Pupa

Stanisław Syrewicz / Anna Hop

Performances

Ballet in one act
Music: Stanisław Syrewicz
Libretto: Klara Syrewicz based on the novel Ferdydurke by Witold Gombrowicz
World premiere: 14 February 2015 

Stanisław Syrewicz and Anna Hop reveal a fascination for Gombrowicz’s grotesque. Together they want to translate elements of the writer’s symbolism into a musical and visual language. 'Just like there is no room for lyrical tones in Gombrowicz,' Syrewicz remarks, 'and just like drama is mixed with grotesque in his work, there is no room for mawkishness, solemnity or soppiness in my compositions where irony runs deep'.

Ferdydurke is as tough to adapt for ballet as it is fascinating – the body, or rather its parts abstracted from the context of the whole are an important element in the construction of the novel’s grotesque world. Keywords such as 'pupa' (rump), 'gęba' (ugly face, a mug), 'łydka' (calf of the leg), and 'rozczłonkowanie' (dismemberment) describe social and psychological phenomena which, despite the passage of several decades, are still terrifyingly relevant.

Credits

Polish National Ballet
Music from a recording (electronic music, additional arrangements: Dariusz Kaliński; mastering: Marcin Bociński; the sections Form, Maturity and Słowacki feature recordings of music orchestrated and conducted by Krzesimir Dębski)

Sponsors

  • Partnerzy Teatru Wielkiego - Opery Narodowej

  • Partner Polskiego Baletu Narodowego

  • Partner technologiczny Teatru Wielkiego - Opery Narodowej

  • Patroni medialni Teatru Wielkiego - Opery Narodowej

  • Partners of Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera

  • Partner of Polish National Ballet

  • Technological partner of Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera

  • Media partners of Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera