The Lion's Den

The characters expressed by dancers Sabina Bočková and Johana Pocková seem to come straight from the platform of a populist election rally. With their grey tailor-made suits, imperturbable facial expressions and grand movements, they have only one goal in mind: to manipulate us, the audience, into going for their Major Case.

In The Lion's Den, we enter the lion's den of mass manipulation. Bočková and Pocková personify images from political speeches and all kinds of social media, commercials and entertainment that come to us via TV, PC, tablet or phone.

-|-Every movement is calculated and precise, even the facial expressions of the two performers are in perfect harmony.

But when things start to rumble in the lion's den, under an increasingly intense electronic soundscape, Bočková and Pocková switch from manipulating the audience to self-manipulation. Oscillating between the roles of leader and follower, the lion's den breaks open and the two lionesses merge into an invincible twin. They end with a slow-motion scene full of pathos: no emotion, no gesture is sincere here, everything is intended to score – just like on our screens.

The Lion's Den is an exciting performance with a strong emotional charge and a high intensity. With a light touch but full of meaning, the performers play ping-pong with recognisable political and socio-cultural references. This creates room for interpretation and own positioning: why do we allow ourselves to be manipulated and to what extent do we manipulate others?

Like the biblical Daniel who ventures into the lion's den, we must search our own hearts, according to the makers. “The Lion's Den refers to the ambiguity when it comes to manipulation. It is an emotionally tense subject in which we have to face our own attitudes.

-|-Unlike the Biblical image, this is not an eternal divine law that exists independently of man, but a dialogue between us and the audience, in which the possibility of reflection arises.” Tanec Praha

Sabina Bočková and Johana Pocková are dancers and choreographers from Prague. Both are members of the Czech POCKETART collective, a collective of choreographers and performers.