Choreographer’s a trouper

Agnieszka Laska puts her efforts into building a company

By ERIC BARTELS
    Issue date: Fri, Oct 8, 2004
The Portland Tribune

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   For all of her expertise in dance, Agnieszka Laska hasn’t had an easy time finding her footing in Portland.

   When she arrived 2 1/2 years ago, doors didn’t exactly swing open for Laska, despite her success as a dancer and choreographer in her native Poland and later in Mexico.
    It looked like in order to be a choreographer," she says, "I’d have to start my own company."
   And so she did. "Songs of Eva," in which Laska collaborates with a roster of local talents including composer husband Jack Gabel, is her fourth full production in town, the second with the Agnieszka Laska Dancers.
   "A year ago I was focused on putting on a production," says Laska, 46. "I didn’t have any vision of what was going to be next. This time I’m focused on building a company."
Alison Camp, Jodie Hurley, Naomi Miller in "Somewhere Suite"

   Laska freely admits that modest turnouts for last year’s "Dreams of a Dancer" at Lincoln Hall were discouraging. "I was deeply disappointed," she says. "I prepared it, and people who would probably appreciate it didn’t have a chance to see it.
   "But I’m confident in my strength as an artist," she says. "I didn’t expect it to be easy. I feel like I’m getting more interest. I’ll break through, but I think it’s going to take more time.
   "I have this group of 10 people, and they feel and I feel this is a company. They trust me, and I trust them. We’re just starting to build our reputation."
   "Songs of Eva" consists of six pieces, two of them premieres. The program is a tribute to Polish singer Eva Demarczyk, who Laska calls "the Edith Piaf of Poland." Diane Syrcle, executive director of the Portland Youth Philharmonic, will perform five Demarczyk songs translated from Polish.
   The two premieres, "Spring Quartet" and "Hellenic Triptych," feature music by husband Gabel, who Laska met in Poland 10 years ago. Another piece is set to electronic music he wrote shortly after that meeting.
   Dancers also will perform to an original composition by Czech-born Tomas Svoboda, a former professor of music at Portland State University.
   Also on board for the production is the innovative musical ensemble "fEARnoMUSIC," the PSU Percussion Ensemble and the traditional Polish dance troupe Sobotka.
   Laska brings a lively passion to her work. She enjoys putting an irreverent spin on time-tested material, asking dancers — and others — for an extra measure of theatrics.
   "I like playing with them a little bit," she says. "The violinist will be dancing a little bit. I do like to surprise the audience."
   "She definitely has her own distinctive style," says dancer Taryn Johnson, 24. "She’s very into the theatrical. She really wants us to emote while we’re dancing."
   Johnson says her Hera character in "Hellenic Triptych" requires her to stretch a bit. "She’s quite angry and a little bit insane," says the dancer. "That’s not something I’m used to.
   "There’s definitely a niche for the type of stuff that she does. We are very young as a company. It’s going to take longer than two or three years. We have to keep persevering. I really do want to stay with her and see how far the company goes."
   "It’s not like there’s another company like mine here," Laska says. "I’m really focused on artistic music. I’m trying to do beautiful things. I have some believers."
   Laska, who works with the Dance Coalition of Oregon, is learning the importance of marketing and promotion.

   "It’s not enough to be an artist," she says. "You have to be a salesman. That’s something I never experienced in Europe."

‘Songs of Eva’
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8, through Sunday, Oct. 10
Where: Lincoln Hall, Portland State University, 1620 S.W. Park Ave.
Cost: $9-$16.50, 503-725-3307; also available through Ticketmaster (503-224-4400), subject to service charge

go to: Agnieszka Laska's Home Page

mail to: A.Laska@comcast.net