: Bregje van Balen
dizajn svetla: Hans Skogen
produkcija: Polish Dance Theatre, Poznan
koprodukcija: Jo Strømgren Kompani, Oslo
uz podršku: Art Council Norway, EEA Grants

trajanje: 75’

premijera: 2015, Zamek Centre, Poznan

"Ljudi govore: život je kao knjiga. Ali život je ispisan na hiljadama praznih stranica. Možete ispričati priču i tvrditi da je istinita. Ali to je stvar izbora. Odluke o rasporedu stranica. Naša priča je jedna od mnogih."

Jo Strømgren 

Predstava prati ženu, od njenog rođenja 1973. godine, do njenog rođendana 2013. godine. Razdoblje od 40 godina odražava period sumnje, nade, borbe, izbora i nepredviđenih situacija, vođenih herojskim vrlinama - žudnjom za životom i voljom za preživljavanjem. Na putu kroz haotičnu Evropu, ona uspeva da pronađe kompromis između svojih ambicija i okolnosti koje su joj nametnute.
Slojevitost komada ima za cilj da prikaže ne samo individualno traganje, već i stanje jedne države ili  jedne kompanije umetničke igre. Poljska se radikalno menjala tokom poslednjih 40 godina, i kakva je njena budućnost? Četrdesetogodišnjica Poljskog teatra igre nameće isto pitanje. Kao umetničko delo, predstava se ne bavi činjenicama i brojkama. Istina nikada nije istina, sve je pitanje detalja koje ističete. Ili preuveličavate.

Ju Stromgren je rođen u Trondhajmu 1970. godine i ispunio je kliše norveškog detinjstva sa divljom prirodom, vrednostima socijaldemokratije i nasilnim bajkama sa trolovima. Pored tradicionalnog odrastanja, proveo je i nekoliko godina u tropskim predelima zbog posla svojih roditelja. Ta mešavina lokalnog identiteta i konfuzije večitog putnika bila je značajna u njegovom profesionalnom radu, kako u temama, tako i u varijacijama žanrova, a naročito u posebnom interesovanju za različite jezike. Po završetku školovanja, trebalo je da bira između dva  usmerenja - hemijski inženjering na Politehničkom fakultetu ili ruski jezik u Norveškoj vojsci. Međutim, i aplikacija za Nacionalnu baletsku akademiju u Oslu bila je prihvaćena. Napravio je impulsivni izbor. Skeptičan prema akademskim metodama i često odsutan, nikad nije uspeo da diplomira ni klasičan balet, ni koreografiju. Započeo je plodonosnu karijeru igrača, koja ga je kasnije vodila do koreografije i pozorišne režije. Literarne ambicije su se razvijale, i uskoro je uspešnu karijeru ostvario i u dramskom pisanju. Iako su ove tri umetničke discipline definisane kao njegova glavna zanimanja, on se takođe oprobao u dizajnu scene i svetla. Važno je pomenuti i učešće u izradi filmova, kako ispred tako i iza kamere. Multidisciplinarni karakter ovog umetnika, zapravo je prirodan interes za celokupan proces kazivanja priče. Kao umetnički direktor svoje trupe u Oslu, osnovane 1998. godine, Stromgren je razvio značajan lični koreografski rukopis sa mešavinom pozorišnog, lutkarskog, filmskog i muzičkog sadržaja, uvek obavijen u jezički okvir. Osim za sopstvenu, postavljao je dela za mnoge trupe u svetu, bilo da su u pitanju kompanije klasične ili savremene igre. Kao pozorišni reditelj, uglavnom je radio sa nacionalnim i gradskim pozorištima u Skandinaviji, pretežno na dramama Henrika Ibzena. Kao dramski pisac, napisao je veliki broj pozorišnih i filmskih scenarija. Član je Udruženja književnika Norveške, i trenutno angažovan kao stalni koreograf u Nacionalnom baletu Norveške.

Conducter: Marco Boemi (Italy)
Director: Alberto Triola (Italy)

Soloists, choir and orchestra of the National Theatre in Belgrade

In the anniversary year, when the Opera & Theatre Madlenianum marks two decades of its existence and successful work, for the first time we have set one of the most famous title- Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni, one of the most mature piece of arts from the last opus of the great master of music.  The special curiosity of this production is the fact that it is the result of cooperation with the National Theatre in Belgrade and this is the first co-production of our sole two opera theatres in the capital city.   

It is generally known that Amadeus Mozart has, during 35 years of his short life, created an incredible opus of over 600 compositions of various formats and contents, including 20 operas, 49 symphonies, 26 string quartets, 25 piano concerts, 18 sonata for piano, many other chamber pieces, as well as numerous cantatas, masses and the unrepeatable Requiem in D minor.

The Opera Don Giovanni stands side by side with the masterpieces of Mozart, such as The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute and Cosi fan tutte and therefore it is the matter of prestige for each theatre in the world to have at least one masterpiece of the child prodigy from Salzburg.  Don Giovanni is the third Mozart’s opera set on the stage of the Opera & Theatre Madlenianum (Cosi fan tutte 2002. and The Magic Flute 2013.).  

In this firs co-production of a private and state theatre in our region, the soloists, choir and the orchestra of the National Theatre in Belgrade will appear on the stage of the Opera & Theatre Madlenianum, direction is in the hands of an experienced Italian opera director, Alberto Triola and the monumental set design is also signed by a guest from Italy, Tiziano Santi. The great performing apparatus is under the baton of Marco Boemi. This is a modern, interesting and witty opera that will certainly attract great attention of the audience.

On 2nd and 3rd DECEMBER ON THE LARGE STAGE OF MADLENIANUM- CONCERTS OF NEAPOLITAN MUSIC

You are invited to enjoy the love and fiery songs that will bring a smile to your face and make you shed a tear…

You will be listening to the most authentic jewels of classic Neapolitan songs that have the specificity in showing the vitality of human feelings and evoking a specific charge of positive energy, which emphasize and uplift the level of spontaneity and emotionality- the characteristics that “Neapolitans” bring into interpersonal relationships as their own tradition and feature.    

An interesting story has been made in a form of a play on the theme of “Classic Neapolitan Songs”, from their beginning till nowadays, by evoking various (not only artistic) vital aspects and moments that jointly contributed to enthralling, enchanting and inspiring of a number of generations and individuals from different cultural, territorial and social layers.  

The Maestro Pino Tafuto’s Orchestra – all members are the professors with the Conservatory San Pietro a Majella. Maestro Emidio Ausiello on percussions and drums, accompanied by ballet dancers playing tarantella, Angelica Sepe, Antonio Carluccio, tenor Annibale Marchesini and soprano Norma Pucci  will perform the selected repertoire live.

With the aim of promoting the Neapolitan artistic and cultural heritage, in addition to music content you will also see photos, drawings, video films and similar which shall point out the “character” of the city of Naples and a national geographic area that are generally known as unique and unrepeatable on the map of the world and feelings as well.

For any further information and reservation call: 316 27 97, 21 80 400 and 33 00 111 or write to blagajna@madlenianum.rs.