Birutė Letukaitė
The performance “Labyrinth” was created in memory of the pioneer of expressive dance, Danuta Nasvytyta, and was shown on the opening night of the international dance festival AURA 26.
During the premiere of the performance, the space of modern architecture in Kaunas – Kaunas “Pienocentro” palace – was filled with unprecedented and strange life. The artistic forces of movement, art, animation and music gathered here invited the audience to a mystical artistic action and rooms full of secrets.
“Labyrinth” is a dance performance inspired by a series of eight paintings by the artist Sigis Gabrie (Sigitos Gabrijolavićius), son of Danutė Nasvytytė. With the help of the creative team of the Kaunas Biennale, choreographer Birutė Letukaitė placed the dancers of the dance theater “Aura” in spaces where the audience was invited to travel not only with their bodies, but also with their minds. Travel through time, consciousness and subconsciousness, past and memories, meeting symbolic, metaphorical figures, images and characters.
Sigios Gabrie’s series of paintings tells the story of a little girl, her unpredictable journey through life, illustrated by the myths of the Labyrinth. The mother is winding the clothesline without taking her eyes off the girl following her… This story reveals the idea of the Minotaur myth – it is the fear of the unknown. The paintings are based on the physical idea of a spinning clothesline, displaying various images and symbols like colored sheets. The characters (dancers) wander through the twists and turns of the labyrinth, the photographer follows the girl and photographs her encounters with various mythical creatures. He leaves the photographs behind as if they are frames reflecting the memory of the experiences of art, myths and legends. Dancers paint motion pictures, improvising and interpreting the visual metaphors created in the paintings.
The project is financed by the Lithuanian Culture Council, Kaunas City Municipality.
The space partner of the project is Kaunas University of Technology.
Choreography
Birutė Letukaitė
Author of paintings
Sigi Gabrie (Sigitas Gabrijolavičius, Australia)
Exhibition and visualization partner
Kaunas Biennale
Artist
Monika Žaltauskaitė Grašienė
Video animator
Šarūnas Vyštartas
Costume artists
Olesė Kekienė and Kaunas College students
Music
Antanas Jasenka
Premier line-up
Ema Nedobežkina, Gintarė Marija Ščavinskaitė, Julija Strupaitė, Gerda Butkutė, Oksana Griaznova, Abel Hernandez Gonzalez, Aime Sanchez, Juan Madero, Antonia Koluiartseva, Evgeniy Kalachov, Haruka Suzuki, Kyrie Oda, Mei Chen, Love Hellgren, Niels Claes, Marine Fernandez
Premiere
2016 y. October 6th.
Duration
1-3 h.
Art director of the theater
Birutė Letukaitė
Photos: Laura Vansevičienė