THANK YOU FRACTURED ATLAS; I COULDN'T DO IT WITHOUT YOU!!!
Compagnie Pal Frenak:
Odyssey In Blue
“Look to the sky,
And your eyes will be blue.”
‘I was confused by my teacher; my eyes are blue...
But, even today, I continue to look to the sky.
And, yes, all my sets are bathed in blue light
Blue is my color; I believe that it creates
An emotional and physical transparency.
I’m obsessed with transparency and that
Which is organic to all beings in all my work’
In Conversation with Pal Frenak in preparation for for feature film documentary: WHO CARES ABOUT PAL FRENAK?
“You know,” said Pal Frenak, “I’ve been called a vulgarian; in fact when I premiered my first work, Secret Souls, in Budapest, in 1990, I received a death threat. Do you thing my work is vulgar?….”
Raw, disturbing, and provocative could all describe elements of Compagnie Pal Frenak’s repertoire, but not vulgar.
Pal Frenak’s work is controversial, yet overall audience enthusiasm to the charged performances reflect a committed following, as do so many critics' reviews. One in particular from Budapest’s Nepszabadsag, written by Gal Peter Molnar, stands out:
“The systems of tortures offered in the works of Frenak are majestically uplifting; they hurt in a lofty manner, and their passionately suffering erotomaniac universe purifies the spectator. Frenak’s group provides a beautiful representation of an ugly world. It presents a savage inexorability in a refined way, and life-and-death struggle with dainty elegance.”
This reviewer captures the soul of Pal’s oeuvre. But, it would be amiss not to acknowledge the wonderful sense of irony and mocking and absurdist humor that inhabit his work as well.
In 2002 I saw Pal's work for the first time. KAOSZ (CHAOS), set in a boxing ring, Pal's dancers, male and female, costumed in business blazers, pin striped shirts, and ties. were locked in combat with themselves, and partners of the same and opposite sex. I was stunned with admiration by the choreography, the staging, the mind blowing accompanying music and the exceptionalism of the dancers – and throughout the performance I experienced, while sitting at the edge of my seat at a cocktail table – also part of the staging – a feeling of anxiety and sorrow. And, yes, I laughed too..How could a performance so fierce be so beautiful at the same time? Who the hell is this guy? ...so bloody courageous..But that is the genius of Pal Frenak. Several years later, after attending every work performed, I began to interview Pal with the intention of immortalizing him on screen I remembered a line of Erich Fromm’s which I quoted to him: “The principle underlying the capitalistic society and the principle of love are incompatible.” “Yes, yes” Pal responded “...so far we've managed to survive in a deaf, blind and loveless society.”
Pal's unique and powerful works are enhanced and heightened by his choice of music which emphasize his perception of the world's condition. We hear the sound of heartbeats, swelling under the cacophony of industrial machinery, man’s self created world in contradiction with that which is natural. “People,” says Pal, “….either pull back from their instincts or become victims of them.”
Music in Pal’s productions are often complimented by off or on stage dialogue to underscore his themes. He employs poignant and delicate music to contrast with aggressive movement to create subtext. Combinations of oratorios with the avant garde, a romantic standard sung by Tony Bennett, or a blues moaned by James Brown, are utilized seamlessly in one piece. Always performed on exquisitely lit and designed minimalist sets, the raw power, elegance and originality of Pal's works are performed to maximum effect. At its deepest, heart-felt level, the work always touches on what it means to be alive.
SECRECY
Pal began his odyssey towards becoming a dancer at the age of six and a half. Standing naked in front of a mirror he explored every aspect of his body; through improvisational movement he developed his physical prowess, as well as discovered his sexuality. At an orphanage for children who were unable to be cared for at home, Pal snuck out of bed each and every night to indulge this ritual for the seven years he was separated from his family. Pal reflects that often he did not perceive the image in the mirror to he himself, but, that on the other hand, he felt he had two bodies, and that one was lost to him. In Pal’s last work, “Mil An” a solo work performed by Milan Ujavari, his aforementioned experience of himself is palpable through a young man’s journey to maturity as he “lets go of a twin” represented by a life size puppet. And, nakedness in Pal’s oeuvre, is, for him, man’s original condition, natural not seductive. It is also his belief that the nudity acts as a catalyst for his dancers to arrive at a more organic form of expression - bringing them closer to their feelings - to movement that is unique and unexpected - art, therefore. Symbolically, to be naked is to be unmasked, and to unmask oneself is to opt for honesty over hypocrisy, hypocrisy which we all to know to be the source of betrayal of self, and of others, a source, therefore, of nonredeemable sorrow. Pal’s struggle and longings as a man and an artist is to incite us to seek the road to TRANSPARENCY in all that we say and do. The victim of a brutal and rejecting chilhood Pal knows intimately how devastating traumas are magnified by secrecy and silence.
Pal was the last of eight children born to deaf parents in Budapest, Hungary. Signing was his first language; he uses it, and the word, “SILENCE” from off stage, as well as facial, body and vocal expressions, in his choreography which derive from his sensitive yet fierce observations of people, near at hand, or through the influences of other artists (i.e. Butoh master Kazuo Ohno, Francis Bacon, Pier Paolo Passolini, and the philosopher, Gilles Deleuze.) Pal’s sense of suspension between the worlds of silence and sound, and his attraction to the sensual world of the feminine and masculine are intense, and clearly reflected in his work without any coyness. He believes that with hypocrisy left behind we could live in a world with freer and more comfortably diverse sexual expression.
Pal’s childhood was punctuated by ruthless paternal abuse. His father, an alcoholic, created an atmosphere of fear and despair over which Pal’s mother seemed not to have influence. But, it was only after his father’s death when Pal was 6 years old that all the children were institutionalized. Pal’s sisters and brothers were placed in one home, but Pal, for reasons still unclear, was sent to an orphanage by himself. His mother's rejection, and the separation from his other siblings still haunts, and informs his perception of the world as a person and as an artist. Moreover, two of Pal’s brothers died as toddlers before his birth, and one brother, and one sister, committed suicide in their adult life.
Indicating to Pal that he seems to have survived gross tragedies, his response was tentative - not that he doesn't know tragedy, but he wonders if his are more than others. He fears life’s treachery and tricks not only for himself, but for all people. His empathy is both a burden as well as a gift. For a long time, Pal admits, he could not understand or accept rejection, but his need to express his disgust with, and despair over hypocrisy, and to expose the pretensions and brutality of daily life through his art as a dancer and choreographer, eventually co-opted much of his narcissism.
In keeping with his empathic nature Pal taught classes for deaf/mute persons and the emotionally challenged; and, specifically for disabled and autistic children he created a program called “The Role of the Art of Movement in Healing,” which he successfully applied at the university hospital in Amiens.
Conversation with Pal is fascinating and awe inspiring. He is natural in his bearing, kind, articulate and transparent. He answers any question and “tells all” without a trace of self consciousness.
He acknowledges, too, that there are times when he feels that he doesn't know where he’s going. “so, in rehearsal,” he states, “I become a terrorist…I feel something IS ME - I am unique in my body…this is very difficult to explain…” To watch a work-in-progress rehearsal is full of excitement. “MEnNOnNO,” a piece originally created for himself, has been rechoreographed for a young male dancer whose body creates challenging shapes without effort. But, agility is not all that is required. The dancer must tell a story; he must summon up unconscious desires to the surface to makes his characterization meaningful, and for his movements to become organic. Provoking his dancers to this end, Pal, hardly seems a terrorist - but, rather, more like a sorcerer using enormous physical and emotional energy of his own in concert. While observing, Pal sits with active elegance and sensuality (unlike his very natural mien in other settings,) emitting a symphony of voluptuous sounds to instruct the dancer’s movements, and stimulate his imagination. It is thrilling to watch Pal rehearse his dancer, just as it to focus on the dancer being rehearsed.
It could be surmised, without much effort, that a six and a half year old Pal intuitively understood that through art he could “cheat” sorrow. He does believe that his work has been the most effective modality of therapy in exorcising the nightmares of his past. Beginnng with his rituals at the orphanage Pal taught himself to dance, using, foremost, his hands and arms, with great fluidity and expression. He knew that he possessed natural gifts, but was adrift. He was nearly 20 before receiving any formal training. Endre Jeszenszky teaching in the building where Pal lived, recognized Pal’s talents, and insisted on giving him a scholarship to his dance school where Pal studied classical ballet, folk and modern dance. Within two years Pal became a soloist in dance companies throughout Hungary.
But, in 1982 came the decision to immigrate to Paris, France and escape the oppression of communism and all its trappings. It was in Paris that Pal met the woman he refers to as his eternal love, Catherine, with whom he's been in a deeply bonded, mutually loving and yet, open marriage for over twenty five years. With Catherine's support and enthusiasm Pal created Compagnie Pal Frenak in 1989, and on the company's 10th anniversary he established headquarters in Budapest as well. Together Catherine and their daughter Victoria are the foundation of Pal's stability and well being as he continues his never ending search for inner and universal truth as a man and an artist.
Today Pal is one of the most heralded choreographers of cutting edge modern dance theater in Europe and Asia. He acknowledges his belief in destiny.