Tutej.pl, Joanna Błaszkowska

Is there something to capture?

"The famous saying by Horatio – Capture the day – serves as the title of the latest show performed by the Polish Dance Theatre. The play opening night was held on Friday and was an inducement to various considerations. An analysis of the play is bound to produce fruitful results for everyone eager to engage in it.
What does the title - Carpe diem – relate to? To the prerogative to enjoy a moment, which was stated in the ancient times and cultivated for centuries. Capture the moment, before it passes – Horatio works seem to encourage the readers. The sentence is easily associated with careless, happy moments, which could last forever. Bearing in mind such a meaning of the title of the play staged by the theatre managed by Ewa Wycichowska, we subconsciously search for blissful moments, which could be captured. Surprisingly enough, no such moments set in. These happy, joyful moments are not produced by the show, which in fact is a constructive eye-opener.
The dance, which is perfectly performed to the excellent chords of music by Zbigniew and Maciej Górny, evokes an atmosphere of anxiety. Through their movements, dancers illustrate the hectic search for something, aggression, demands, fears, loneliness. The general mood of a lack of fulfillment is intensified by the cried-out words, which are not parts of the dialogues – we can hear – far, cold, too late. The scenes filled with dynamic, decisive movements performed to the rhythmic music, which is sometimes played only by percussion instruments, suggest perseverance, will to attain goals, to capture something, which is worth capturing. Yet, unfortunately there are no moments, which would imply at least momentary fulfillment. The pursuit ends with a failure.
The atmosphere of anxiety is evoked by sounds, the choreography and the stage design, which could be mathematically billed as approximating zero. The names of electric appliances, which are recited at the beginning and at the end of the show (mixers, TV sets, batteries, vacuum cleaners, vibrators, computers, driers...) place dancers and the audience in the present technology-soaked reality. In this world, we should try to capture the titular day. However, in the omnipresent hustle and ambiguity it seems hard to find anything worth capturing.
Yet, throughout the play, upstage, something up-lifting takes place. On the edge of the stage there is an inconspicuous and unattractive heap of dark soil. A couple of dancers guard it - they bend over the heap, where suddenly a fern starts to shoot up. When they stop dancing and gather around the fern heap, their movements and faces become more relaxed. Anxiety and aggression vanish. Maybe here they will find reality worth capturing. The greatest paradox is that it needs no capturing. What is more, it cannot be captured, because it simply is. It is just enough to sit beside it.
What is worth our attention in the everyday, urban pursuit? Nature? Tranquility? Slowing down? Or getting rid of the 24-hour image, a lifestyle, which is put on like clothes, and which we use to communicate with others and which was so over-accentuated by the choreography and costumes in Carpe diem? Apart from the tiny sanctuary located next to the heap, one more motive is constantly unfulfilled - the two last dances performed by the group. They are crazy and joyous – the first one in ternary meter performed to the quasi-Balkan music of wind instruments, and the second one staged as a tango. Maybe the irrational dance brings momentary happiness, which must be captured? Bliss is certainly not provided by the assistance of the entrepreneurs and craftsmen, which is offered at the end to a group of dancers, who gather on the stage and who look like protagonists of some odd fairy tales. One of them is transformed for one moment into a representative of the said entrepreneurs and shouts out the offers of help at the artists. The way she speaks (switching between Polish, English and French) shows she herself needs help. In the permanent pursuit and man’s immersion in technology no promise of any assistance can bring joy and happiness. Where to find them? Does the play by the Dance Theatre render answer to the question? It would not be good, if it gave answers. It is a task for the audience. Good Luck!"

Joanna Błaszkowska, "Tutej.pl", March 6, 2007.