Prometheus

Dance performance by MN Dance Company, led by Michal Rynia and Nastja Bremec Rynia.

On 21 and 22 January 2025 at 20:00, the big stage of the SNG Nova Gorica will host the dance performance Prometheus.

Prometheus, a Titan, the Greek god of fire and the creator of humans from clay, brought fire to the people, stealing it from the gods on Mt. Olympus after Zeus, as a punishment for not worshipping gods, took light and warmth away from them. Prometheus brought the alphabet, numbers and art, including music, dance, drama, as well as many other things that had previously been exclusive to the twelve Olympian gods. Of course, Zeus, the king of gods, punished him by condemning him to eternal suffering. Chained to the rock, Prometheus has a part of his liver eaten by an eagle every morning, but the liver – which the ancient Greeks considered the centre of emotions – grows back every night. Zeus was so angry with Prometheus and the people that he and other gods created the beautiful and cunning Pandora. He sent her to the Earth where she married Prometheus’s brother Epimetheus. As a wedding gift, Zeus gave her a box. Her curious husband asked her to open it and from it, pain, illnesses, hate, envy, poverty and bad passions dispersed all over the world. Pandora, too, got frightened and quickly closed the lid. But evil had already escaped the box, and only hope remained inside. People on earth were thus condemned, just like Prometheus, to eternal torture with only a glimmer of hope.

For his noble selflessness and fearlessness in defying divine powers and striving for progress, freedom and truth, Prometheus has become a representative of the Enlightenment, full of symbolism, an artistic character and an inspiration to many humanists, artists and scientists. At the same time, he violated divine orders, therefore representing a risk of overreacting or unintentional consequences, because his efforts can also cause a tragedy. The modern-day Prometheus(es) can thus bring progress, but this often has a double effect. And it can be a devastating one, too. Prometheus and Pandora are like the two sides of the same coin, the good and the bad, the entry and the exit points of humanity. In their production, the choreographers Michal Rynia and Nastja Bremec Rynia and their international dance ensemble MN Dance Company will explore the entry points of humans into progress, freedom and development, and the exit points of the very same, human pain, misfortune, desperation, as a consequence of careless and wanton acts.

The event is part of European Capital of Culture 2025 Nova Gorica - Gorica official programme.

The legend tries to explain the inexplicable. As it comes out of the substratum of truth it has in turn to end in the inexplicable. – Franz Kafka

Photo: SNG Archive