Sticking to the authors’ principle that a man must not carry anything that could get lost in a pub, the category of men and junior men will perform without any equipment or tools at the XVIIth All-Sokol Slet. The composition In Front of the Camera on the film music performed by Cimbal Brothers and the bagpipe bands Dropkics Murphys and The Snake Charmer, presents to the audience the story about the past, the present and the future of Sokol organization.
The eight minutes and eight seconds long performance was prepared by the trio Martin Matura, Stanislav Trávníček and Jakub Čudlý from Sokol Písek. The main question behind the composition is: “Are we capable of the same gymnastic performance as our grandfathers and great-grandfathers? And can we add something new?” Let’s find out in the following interview with the authors.
Where did you get the inspiration from when preparing the composition?
The initial impulse came from the fact that we regard Sokol as our way of life and we wanted to give it at least a little bit in return for everything it had been giving us. Another big impulse occurred when one of us “discovered” the film-music megamix performed by Cimbal Brothers, which was so powerfully inspiring that the composition just naturally happened.
Is the composition In Front of the Camera your first?
Yes it is, but at the last Slet we were already toying with the idea of writing a composition for our age group for the next Slet. And that’s what happened.
What exactly is your composition trying to say?
It is conceived as a two-generation composition and gives to the junior men (sons) the opportunity to practice with their fathers (men). This symbolically unites generations of Sokol members. It expresses the tradition and continuity of group compositions performed by men. At the same time, it also is a challenge for the present gymnasts: whether we are capable of performing the same gymnastic skills as our grandfathers and great-grandfathers.
And are you?
That is for the audience to judge. But we think we have performed the task responsibly.
Where did you get the inspiration from when designing the outfit? After all, you don’t use any gymnastic equipment, so the costume plays an important role.
We were inspired by several factors when designing the outfit. First and foremost, we wanted to work with changes in colors so that the composition was vibrant and surprising. Next, the clothes sustainability was an important thing to us. That’s why we used materials and styles making it possible for the guys to wear the outfits commonly for workouts or sports. The last aspect was the use of national colors and motifs, which simply belongs to the training of junior men and men.
What surprised you the most during rehearsals?
How much human effort goes behind an event like a Slet... and also how perfectly a floor exercise from 1938 fits with a musical theme from 1994.
What do you think is the most interesting moment of the choreography? What can we look forward to?
If we had to single out one thing, we would definitely name the group exercises where the men work together to create different figures and formations using their own bodies. And personally, we are also very curious about the floor exercise.
Is there anyone who helped you with the composition?
Our thanks go to all the Sokol brothers who participated in the rehearsals and gave us feedback, and special thanks go to Pepa Zedník who helped us with the description of the composition.
Basic information about the composition HERE.