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French-Czech collaborators unveil new dance piece

LaSkupina finds inspiration in work with Serge Ambert

By Brooke Edge
For The Prague Post
October 17th, 2007 issue

Desirata

When: Oct. 21 & 22 at 7:30
Where: Divadlo v Celetné (Celetná 17, Prague 1–Old Town)
Tickets: 120 – 180 Kč, available at the venue

Sylvie Leray of the French Institute refers to her organization’s ongoing sponsorship of collaboration between French choreographer Serge Ambert and the local dance company LaSkupina as “a very modern vision of … European cooperation.” The sharing of ideas, talent and occasionally finances between cultures exemplifies how countries and institutions can work across borders to enrich each other’s lives and foster growth and new directions in the arts.
The latest result of the French Institute’s cross-cultural efforts will be displayed Oct. 21 and 22 at Divadlo V Celetné in the form of a new contemporary dance piece titled Desirata.
The partnership between Ambert and LaSkupina began in 2003, with the Prague production of Ambert’s work Cestou s ní (or Voyage avec elle). It consisted of eight female dancers from different technical backgrounds, according to LaSkupina member Bětka Májová.
“When this project ended, the dancers agreed that they wanted to collaborate with Serge Ambert again,” she says. “They wanted to form a group, a structure that would be able to support their effort in an official way.”
From that impetus, LaSkupina was founded as a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting local artists in collaboration with each other and foreign counterparts. With continuing support from the French Institute, Ambert has staged a performance with LaSkupina in Prague every year since.
An experienced and well known contemporary dancer in his native country, Ambert has worked with a number of companies and choreographers across Europe, including Lyon Opera Ballet and Compagnie Christine Bastin. In 2003, Ambert founded his own, Bourgogne-based La Compagnie les Alentours reveurs.  
The French Institute, which frequently sponsors French-related artistic endeavors locally, was impressed by Ambert’s ever-evolving contemporary dance works, and by the dedication of artists at LaSkupina to look beyond Czech borders for inspiration. “Every year [Ambert] has a new project, and we support him to work with Czech dancers and Czech choreographers,” Leray says.
This year’s piece evolved from brainstorming sessions between LaSkupina and Ambert.
“Working with Serge Ambert is based on improvisation, first and foremost,” explains Májová. The choreographer and the dancers take a topic, then each participant adds personal knowledge and motivation to create the final work.
While it’s a group effort, Májová notes that the guiding light comes from Ambert. “Serge Ambert has a very clear image of where he is going, which material to use,” she says. “His work is based on detail, precision and interpretation.”
Ambert describes the finished version of Desirata this way: “I explored the relation between men and women. I explored the universe of ball dances to evoke our relation to desire and seduction.”
The key feature of Desirata is a string quartet playing live music that mirrors and moves with the piece’s four dancers.
“Desirata came about as a dancing quartet accompanied by a string quartet of contemporary music, with four dancers on the stage [portraying] dance as a means of meeting people, seducing,” says Májová. “It is an action, an interplay of looks, body language and desire for physical contact.”
For the performances at Divadlo v Celetné, the string quartet will be a French group, Ensemble XXI. Unlike many dance pieces, Desirata gives them equal billing with the dancers.
“The relationship is one of equality,” says Májová. “It is not the dance which narrates the music, nor the music which leads the dance. It is a reciprocal dialogue.
“All of this creates a special kind of atmosphere,” she adds, “a different world that enables us to dream, to immerse ourselves in the joy we get through music and dance.”

Brooke Edge can be reached at tempo@praguepost.com


Other articles in Tempo (17/10/2007):

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