The National Arts Centre presents the only Canadian performances of In Bella Copia, a provocative, edgy, and in-your-face new dance piece from the Czech Republic
October 21, 2003 -
OTTAWA -- Deja Donne performs the incendiary In Bella Copia in the Studio of the NAC from Thursday November 6 to Saturday November 8, 2003 at 20:00. This contemporary Prague-based dance theatre troupe has electrified critics and audiences worldwide with this scathing, explicit, and ironic look at how we perceive ourselves. The unstoppable energy of In Bella Copia is farcical and theatrical - expressed in fights, sex, and rampant nudity -- peopled with six bizarre and merciless characters fuelled by narcissism, lust, and a bottomless desire for attention. In Bella Copia has been seen across Europe and Russia, and is currently touring the United States; the National Arts Centre presents the only performances taking place in Canada.
The performances of Deja Donne are a part of the Czech Season in Canada, and made possible by the Theatre Institute in Prague through the generous support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
POST-PERFORMANCE CHAT Members of the audience are invited to stay in the Studio after the performance to meet co-choreographer Simone Sandroni and the company during an informal talk-back session hosted by Dance publicist Gerald Morris.
Described as "a sarcastic spectacle, a battle complete with vice, egoism, and aggression", In Bella Copia is Deja Donne's most recent work. It was devised in Italy in 2001 and brings together collaborators from Italy, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Japan, Belgium, France and the former Yugoslavia. Dark, driving - and performed to loud raucous risky music - In Bella Copia is an experience to savour. In unspoken bitter hope, the moral paradox of our bodies is revealed: they are the proverbial vessels of sin, and yet in their naked and vulnerable state, our bodies are the image of innocence, the desirable "fair copy" of all of us. In Bella Copia exposes the beauty within us all.
Prague's Dance Zone magazine declared " …the stage changes into the backstage, lights into shadow, intimacy into exhibition, power into powerlessness. The dancers are also masters of the use of space and lights - choosing themselves what will remain hidden and what will be highlighted. Charged with this important personal task (and personal power), the performers play out their theatrum vitae with the courage of missionaries in a lost land, dancing the dance of the action hero at preposterous speeds, and touching us with a scene about a virginity lost forever."
"Clothes Can Be Flung Off, but Anxieties Still Remain: Deja Donne shot Dance Theater workshop's new international season off to a cannonball start."
Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times
"With the agitated nature of dancing and the extremeness of the interactions onstage, In Bella Copia could have the effect of keeping one awake far into the night."
Wendy Perron, The New York Times
"Deja Donne succeed in overcoming all language barriers with intensity of body language and pure panache"
Don Morris, The Scotsman, 2000
In 1996, Lenka Flory and Simone Sandroni and founded the international contemporary dance theatre group Deja Donne in Prague, Czech Republic. Since their first production, the company has worked with a multinational company of dancers and artists from all around Europe. They have performed to consistent critical acclaim and have been a major influence on the development of the contemporary dance scene in the Czech Republic. Deja Donne is renowned for their exhilarating and explosive style, creating work with a strong social and political content. They create shows that move people and that are artistically independent of fashionable forms or themes. The sincerity and humanity that underlies Deja Donne's work is a defining characteristic. Their theatre is a fluent hybrid of modes, languages and styles - sexy, but also ugly, humbling, and generous.
