Bittersweet Cherries /Gorzkie czereśnie/
Alicja Olkowska, Teatralia.com.pl / Trójmiasto, 05.08.2009

The latest dance child of Dada von Bzdulow Theatre reflects on relations between men and women. It might seem they’re complicated, and because of some subtle nuances between both sexes, men and women can’t fully understand each other. In the very performance though, the relations appear very simple or even predictable, as lovers’ game is always the same, somehow determined by nature.
At the beginning everything seems so innocent. Just a regular disco party in the “Saturday Night Fever” or “Billie Jean” fashion; two couples are flirting on an illuminated dance floor. They are dancing, smiling and looking at one another in such a way that everyone knows straight away what is meant. It works! The men use all their charm, and the women fall into a sweet-cherries trap.
Among the love-struck couples there is one more person, a young girl. She moves in a funny, clumsy and chaotic way. She doesn’t match this mutual-admiration-society which sways gently on the polished floor.
Something sparks between the players and… To be continued.  Men and women get ready to present their attitude towards the opposite sex. While the women are taking off their filmy dresses and showing breasts in the sun, the men are getting rid of the jackets and changing them for some overalls.  A fight gets started. A fight with anything: materials, the air, the temperature. What matters is the fight itself and the achievement. It doesn’t matter if it is about work or the women. The aim stays always the same: to win and then face new challenges. It is clear that in this theatrical constellation men are the active side whereas women are the passive one, though they show some activity, but only within the sexual sphere by tempting or indecently eating the sweet cherries.
Nevertheless “a man” epitomizes not only sex and a quest for achievements, but also joy. 
Shifting the action into the audience space turned out to unite the spectators and win their favor. That was fun! There were jokes, some jostling, paper-ball pen-gun shooting, and forehead wiping by the kind funs of theatre art. The performance moved to the audience as nothing was happening on stage, but the women basking in the sun as some still lizards.
In the end, the men get bored with the games and go back to the women. They come close to each other. Nobody is truly involved, but the women are hoping to get something more than just a flirt, and they give themselves away. The men take them, but then, leave in the morning after a bewitching night, and go back to their overalls, the struggles and jokes, whereas the disappointed and  lonely women give a fearful squeak, not a shout, but a squeak. A squeak which combines all the unfulfilled hopes, deluded dreams and empty mornings; but there’s no use breaking down because there’ll be some other discos and some other lovers and maybe they’ll stay for longer… And you, a young girl watching it, take this lesson of femininity, and also eat sweet cherries. You’ll be next!
The performance moved the audience with its vigor and a light approach to the upsetting and obvious subjects. At some points it was as funny as making a self-parody, at others, it was sad because it showed what we are like, and how our desires crack, just as soap bubbles.
Also music by Mikolaj Trzaska is worth appreciation. It perfectly matches the action.
The group brought the house down. Deservedly!


The Art Coast Festival Full of Imported Art 
/Wybrzeze Sztuki pelne sztuki z importu/
Łukasz Rudziński, Trójmiasto.pl 13.07.2009

Red Grass (L’herb rouge) by Dada von Bzdulow Theatre is the third attempt at the work of Boris Vian, a spiritual patron of the company. The artists by means of Dada-like scenery that is full of colourful lights and weird props (this time big, long and flexible plastic water-filled bottles, and standing hairdryers), as well as excellent and pulsating music by Mikołaj Trzaska, managed to convey the motives from Vian’s work into the language of dance. Precisely, the very diverse movement of the five dancers (except for Bzdyl and Chmielewska there’s Radek Hewelt, Ula Zerek and Tatiana Kamieniecka) allows me to call this performance one of the most interesting events of the Art Coast Festival.
By means of an intriguing and well-performed choreography (combining various dance sequences) as well as a cunningly used dance of the debutante Tatiana Kamieniecka, the group created an interesting performance, close to Vian’s prose, and full of surprising turns as well as innovative approaches to the subject of love, youth, life and death.


Tricity Art On Top /Artystyczne trójmiasto górą/
Mirosław Baran, Gazeta Wyborcza Trójmiasto, 13.07.2009

This is an unpretentious performance with slowly unfolding events, and full of cheerful eroticism. The irony, so typical for the company, is also marked in Red Grass (L’herb rouge). However, it is not as heavy here as in Opus Pessimum, rather, it’s a tongue-in-cheek reflection on ourselves or theatre relation between actors and audience (a fantastic scene when two actors, Bzdyl and Hewelt, enter the audience space while Chmielewska and Zerek are dancing together on stage).
The real discovery of Red Grass is Ula Zerek, a talented dancer who has consistently been developing her skills for a couple of years now. In the new performance by Dada, she is a match for the more experienced dancers: Chmielewska, Bzdyl or Hewelt. The piece is also a successful debut of Tatiana Kamieniecka. An important element of the performance is the excellent music by Mikołaj Trzaska, well combining jazz motives with some catchy electronic ones.


Great Subtlety /Wielka subtelność/
Kamila Golik, Dziennik Teatralny, 15.07.2009

A translation of a novel into a theatre language is a great achievement. An additional challenge is to translate it into the world of dance theatre where all messages must be passed by means of a human body. The latest premiere of Dada von Bzdulow Theatre presented during The Art Coast Festival (Festiwal Wybrzeże Sztuki) has shown how beautiful such a communication of body language can be.
The piece was presented in “Malarnia”, a stage of Wybrzeze Theatre, Gdańsk. The actors were moving in almost empty space, and presenting human relationships as well as the opportunity of exploring the inner world and discovering one’s weakness and imperfection.  Red Grass not only shows the beauty of a human body in movement, but it also reflects on human physicality as a prison which one cannot escape easily. But fortunately, there is always somebody who will give a hand and show how beautiful human relationships can be.
Also the spectators could feel closeness with the dancers. During the performance the actors tried to find some space for themselves within the audience to discover some props and interact with people. At the same time, on stage, Chmielewska and Zerek presented an alluring synchronic dance phrase.
As usual in dance theatre, music played an important role in the performance. The compositions perfectly matched the general atmosphere of the piece. The electro-jazz bits subtly completed the ironic world of the piece. 
There was great music, an interesting direction idea, beautiful movement and perfect choreography, in other words, all that dance pieces need. The issue of human relationships with a bit of subtle eroticism could not be presented in a better way.