Preview: The Painted Bird

An intriguing international dance performance is coming to Archa Theater, offering a contemporary take on a timeless issue.

Bastard, which will be performed in Prague by Palissimo Company, is the first part of a trilogy called The Painted Bird, which choreographer Pavel Zuštiak and the company debuted in Slovakia in 2010. A multimedia performance, Bastard features dance, live music, video and other projections. According to Zuštiak, "The trilogy format came out of my desire for the audiences to experience the displacement and migration … in the format and their theater experience as well as in the content. Each of the parts is of a different theatrical framing."

"The complete trilogy will eventually have audiences migrating from venue to venue on a five-hour journey. We are hoping to bring this completed trilogy to Europe and Prague after its premiere in the U.S. at the Wexner Center for the Arts in fall 2012," he says.

The performance is based loosely on a controversial 1965 novel by Polish author Jerzy Kosiński that narrates the life and times of a young gypsy wandering throughout the postwar landscape in Central and Eastern Europe. At one point in the novel, the wanderer observes a professional bird catcher who paints a bird he has caught and lets it back into the wild to find its flock. Upon reuniting, however, the flock treats the bird as an unfamiliar intruder and kills it. This episode is central to Bastard's exploration of otherness, displacement and transformation.

"The Painted Bird trilogy is about finding one's place in a community, in the world. It suggests that each of us is an outsider and insider at the same time. It only depends on who defines those borders, and how. The Painted Bird is an expression of a human desire to find 'home' and realization that it is a constantly shifting concept," Zuštiak says.

As Zuštiak's first attempt at adapting a book to the stage, The Painted Bird offered particular challenges, he says, adding the goal of the trilogy is to create a work that can speak to audiences regardless of cultural and historical differences. But bridging the gap between the narrative of a novel and the more lyrical, abstract expression of dance wasn't always easy.

"I don't find dance to be a good vehicle for telling stories. It is, however, great for capturing and transmitting that something that goes beyond words. One of the biggest compliments on my work came from an older lady after one of the shows when she said, 'I did not understand it, but I know what it was about.' Dance has that ability to touch audiences on a guttural level. But it is a two-way street; it requires both audiences and us on the other side of the stage to come together with an open mind," he says.

A respected international choreographer, Zuštiak directs the Palissimo Company, which was founded in New York City in 2004. The choreographer has received several awards for his work, including a 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship, a 2008 Movement Research Artist in Residence Appointment and the 2007 Princess Grace Award. Performing in the show will be Slovak dancer Jaro Vinařský and musician and composer Christian Frederickson, whose music will accompany the performance.

Thus far, the trilogy has received rave reviews from international critics, including Claudia LaRocco in The New York Times, who wrote, "It was easy to find one's eyes and imagination most drawn to Mr. Zuštiak, a striking performer who projected an exquisite, unknowable vulnerability. Mr. Zuštiak likes to probe - even needle - the spatial and power dynamics that swirl around an unorganized crowd when it is invaded by resolute individuals. There is the sense that, with The Painted Bird, he has found his material, and will be mining it for a long time to come."

For anyone with an interest in contemporary dance, or anyone interested in the concepts of "home" and "community," The Painted Bird offers a unique, insightful perspective into a very human issue and one that deserves more attention.

Stephan Delbos can be reached at
sdelbos@praguepost.com