Expression dance troupe "Sonata"

Liucija and Daiva: "Sonata" was an integral part of our youthful life, just like lessons, it was the same with dancing. I remember, during Čiurlionis' 100th commemoration, we have been traveling Lithuania with a performance. We were fifteen. We would get back late at night, and ran home from Panemunė bridge, while our frightened mothers waited at the stairwells with their nightgowns on. Next day – back to school, we go there - and get in trouble, because we are wearing makeup. No matter if we‘ve tried to clean that terrible smelly makeup, it would remain...

Our leader Kira Katerina Daujotaitė had a very good vision for the outfits. She would buy and repaint the material, and later our moms or we, ourselves, would make something out of it. Far from the scene, the clothes did look quite fine, but from up close, it‘s better if you don‘t see it... For example, cut, purple-colored tights, decorated with foil "gold". For the 100th anniversary of Čiurlionis, with a performance we‘ve traveled all over Lithuania, small towns and villages. I even remember driving on a truck with some sort of "hut".

In the places we‘ve performed, people have always been wondering - why we were dancing bare foot. I remember people saying, put your shoes on, poor girls, you will freeze your feet... Yes, they were wondering - bare girls dancing some incomprehensible expressive dances and talking about Čiurlionis. We were one of a kind collective in the entire Soviet Union. Our leader - an exile from Sea of Laptev who suffered a lot – she had to handle various criticisms from the government. We didn‘t get invitations for any Song Festivals because we wouldn‘t fit in the context. That's why Chopin's Revolutionary Etude was built. Even though Chopin was not revolutionist, the word "revolution" in the title - was enough. I remember it as if it had happened today, we were dancing with red cloaks.

I think that "Sonata" to former Kaunas had really meant a lot. It had set high stakes for a rather provincial Kaunas culture. About 1974-1975 Giedrius Kuprevičius used to organize musical Wednesdays at the Writers' House. He used to tell about different music, we would always go to listen. He spoke of "Sonata" as a very intellectual subject. I think that for Kaunas it was a kind of cultural education. So many girls of Kaunas have been involved in the life of this troupe, and all of them had at least something left out of that experience. For example, the legendary dance of Inga Mickytė in a movie "Gražuolė" (en. "Beautiful") – it is the moves offered by Daujotaitė." (2018)