The Valmiera Theater inaugurates the new year with a theater show on the exceptional Latvian dancer Jānis Daliņa. The production tells of a simple Latvian farmer who won Latvia’s first Olympic medal in the heat of Los Angeles. It was staged by director Toms Treinis based on the script created by Mārtiņš Meiers.
The son of Latvian farmers, Jānis Daliņš won his first walking competition on the streets of Valmiera, laying the foundations for his career as a walker. One of his most important successes was the silver at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932 in the 50 kilometer race.
The show is conceived as a sort of walk through the most important events in Jānis Daliņš’s life. It is the task of each of the actors in the cast to discover the tenacity of the walker and feel like they are in Daliņš’s shoes during the performance. Valmiera theater actor Eduards Johansons: “This is how we tried to find the fighter in each of us, to find Daliņa through ourselves, working together. This show is a very collective effort, we all worked together about what you saw.”
Director Toms Treinis reveals that when he began working in Valmiera, he occasionally heard the name Jānis Daliņš. That’s why he turned to Mārtiņas Meieras to share the story of Daliņi’s successes as a symbol of Valmiera. “There is a street, there is a stadium, there is a mural. I became more and more interested in this person and it was important for me to find and tell his story, because in the 1930s walking in Latvia was become a sport on the same level as today’s hockey or basketball, when Latvians are successful,” says director Tom Treinis.
Valmiera theater actress Inese Ramute: “I understand that he supported Valmiera’s sporting life both as an athlete and as a social worker. There was also a farmer, he is a perfect Latvian, who demonstrated that when he lost everything, I think it was because he had that sporting character, not sadness, but he did it.”
To reveal Daliņš’s personality and sportsmanship, the creative team spent a lot of time researching archival materials, periodicals and newspaper clippings. On the other hand, longtime coach Aivars Rumbenieks helped the actors perfect their walking technique. “In the end, I liked how they inserted Aigaras Fadeyev so beautifully. I had a feeling it was him when he started talking about fishing.”
It must be said that this November it will be 120 years since the birth of the great walker Jānis Daliņas. He spent the end of his life in Melbourne, Australia.
2024-01-08 15:00:05
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