WORDS OF APOLOGY

A dancing whirl. Classical drama. Alternative theatre. An essay about the world. An encounter. It’s so complicated that it isn’t quite clear what it is, but when you accept this fact, you feel free, and perhaps you’ll experience something more than one beautiful evening. The only certainty is uncertainty. This is not an excuse. It’s a conscious decision, a working method, a lifestyle.

We started creating this piece at the beginning of 2018 thanks to Magdalena Faltová, the director of SIMI, the Association for Integration and Migration (you can listen to our interview here soundcloud.com/uftnz/magda) and her experiences with online hatred. This encounter was the first domino piece which started a chain reaction – and at the end of it is what you will see today. Questions like these accompanied the process: To what extent does the platform we use to communicate shape our behaviour? To what extent are we shaped by the city we live in? And by the “status quo”? This show is an attempt to find oneself in a world which purrs, beeps, vibrates, and overloads. How to find oneself in a world that doesn’t want us to concentrate.

What surrounds us is a product of our thinking. What surrounds us shapes our thinking. How do we go deep enough to see what produces our problems, rather than simply distracting ourselves with their manifestations? There is no time for depth and quality – the times are so fast; it’s completely unprecedented.

“Where everyone should stop, they go, go, and get nowhere.” (Jiřík the Dancer)

Words of Apology is the fifth devised project by the progressive Czech group Ufftenživot, which creates physical theatre performances in which it makes no difference whether the performers dance or speak. Jiří Šimek and Jiřík the Dancer follow on from their previous collaboration on NEBOJ_Aneb show Tanečníka Jiříka (DON’TBESCARED_Or, Jiřík the Dancer’s Show) in order to explore the rabbit hole of movement, dance, speech, and poetry, aiming to create a space in which we can calmly and securely focus on ourselves and each other…

Performer/creator: Jiřík the Dancer

Set/technical support/lights: Jiří Šimek and Štěpán Hejzlar

Sound: William Valerián

Produced by: Ufftenživot z.s.

Title photo: Jarek Plouhar

Supported by: Prague City Hall

Co-producer: Studio ALTA

Residencies: Rezi.dance z.s., Johan z.u., Studio ALTA, CrossAttic

Premiere: 7. 10. 2019, NoD