Obsessions

Schubert / Krzysztof Pastor | Karłowicz / Emil Wesołowski | Schnittke, Górecki / Krzysztof Pastor

  • Part I

    30 min.

  • Intermission

    25 min.

  • Part II

    25 min.

  • Intermission

    20 min.

  • Part III

    25 min.

Duration: 2 h 5 min.

  • Performance cancelled
  • Performance cancelled
Performances

Ballet evening in three parts

ADAGIO & SCHERZO
Choreography: Krzysztof Pastor
Music: Franz Schubert

RETURNING WAVES
Choreography: Emil Wesołowski
Music: Mieczysław Karłowicz 

MOVING ROOMS
Choreography: Krzysztof Pastor
Music: Alfred Schnittke
Henryk Mikołaj Górecki

Premiere: 29 March 2014

Obsession is the name of Calvin Klein’s oriental-spice perfume, on the market since 1985. David Lynch is the author of short clips advertising the scent, in which he talks about his obsessions with the words of celebrated writers: Ernest Hemingway, D.H. Lawrence, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Lynch’s dense, black-and-white imagery captures the obsessive and sensual mood well. Where do the eponymous obsessions come from in this ballet evening? Obsessions appear both in the musical layer, as well as on the level of interpersonal relations, states Krzysztof Pastor. Both in Schubert’s quintet, as well as in Schnittke and Górecki we are dealing with obsessive repetition of musical themes. In relations between the dancers we note obsessive search for a partner, as well as search for one’s own self. Moving Rooms and Adagio & Scherzo are non-narrative choreographies – they are an expression of life, dreams, desires and fears. Returning Waves, set to Karłowicz’s music, is a story of a difficult relationship, of losing oneself. This choreography for two puts one in mind of Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage – a couple in a cottage on windy seashore, parting and returning. The term obsession' refers also to the very essence of dance. As Joanna Szymajda, the deputy director of the Institute of Music and Dance in Warsaw, writes, 'Classical ballet technique consists in obsession of excellence and perfection, integrated not only in the training method based on endless repetition of the same exercises and figures, but also in a certain utopia inherent in the very philosophy of this art form'.

Credits

Polish National Ballet
Recorded music

Sponsors

  • Mecenas Teatru Wielkiego - Opery Narodowej

  • Partnerzy Teatru Wielkiego - Opery Narodowej

  • Partner Polskiego Baletu Narodowego

  • Patroni medialni Teatru Wielkiego - Opery Narodowej

  • Patron of Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera

  • Partners of Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera

  • Media patrons of Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera