ephemera

defrydrychowski.wordpress.com -- ephemera


(a microblog: notes, queries, and whatnot)

 Wandered down to the piazza in front of the national theatre (that term has a different meaning in these parts; many cities in a country can have a national theatre in them, though this is the principal one here, built for entertainments in 19th c. Austrian days) for a summertime outdoor free piece.  The local opera choir (whom I've heard at a similar event) and the ballet company (doing their Bolero, which I saw indoors as part of a Carmen/Bolero double bill some time ago).  The choral part had some local songs, but I kept struggling to hear the song itself beneath the conventions of modern choral singing/arrangement.  Much more in keeping with the style were the American bits, "NY, NY", "Wonderful World," etc.  And then the Bolero.  The company, from what I've seen is much more of a (skillful) modern ensemble, and while there was a bit of Jerome Robbins-type classicism, even though the movement were very broad and semiotic, it was basically a modern piece.  If Robbins had choreographed Rite of Spring from scratch, perhaps.  Very enjoyable.  

Oddly, from where I was standing, there was a clear echo from the buildings in back, and during the dance piece, it created a second snare line, just a fraction of a beat behind the first.  In any other city, it would have been interesting (and presumably a huge challenge for the dancers).  In this city, being between two drum lines, with the dancers holding firmly to the first was positively unheimlich.