Zoltán Fodor – Inversedance Company: Esther

 

Premiered in March, 2012, the recent production of Inversedance Company was inspired by the biblical story of Esther. However, for someone to be able to enjoy Esther, they do not necessarily have to be acquainted with the Old Testament narrative. The body langauge of the performers, the symbol system, the tension within and among the dancers actualize the underlying patterns of the story through the language of dance effectively.

The Jewish Esther, the adopted daughter of Mordecai, was the wife of the Persian Ahasuerus. As a result, from being one of the subjugated people she became Queen Esther, the spouse of the very king who ruled over those she belonged to. Her achievement was that she and Mordecai managed to foil Haman’s (the advisor of King Ahaseurus) plan to massacre the Jewish who lived in the empire. The day of deliverance has been celebrated and commemorated ever since as the holiday of Purim. 

The choreography was based mainly on the psychological states and transformations accompanying the plot. This way, the audience can see how oppression and a struggle for freedom, rebellion and fear, unity and clannishness is manifested in the certain sections of the dance composition and in the usage of space. For instance, the dancers playing the Jewish always moved as one, united almost to the point of appearing to be one breathing organ. Writhing on the ground, protecting their heads, crawling from the tyrannical effects of their oppressors, they are gradually trying to use more parts of their body, to occupy the whole space, but there always seems to be a limit that they can’t ‘overdance’. One of the leading motifs referring to their captivity was their handcuffed hands, through which we could witness Esther becoming Queen (handcuffed hands turning into a crown), or which were reflected in the terpsichorean patterns of the Persian soldiers as well, proposing the question how free the military puppets of a despot are. 

Photo by Gábor Dusa

Photo by Gábor Dusa

The character of Esther is especially effective. Becoming a Queen changes her posture, her inner state. Thereby, the same string of movements coming back can reveal a different attitude, different identity, different energy.

Photo by Gábor Dusa

Photo by Gábor Dusa

The ethereal, almost ancient-like music sets forth the atmosphere to grab the viewer out of the here and now. Emotional tension, symbolic body language, hands screaming for more space, and flowing dance movements  intermingle to convey the plot. Through the pressure expressed in a tautness in choreography, captivity and fighting for freedom gain new interpretations. The only part of the performance that seemed off was the losing section illustrating the Jewish celebration, Purim. Even though it was an indispensable part of the story, it didn’t have a distinct arrangement of steps, the music was strikingly different without any transition, so the scene didn’t fit the harmonic fluency that built up the whole piece before.

Photo by Gábor Dusa

http://www.inversedance.com

http://nemzetitancszinhaz.hu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=39903%3Ainversedance-fodor-zoltan-tarsulata-eszter&catid=8%3Aprodukciok&lang=hu
http://nemzetitancszinhaz.hu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=39915%3Ainversedance-zoltan-fodor-company-esther&catid=36%3Aprodukciok&lang=hu

P.S. I wrote this review about half a year ago. I loved it and have been a keen fan of Inversedance Company ever since. Now, as it turned out, I might have a chance to talk to the dancers in a less formal way, given the fact that the dancer who played Esther in this piece lives pretty close to me. Isn't that amazing? :)

And, by the way, this critique was published in a magazine I worked as a contributor at, but the edited version turned out to be a bit different from what I originally wrote, and this is my blog, so if I want to post a draft-like writing, then that is exactly what I'll do. So, yeah, this is not the published article, thereby I hope it does not entail any copyright infringement issues.