Vlasta - Ultra-minimal-ballet

A new theatrical project by the dance ensemble Ultra-minimal-ballet, Vlasta is both a documentary and site-specific work. Three dancers, one actor, and projections bring images from the extraordinary life of Vlasta - a woman whose mother jumped from a window, who was raped as a child, wrongly accused, spent her youth in a concentration camp, rejected by her own father after the war, who fell in love, divorced, also jumped from windows, took diazepam, became a nuisance to her neighbors, and everywhere heard "Jožina z bažin". The piece works with period official documents, real letters, and includes a recording of an interview with the title character's daughter. Time does not necessarily flow linearly here; "high" and "low" art mix. Situations can be viewed from different perspectives and may appear tragicomic. For Vlasta and the audience, it is often unclear who is mother, daughter, husband, son, father, tormentor... or who she is to herself. The themes are deeply contemporary, timeless really, though shown through the past so we can look at things "from elsewhere". The goal is to let the audience see themselves "from elsewhere" - to offer an external perspective and the tolerance that comes from it as a solution to our own and others' suffering. There are no visual attributes of any particular era. Everything happens now... in many places in today's world... still... unfortunately. Theatre Newspaper - Jana Bohutínská: "Facing such a subject requires enormous courage; crafting it into an artwork demands fundamental respect (even for what remains unknown, what stays secret), empathy and sensitivity. In Alena Pešková's production I find all of this in abundance. As a creator, she does not take the path of scenic detours, discreet hints and evasive symbolism. She strives to bring the unvarnished rawness of the story itself to the stage in a documentary manner, including heightened emotions." Dance Zone - Tomáš Kubart: "In Vlasta, the maturity of Alena Pešková's authorial voice meets the need..."