Inspired by Federico García Lorca’s La Casa de Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba) Ek’s piece Bernardas Hus depicts the story of the pious widow Bernarda Alba who exercises total control over her five unmarried daughters during a self imposed eight year period of mourning, following the death of her second husband.
The central theme of the piece is oppression versus freedom. Ek depicts various forms of this oppression in the work – religious, parental, etc. In addition, he depicts various forms of struggle and revolt. In an interesting inversion Ek has the matriarch Bernarda, traditionally played by a woman, instead played by a male dancer instead. In this house of severely disciplinedand oppressed daughters, the maid seems to be the only person who holds the key to the events at hand. Ultimately however, passions cannot be quelled.
Ek chose a collage of Spanish guitar music as well as organ music by Bach as the accompaniment to Bernardas Hus.
For the premiere of Carmen (1992) in Seville, the title was shortened simply to Bernarda so as to have a program that contained two female Spanish names. After this, the work was alternately titled Bernarda or Bernardas Hus, though the choreography remained the same.
The lighting design was first done by Ek himself, thereafter by Krystof Kozlowski, and finally Jörgen Jansson from 1990 onwards.
Bernardas Hus was recorded by SVT (Swedish National Television) in 1986. Producer: Måns Reuterswärd