"Prometheus" says goodbye to director Waldemar Dąbrowski

All candidates taking part in the recent competition for the director of the National Opera in their presented programmes spoke with appreciation of the achievements and condition of the Polish National Ballet. The winner of the competition and nominated for the director's position, Boris Kudlička, clearly emphasised the role of this ensemble in the structure of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera.

Unintentionally, Krzysztof Pastor's latest production has become the last premiere, ending Waldemar Dąbrowski's over twenty-year directorial term. It was he who, 16 years ago, had the idea to create the Polish National Ballet and brought Krzysztof Pastor from abroad to become the head of the ensemble, which has a great deal of autonomy and is an integral part of this huge operatic institution.

Over the course of a dozen or so years, a ballet company has been created that has gained a reputation in Europe. It is national in character and international in its composition, because artists from all over the world are currently applying to join the Polish National Ballet. For decades, the most talented Polish dancers have been leaving en masse for the West, and now we can afford to choose artists from Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Not obvious to many viewers, surprising "Prometheus" is a showcase of the artistic condition of the Polish National Ballet, but also of Krzysztof Pastor as a choreographer. After a series of performances with an elaborate plot, he created a ballet also with action, but above all using metaphors and symbols.

Viewers who have not received a more in-depth education in ancient mythology, and that is the majority today, should google the story of Prometheus before the performance. The fact that he stole fire from the gods may be known, but who knows today who Pandora and her box were to him and what role Prometheus' brother Epimetheus played in this story.

The first part of Krzysztof Pastor's ballet tells all this, starting with Uranus (and his wife Gaia), who created the Earth and people from chaos. For Zeus, fire is an attribute of omnipotent power, and Prometheus does not have the characteristics of a hero, he has compassion for the miserable existence of humans.

The premiere cast was significantly diversified. Vladimir Yaroshenko is Zeus with a beautiful, masculine posture and expressive gestures. Patryk Walczak (Prometheus) – more boyish and delicate, but with an incredible emotional power. Paweł Koncewoj – Epimetheus is very attached to his brother, but at the same time he cannot resist the charm of Pandora, who was destined for Prometheus by Zeus' will, and fell in love with his brother.

The male quartet of characters is completed by the golden Eagle, who inflicts a cruel punishment on Prometheus, but at the same time sympathizes with him and is strangely connected to his fate. Kristóf Szabó, a dancer with a strong personality, is ideally suited to create such ambiguous characters. The relations between them, based on expressive choreography, on male duets with spectacular lifts, build the tension of the first part of the performance.

The counterpoint for them is the ethereal Chinara Alizade with beautiful, soft hand movements and a dance most clearly derived from classical technique. Her Pandora has of course an unhealthy curiosity that forces her to open the box received from Zeus. But nobility also remains, so she closes the box, not allowing the most precious thing to escape from it - a glimmer of hope.

Chinara Alizade, Prometheus

Chinara Alizade as Pandora in the ballet "Prometheus" by Krzysztof Pastor

Photo: Ewa Krasucka

Thanks to Pandora, cataclysms and misfortunes escaped. They changed people's lives, as shown in the second act: suffering, death, wars, fires. The relationships between the main characters are interwoven with the vision of a world plagued by various plagues. Using his characteristic language of dance, Krzysztof Pastor created many suggestive, diverse, symbolic images.

"Prometheus" fortunately avoided literalness or any actualization in this respect. The action takes place on two levels (set design by Tatyana van Walsum) and with visuals dominated by the rocks of the Caucasus Mountains, where Prometheus was supposedly serving his punishment, chained to them. The austerity of the stage is effectively broken by the white, gold and red costumes and the important role of fire.

The performance confirms the excellent condition of the entire ensemble, confirming that it belongs to the best ballet companies in Europe. And there is in "Prometheus" an enormous spiritual power, which only the ballets of the most outstanding choreographers created for great religious musical works contain,

In the second act, Krzysztof Pastor used Mozart's "Requiem", although the interpretation by the orchestra and choir of the National Opera and four young singers lacked the mystical atmosphere of this musical masterpiece. Patrick Fournillier coped much better with Philip Glass's XI Symphony, completely different in character, brilliantly conveying the chaos of the emerging world, enriched by Glass's piano piece "Mad Rush" interpreted by Kuba Matuszczyk.