I. Firebird Music: Igor Stravinsky Sets, costumes: Andrea T. Haamer Light: Péter Gerzson Kovács Photos: Zsófia Gyármati Director-choreographer: Attila Egerházi In the major roles: Firebird: Aleszja Popova / Linda Schneiderova The Boy: Tamás Zaka / Viktor Svidró The Girl: Linda Schneiderova / Petronella Bogdán Kaschei: Viktor Svidró / Tamás Zaka and the entire company of the Hungarian Ballet Theatre/Gödöllő II. The Miraculous Mandarin Dance play in one act Music: Béla Bartók Sets: György Árvai Costumes: Andrea T. Haamer Lighting: Péter Gerzson Kovács Rehearsal ballet master: Linda Schneiderova Director-choreographer: Attila Egerházi The Girl: Aleszja Popova / Linda Schneiderova The Mandarin: Tamás Zaka Old Gentleman: Béla Kéri Nagy / Tibor Steuer Young man: András Fodor Ruffians: Viktor Svidró, Tibor Steuer, Béla Kéri Nagy “The Firebird is a romantic story constructed on a Russian folktale and to this day, it lives on in human souls and Stravinsky’s immortal, mystical music. For me, beyond the mystique of the tale, it is the suggestivity concealed in the power of the music that suggested the starting point for this piece. It is ‘magic music’ which when you hear it, evokes the images of a society with a boy and then a girl. The ‘Firebird’ lives in the boy’s soul, which can be brought to life and made visible by love.” “The Miraculous Mandarin is about desire, about love with elemental power that sweeps all before it, and about miracles. The fear of ‘otherness’, and the unknown frequently give birth to intolerance which can often hurl people into fatal conflicts. Desire, love and intuition are indestructible. These thoughts preoccupied me and swirled within me when I began my involvement with the miraculously exciting and poetic language and theme of the Miraculous Mandarin. The result is a dance play which the ‘dance actors’ bring to life with bravura dance and acting moves.” Attila Egerházi Performances: Festival Theatre, 19.00 January 20, February 7