Bernardas Hus

For Mats Ek, dance is one form of theater and some of his works are inspired by themes borrowed from theater. La Maison de Bernarda (the house of Bernarda) is taken from the play of the same name by Federico Garcia Lorca.

Written in 1936, just before the start of the Spanish Civil War, this play takes place in a small village in southern Spain following the funeral of Bernarda Albas second husband. After the mourners depart, the tyrannical matriarch announces to her five daughters that their period of mourning will last eight years. Obsessed with family honor, Bernarda rules the household with an iron fist, but all of her daughters secretly harbor a passion for Pepe el Romano, the handsomest man in the village

The theme of the ballet is oppression versus freedom and the choreographer depicts various forms of oppression in the work; religious oppression, parental oppression, etc., but also the struggle for freedom and revolt. Ek uses an interesting and unusual approach when he has Bernarda portrayed by a male dancer. In this house full of severely disciplined daughters, the servant woman seems to be the person who holds the whole event in her hands. But passion cannot be controlled. The music Mats Ek chose for Bernarda was a collage of Spanish guitar music and organ music by Bach.

In connection with the Cullberg Ballet‘s premiere of Carmen in Seville in 1992, the title was shortened to just Bernarda so that the program would only contain two female names. After 1992 the title varied between Bernardas Hus and Bernarda, but is the same choreographic work.