Press release
On August 6–8, the long-awaited premiere of Anželika Cholina’s Dance Theatre will resonate at the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre in Vilnius – the world of M. K. Čiurlionis will unfold in the dance performance The Tale of Kings, part of the “Čiurlionis 150” program.
This is not the choreographer’s first work dedicated to Čiurlionis: in 2021, A. Cholina staged a one-act dance performance of the same name based on Čiurlionis’ symphonic poem The Sea. This time, however, the scale is entirely different, as the author herself notes: more than 30 performers on stage, 300 costumes, and a nearly two-hour-long performance.
“There’s simply no way to tell this story in less time. The theme itself demands such expression. If you dare to take it on, you must do it properly. There are and never will be compromises. In art, it is always either yes or no,” says A. Cholina, speaking about the ambition to depict the highly complex story of M. K. Čiurlionis without sparing any resources. Cholina is not only the director and choreographer of the performance but also its librettist.
The Tale of Kings is a dance performance that sensitively and dramatically reveals the unique yet still not fully known story of M. K. Čiurlionis’ life, the deep and multi-layered world of the artist, and his creativity – a reflection of his inner world, which was both a divine gift and a source of suffering.
“I am touching a theme to which the whole of Lithuania has a personal connection. As my mother said, ‘this is such a great responsibility,’” Cholina shares. “It was very difficult for me to create the ending of the performance – the kind that all of Lithuania would want. That’s why it will be the ending I heard and that came to me. When you are staging a performance, this awareness hangs over you like a sword. You open yourself to the theme, and certain flows begin to stream through you, which you then transform into scenes.”
The Tale of Kings – the inner drama of an unrecognized artist
Cholina says the creative process began with a question she posed to herself: What would Čiurlionis have wanted to tell contemporary people about himself?
“There isn’t much information – only a breath, fragments, and some conflicting details. You have to shape all of this, turn it into a performance. And you must say it not with words but through the language of dance, stringing together events and situations we know from Čiurlionis’ life,” the director explains.
“He lived in poverty, with few opportunities. You can read his letters and see the questions: ‘Have you eaten? Do you have a coat?’ And his small room on Savičiaus Street in Vilnius? No windows, no way to cook food… All these circumstances prevented him from developing as rapidly as he could have if he had lacked nothing. A talented person always longs for greater horizons. He, too, wanted big cities, major exhibitions, concert halls, audiences, listeners…”Cholina shares the thoughts that inspired the content of the performance.
According to the director, the conditions Čiurlionis endured for much of his life most likely drained him. “An artist must be recognized in time. This is very important. The absence of recognition and the resulting despair, I believe, triggered a disease of the soul,” she reflects, noting that she was able to distill this inner conflict in the performance.
“Čiurlionis did not have the chance to fulfill himself. A man from the countryside simply could not build a career at that time because there was a huge divide between the wealthy and those like Čiurlionis,” says Cholina, speaking about the artist’s unsuccessful attempts to gain recognition and live with dignity through his art.