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Petra Fornayová: SEVENTH DAY
Time-tested creator Petra Fornayová has taken on the “massacre-like” material of Burlas’s Record of the Seventh Dayand the messages it conveys. This work stands out for its urgency, pressure, and bleakness, as Martin Burlas composed it in response to the political tensions of the 1990s in Slovakia. Inspired by this piece, Petra has created a shorter, subtle yet highly expressive movement-musical-visual composition that generalizes past local crises and updates them for the present. This level of engagement is currently of utmost importance. The combination of the performance with Robert Švarc’s lecture is a unique, exceptional, and surprisingly brilliant and original genre fusion.
Jozef Vlk
The Seventh Day Record was composed by Martin Burlas as a response to the unfavorable political situation in the 1990s. Plato’s texts addressed the government crisis in Syracuse in the 4th century BC. Today, we are once again experiencing a crisis, and not only a political one. We each cope with crisis situations differently: some fight with beauty, while others prepare for revolution. The Seventh Day symbolizes exhalation, abandonment, and the end of a cycle. It is a treshold – a day that heralds a new week, yet despite its sense of peace, it carries the tension of an impending beginning.
Performance includes a lecture Revolt and the Body
Author and lecturer: Robo Švarc
“It is important that we act together and gather in public as bodies – as the embodied beings that we are.” With these words, Judith Butler highlighted the agency of the body during Occupy Wall Street in 2011. In recent times, social antagonisms have increasingly moved into the virtual spaces of social networks, making communication ever more predictable, in line with the tendency of entropy, which moves toward “heat death”—the leveling of all differences under the guise of passionate arguments, discussions, polemics, and polarization.
And what about the body? Is the body still capable of becoming, through its extension, a medium of communicative difference—one that could rise above the leveling surface of “the final equalization of all differences,” which, according to Helmuth Plessner, marks the end of democracy? Scars, color, movement, resistance, activity, passivity, natality, abortion, orientation, scent, fragrance, sound, touch, consciousness, unconsciousness, intimacy, solidarity, distance, assembly. We will shed light on some of these.
The lecture will be in English.
Concept, direction, choreography, text selection: Petra Fornayová
With: Petra Fornayová, Barbora Janáková
Music: Martin Burlas_Seventh Day Record
Text selection from: Plato_Letters/Seventh Letter
Voice-over: Anna Mária Janeková
Video, editing: Ambróz Šulej
Sound direction: Fero Király
Dramaturgy: Peter Šulej
Performance record: Patrik Toman
Production: AST
Thanks to: Iveta Konýčková, Adam Hanuljak, Žofia Dvořáková
Creation and premiere was supported by the public funds from Slovak Arts Fund.
Petra Fornayová is a choreographer, theatre director and performer. She graduated from the Law Faculty of Comenius University in Bratislava and studied dance at the Academy for Performing Arts in Bratislava and EDDC Düsseldorf. After being a member of verious companies, including Théâtre du Movement Paris and the ballet of the State Opera in Banská Bystrica, she embarked on a freelanced career. She has created more than 20 original performances, such as Grass is Green, Manifesto of Possibilities, Subjective Future, and has directed contemporary theatre plays by authors like Vyrypajev and Spregelburd. Her performances have been presented both in Slovakia and internationally at festivals and venues such as New Drama Bratislava, Opera Nova Prague, Divadelná Nitra Festival, Jamais Vu! Paris, Tanec Praha, and Korespondance CZ, among others. She is the founder of the contemporary dance festival Nu Dance Fest and a member of the editorial board of the contemporary art magazine VLNA. Her works DWCHP and Patterns, created in collaboration with Cluster Ensemble of Contemporary Music, were nominated for the Tatra Bank Award for Art in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, she was nominated for the National Film Award – Sun in the Net for her role in Juraj Lehotský’s film Nina. She also played one of the main characters in Mira Fornay’s film Cook F**k Kill, which was nominated for the Best Film at the Czech Lion Film Awards in 2021. She has been a member of the artistic team of the Slovak Pavillion at the Venice Art Bienalle 2024.
www.petra-fornayova.sk
tanC: DŽAVOT
In his project DŽAVOT, Radoslav Piovarči weaves together seemingly disparate thematic and movement elements into a compact and cohesive statement. His sensitivity to the rhythm of movement is evident in the carefully crafted pacing of scene transitions and in the dynamic interrelations between them. The rhythm of image and performance shifts becomes part of the content itself, reinforcing the thematic emphasis of the piece. The original and rich rhythmic structuring of dance, his work with dynamics, the accumulation of tension, and the subsequent explosive release of that energy into movement and space are exceptional qualities of his choreographic and interpretative work. In Džavot, a movement-sound-light installation, Piovarči moves freely within a nostalgic atmosphere of children’s playgrounds, pushing the theme to its very limits—even into the absurd. Together with dancers and performers, the project opens itself up to young dancers, who are involved in the performance interpretively just a few hours before the show. Thanks to a well-thought-out internal structure, built on movement, sound, and light as key markers of transformation, the images are organically coordinated into Laban-inspired compositions. His bold approach to movement dynamics, sound, the rawness of lighting design, and rhythmic variability in dance sequences creates a disturbing yet powerful crossover from the world of childhood into the world of adults—marked by harsh contrasts. Radoslav Piovarči creates within a socially charged environment, one with clearly defined expectations—and prejudices—about artistic creation. Yet he is able to collaborate, survive, and create within it. He presents his projects in spaces and venues where contemporary, especially performative, art had never appeared before. At the same time, he adapts effortlessly to traditional theatrical stages. The fierce and vital energy Piovarči works with unfolds in the project into an extraordinary poetic authorial statement—one that embraces the tensions of the contemporary world, primal passion, and the beauty of physical expression. Through linear movements, he expands into space and commands the stage.
Monika Čertezni
The movement-sound-light installation called DŽAVOT will bring tranquility and evoke the feeling of the distant džavot of a children’s playground. Nostalgia lingers there, inviting us to savor the present moment and encouraging us to pause, to perceive the uniqueness… linguistics, speech, structure, work, movement, force. The driving force is a thought. The project opens a new spectrum for both the movement, light, and for the word and its intonational abilities, which individual performers will master within an unlimited space that reacts to sound. A linguistic and analytical exploration of the word džavot—and its synonyms švitor, švehel, ševel, vravor, lalot—led to a selection of consonants and their assigned functions. Based on their natural roles in speech, three core functions were identified: friction, afriction, and explosion. In expresing these three functions, movement was also explored as a representation of their nature and potential. The project brings dance into the cultural sphere, creating an installation with a distinctinterpretative language and structure, shaped by Michal Paľko and Radoslav Piovarči
Created by: Radoslav Piovarči, Michal Paľko
Interpretation: Radoslav Piovarči, Lucia Bielik, Michaela Šeligová, Jessica Schmidtová, Michal Paľko
Music and sound design: Michal Paľko
Light design: Radoslav Piovarči
Technical support: Lukáš Kubičina
Graphics: Veronika Šmírová
Production: Lucia Piovarči
Radoslav Piovarči (creator, choreographer, performer) – Dancer, performer, tutor, choreographer, and stage director, Radoslav Piovarči has been part of professional scene of contemporary dance and physical theatre for nearly a decade. Throughout the time he collaborated with a number of leading names, theatres and ensemble, such as Lenka Vagnerová & Company, Artyci Dance Company, Theatre elledanse, Lucia Holinová, Staatstheatre Kassel, Štúdio tanca dance theatre, Total Brutal Company, VerTeDance, Jana Burkiewicz, Virus Theatre. His hitherto collaborative portfolio includes over thirty different dance projects, films and advertisements. As choreographer and director he made, since 2010 the productions of Munnie (Enfin seuls 2010), HOLD YOUR BREATH (Theatre elledanse 2012), SET UP (Theatre elledanse 2013), DUST (Liptov Dance Theatre 2015), and the modular dance project MIMO (Culture centre Dunaj 2017). Currently, he is a member of tanC or. and works as a freelance artist on projects such as Charón, Just Ask Her, Inventors, Ich habe genug. In addition to his performative work, he is a workshop lecturer and the author of various site-specific projects.
tanC o.z. was founded in 2020 The civil association is dedicated to dance and movement performances, site-specific projects, productions, movement collaborations, and choreographies in non-traditional spaces. It engages with various art forms and artists from different disciplines, researching and exploring unique and contemporary movement principles and their potential applications. Lucia Bielik, Michaela Šeligová, Jakub Bielik, Radoslav Piovarči, and Lucia Piovarči work under the banner tanC.
Lívia MM Balážová: Camille
OFF PROGRAME/PREMIERE
::eu.genus. In 2018, the Slovak artistic group Honey and Dust created the scenic piece titled eu.genus (libretto and direction: Andrej Kalinka), which oscillated between studio, open rehearsal, educational concert, installation and performance. A wide range of Slovak and foreign performers and co-creators performed in it: Zebastián Méndez Marín, Lívia MM Balážová, Daniel Raček, Ján Morávek, Juraj Poliak, Andrej Kalinka. And it was Lívia MM Balážová who remained fascinated by the experience of the creation process and the resulting performance. In this work, among other things, she drew inspiration from the life of the French sculptor Camille Claudel, whose story left a deep impression on her. A recent collaboration with a student from the SEAD (Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance) brought her a renewed immersion
in movement material, where the movement dictionary created during the research for the scenic piece eu.genus served as a starting point for the preparation of her individual solo. Lívia decided to rediscover and deepen the experience brought to her by the creation process and to create a new original performance/movement installation.
Concept and performer: Lívia MM Balážová
Dramaturgical collaboration: Monika Kováčová
Directorial assistance: Zebastián Méndez Marín
Producer: Rafa Ávalos
Set design: Juraj Poliak
Music: Matej Sloboda
Technical cooperation: Lukáš Kubičina
Main partner of the project and supported by the Fund for the Support of the Arts from public funds.
Space and residency partners:
Divadlo Štúdio tanca (Studio Dance Theatre)
Akadémia umení (Academy of Arts)
Dance Days Chania – IP12 House
Divadlo Pôtoň (Theatre Pôton)
Záhrada – centrum nezávislej kultúry (The Garden – Centre for Independent Culture)
Her professional training includes academies such as the J. L. Bellu at Banská Bystrica in Slovakia, the SEAD Salzburg experimental dance academy in Austria, P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels, Belgium. She has worked with the Portuguese choreographer Rui Horta, with the French company Kubilai Khan, and in November 2012 she joined the renowned company Última Vez in Brussels. In November 2015 she founded the performing arts company Colectivo Priekopník Veverička resulting in several performances (#whateveristrendingnow, PRACH/POLVO, La Plancha) and collaborations around the world such as the co-creation with Slovak artistic collective MimoOs (DoDna, Millennial Magic Mirror) also with Honey and dust Company (EU.GENUS), with Divadlo Štúdio Tanca (Čin, Punk Pajama Party, SEN, re-member), with Divadlo K (Nefotografie, Neistota, Jaskyňa) and with Odivo (Vnorená/Immersed). The performance Čin won the Dosky 2019 award in the category extraordinary performance in dance theater, and the performance Vnorená received 3 nominations for the Dosky 2022. Also has shared her movement practice workshops Mindcross and Multipartnering-Infinite Synapses together with Zebastián in Germany, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Slovakia, Hungary, Mexico, Nicaragua, New York, Panama, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Russia, Austria and Greece. In the year 2020 co-founded the RED Movement Network online training platform.
Divadlo Štúdio tanca/Med a prach: RE_MEMBER
The distinct creative duo—director and composer Andrej Kalinka and choreographer Milan Kozánek from the Med a Prach collective—collaborated with the Dance Studio Theater to create a compelling work: a polyphonic music-movement stage composition reflecting a state of global amnesia. Their specific theatrical language, moving at the boundaries of artistic forms and genres, suits the Dance Studio Theater ensemble exceptionally well. The absolute psychophysical presence and uniqueness of the performers’ interpretation—who are simultaneously musicians, visual artists, and actors—is fascinating. The multilayered meanings and the sensitive work with symbolism offer the audience ample space to interpret the significance of human action, one of the central themes of this piece.
Stanislava Vlk Vlčeková
Where are you running to? Why are you screaming? What are you looking at? Do you know? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Imagine a world in which you are running, screaming, talking, looking, but you have no idea why. Global amnesia has set in. Everyone is on autopilot, no one understands the meaning of their actions. We all go on because we have not forgotten. But still, we want to remember. I remember! Remember! I am a member. A member of what? I don’t remember. No one asks how to begin. Because they’ve already started. By being here, they are awakened, tehy perceive, they realize. I’m asking it, so I’m not longer at the beginning. But I feel that only now I am truly beginning. I want to start, but I don’t know how. I don’t know what to begin. I don’t know how. I don’t know what has already been.
Divadlo Štúdio tanca (Dance Studio Theatre) Banská Bystrica, Med a prach (Honey and Dust)
Directed by: Andrej Kalinka & Milan Kozánek
Music, libretto: Andrej Kalinka
Choreography: Milan Kozánek
Choreography assistance: Lívia Balážová MM
Costumes, objects: Ivana Macková
Lighting design: Ján Čief
With: Lenka Mičincová, Jack Strömberg, Martina Hájková, Ľubomír Kútnik, Cindy Ng, Jason Yap
Andrej Kalinka began in 1993 as a musician in underground and jazz bands. Gradually, he went on to study classical music (conducting and composition). Since 1996 he has begun to collaborate with various theater and musical companies/groups, first as a composer, later as a librettist and finally as a director. He had an opportunity to go through a wide range of theater, music and dance genres – drama, puppet theater, contemporary dance, opera etc. He has collaborated with more than 30 companies and has contributed to more than 70 works. Since 2006, he has begun to search and create his own artistic language, and in 2011 together with Ivan Martinka, Juraj Poliak a Michal Mikuláš founded artistic group Honey and Dust. As a librettist, composer, artist, performer, and director, he is currently working on pieces for which he is constantly looking for new performers from different countries. He considers their specific experience, aspects of their personalities and cultural contexts, their acting, musical or motion techniques as an essential part of his artistic language, which can be described as complementary art. His work has been presented in various countries and he has won several awards (e.g. New Drama Festival, DOSKY, Harmony world puppet carnival).
Milan Kozánek graduated from the Department of Dance at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (SK). Since the graduation he has worked as a dance teacher, choreographer and expert advisor. He has developed his own particular pedagogical aproach and system throughout more that 20 years of regular teaching and researching in institutions such as Tanz Quartier Wien, Konservatorium Wien University (A), Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds (UK), University of Calgary (Canada). In 1996, he and Zuna Vesan Kozánková founded the Artyci Dance Company. They have created 16 dance works that were presented in Slovakia, as well in abroad (Germany, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Canada, Thailand, China, Taiwan etc.). Since 2010 he has been developing intensive artistic cooperation with creators and theater actors who are looking for a connection between physical theater, movement, text, voice and singing. Milan has been a part of many theater research projects with theater artists from artistic groups. His main topic and fascination with his artistic as well as pedagogical work is a human. He implements his relationship with eastern philosophies.
Divadlo Štúdio tanca is the only professional theatre in Slovakia dedicated to contemporary dance with a permanent artistic ensemble. Based in Banská Bystrica for almost a quarter of a century, it has been creating original dance productions, offering movement courses for children and adults, organizing dance festivals, providing artistic residencies, and producing a variety of activities and events that bring contemporary dance closer to the public. With a diverse repertoire that caters to both discerning audiences and children, the theatre performs on its home stage as well as on tours across Slovakia and abroad. It operates in its own fully equipped building, home to an international artistic ensemble of dancers and performers from three continents. Throughout its existence, it has brought contemporary art, people, and atmosphere from around the world to the city, and it has no intention of stopping.
Med a prach (transl. Honey and Dust) is an artistic group that operates at the intersection of various art forms and genres. Under its roof, works are created that blur the lines between theater performances, concerts, and installations. Their works are presented in theaters, galleries, and concert stages alike. The basic starting point is complementary art, an artistic language rooted in the symbiosis of different means of expression. Performers are equally musicians, visual artists, actors, and dancers, striving to discover new ways of artistic expression through dynamic movement between diverse artistic communities and means. An essential aspect of Honey and Dust´s work is not only the fusion of the artistic forms but also within the individual works, the exploration of connections between art and other fields such as biology, psychology, philosophy, history, physics, and genetics.
T-O-K: LIGHT WORK
Lukáš Bobalik is a prominent figure among the younger generation of dance artists in Slovakia. His work systematically explores human existence, the boundaries of being, and the manipulation of energy and its sources. In Light Work, alongside dramaturge Maja Hriešik and visual artist Dana Tomečková, he focuses on physical performance and its fluidity. On a physical level, Bobalik delicately develops the theme of exertion, seeking ways to achieve and maintain a fragile balance of human energy. Performer Tomečková naturally contrasts this by incorporating seemingly unstable objects—tubular structures—into the composition. Together, they engage in a shared dialogue exploring the process of balance in various forms.
Stanislava Vlk Vlčeková
A solo in which there are two of them at the same time. Each person is striving for something for himself, looking for his own methods. It prolongs the moment of lightness, delays the fall. Occasionally he presses the saw, can’t help trying. A delicate balance in dialogue with the other, with material and physical forces. The oscillation of the drive to build, to grow, to move forward and the gravity that pushes clearly – down. Can we let go of our own efforts? And what happens if we no longer hold anything on?
Concept by: Lukáš Bobalik, Maja Hriešik, Dana Tomečková
Choreography, dance: Lukáš Bobalik
Dramaturgy: Maja Hriešik
Art collaboration: Dana Tomečková
Movement cooperation: Jaro Viňarský
Music: Nikolaj Nikitin
Costume: Michaela Bednárová/puojd
Lighting design: Lukáš Kubičina
Visual, graphic design: Alena Koleso
Production, touring: Alexandra Mireková
Lukáš Bobalik explores the variability of physical performance. He is interested in the potential of functional movement in choreographic composition, examining techniques of self-sustainment, methods of managing energy and effort, and the use of concrete physical experience as a foundationfor creating dance material.
Dana Tomečková primarily works with objects and installations. She creates ephemeral situations that are difficult to capture but easy to feel, focusing on the relationship between space and the body. Her artistic approach is rooted in a fascination with the unstable nature of reality.
Maja Hriešik prefers minimalism and a consistent work with simple elements. Her deep engagement with life often leaves her breathless, which is why, in her work, she embraces slow dramaturgical processes, allowing insights and ideas to mature over time.
T-O-K is more than just a production platform; it emphasizes the need for the continuous development of dancers and a deeper understanding of the dancer’s profession. The project encompasses various activities – including research, dance creation, workshops, lectures, and discussions – all connected by the central theme of sustainability, continuity, and psychophysical health. Its initiator, Lukáš Bobalik, has extensive experience as a freelance performer, collaborating with a numerous independent creators and project-based dance companies. He also worked as a teacher at various educational levels, including the Conservator). All of this has deepened in the ambiguous nature of becoming a professional dancer today, especially in the context of self-produced work. Additionally, his experience of near burnout, which almost led him to quit dance, motivated him to launch the T-O-K project.
Yuri Korec & Co.: THE STORY
The project Story appears as a rather extensive, Beatnik-style, cybernetic composition evoking a dystopian setting. It presents a visually compelling image, conceptual work with variations, gestures, and interactions between performers, excellent aleatory work with the tempo-rhythm of the performance, and an uncompromising artistic stance on both content and form. The body as a visual object as well as a conceptual intent: a fantastic, minimalist “gig” with a remarkable ability to communicate with the audience.
Jozef Vlk
Inspired by sci-fi poetics, choreographer Juraj Korec creates a playing field on the edge of the event horizon, of a crumbling world order and the dilemma surrounding the use of AI. Within this space, five mysterious identities—singularities—abandon the previously known and, bound by an inexorable algorithm, succumb to the call of gravity. Their stories emerge in hints, seemingly significant yet ephemeral, interchangeable with countless others. The micro-stories inscribed into our bodies each day remain yet are simultaneously lost forever, like imprints of bodies in the dust of lunar eternity. Where can one go if one can only go backward? The international co-production dance project The STORY offers a reflection on the way stories can be told through the body, employing a radical strategy that allows viewers a truly voyeuristic observation of bodily identities. The perspectives of performer and spectator never meet. In the moments of birth and disappearance of bodily identities, the motivations for their actions are revealed. This project is part of Juraj Korec’s broader and long-term exploration of the performativity of the body within contemporary dance and visual media, following the interdisciplinary research project, Expose Yourself to a Body.
Concept and choreography: Juraj Korec
Choreography and performance: Alexandra Mireková, Eli Hooker/Lukáš Bobalik, Eva Priečková, Jakob Jautz, Silvia Sviteková
Dramaturgy: Maja Hriešik
Scenography: Jakub Kopec
Sound design: Matúš Bolka
Light design: Felix Noslier, Juraj Korec
Graphic design: Kristína Šebejová
Production: Martin Krištof, Skrzprst
Co-production: CieLAROQUE / helene weinzierl
Juraj Korec is choreographer working under the artistic brand Yuri Korec & Co., has created several successful full-length dance works, including the duet about bodily memory d-BODY-m (2017), the performative lecture Solo Not Just for One Body and its loose continuation Nesolo (2018), a remake of the multimedia solo Habibi 2196-18 (2018), exploring human rights, and the performance Sapiens Territory (2020), addressing violence within us. He is also the co-author of internationally award-winning dance films Deň (J. Vlk, 2004), Darkroom (P. Bebjak, 2008), and voiceS (P. Bebjak, 2010). He currently works as an assistant professor at the Dance Department at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava and as a therapist specialising in the somatic method Rolfing®.
Yuri Korec & Co. is the project platform and artistic brand of choreographer and performer Juraj Korec. Under its auspices, artistic collaborations result in contemporary dance works. Since 2017, when the full-length dance performance d-BODY-m was introduced under this brand, several other works have been created and successfully presented, including the lecture performance Solo Not Just for One Body (2018), the solo performance Not a Solo (2018), and the group performance Sapiens Territory (2020). Long-term collaborators include dramaturg Maja Hriešik, performers Eva Priečková, Silvia Sviteková, Lukáš Bobalik, Jakub Jautz (D), as well as sound designer Matúš Bolka and producer Martin Krištof. The thematic focus of Yuri Korec & Co.’s works explores the phenomenon of one´s body performativity in various minimalist contexts, often aligning with the principles of ‘non-dance’.
Tomas Danielis: SEHR LANGSAM
Like in Tarkovsky’s movies, this duet opens spaces between people, revealing all that normally goes unnoticed – not just between two individuals. Revisiting the traditionalism of a male-female duet, it transcends form, reaching into the essence of togetherness and coexistence, while not avoiding the ever- present void of loneliness. Melancholic as it may seem, it carries a strangely pragmatic and understated simplicity. It is a dance piece, yet one that could be defined as purified existence rather than anything else. Accompanied by Sehr Langsam from Mahler’s 5th symphony, masterfully manipulated by Tomer Avraham, the music resonates deeply while steering clear of clichés.
Choreography: Tomas Danielis
Performed by: Petra Fornayová, Tomas Danielis
Music: Gustav Mahler, Tomer Avraham
Graphics: Matej Lacko
Production: JISDF, FEYNmen,
Partners: Slovak Institute in Jerusalem, Studio 12
Tomas Danielis, choreographer and media artist is known for creating artworks founded on the totality of perception, aiming at integral arts. His choreography engages in a type of dramaturgy overruling the primacy of music and libretto in dance, engaging instead with sociological works on stage. After working on the mechanics of power, he founded the collective Radical Empathy in 2021, where, along with his colleagues, he explores empathy, the fundamentals of human perception and interaction, and their impact on creation sociological structures. His work is characterized by a high intensity of movement expressiveness, a defined intellectual concept, and uncompromising dramaturgical stylization. His choreography is composed of extraordinary images, expressed in a rich physical language and complemented by spare poignant and often ironically funny texts, making it as comprehensible as music, sculpture, painting, or architecture. Danielis´s works have been presented in over 20 countries across three continents. His most notable creations include Custom View, Faidrós, 21&Counting, Mainly Love and Carry. In 2016 and 2017, Danielis served as the head teacher and resident choreographer of Ballet Moskva, where he created performance Equilibrium, based on game theory research, as a part of a series exploring mechanics of power, with a particular focus on abuse of power. From 2007 to 2009, he was the artistic director of International Bühnenwerkstatt Tanztheater Festival Graz. His teaching engagements have taken him to Charleroi Dans, Henny Jurriens Amsterdam, NRW Düsseldorf, CODARTS,TQW Wien, Hot Summer Kyoto, Dansehallerne Copenhagen, Bora Bora Arhus, Ballet Moscow, Danceworx New Delhi, Tsekh, Ukrainian Contemporary Dance Platform, International Bühnenwerkstatt Tanztheater Festival, Anton Bruckner University Linz. Tomáš Danielis has received numerous awards for performing arts and choreography, including the 2007 Contest – TanzRat Wien, a special prize for choreography and performing arts at the 2007 Theatre Arts Festival in Rybnik. As a performer, he was part of the Reumert Award-winning productions Men and Mahler (2013) and Rite of Spring – Extended (2014) as a member of Danish ensemble Granhøj Dans.
Radical Empathy is an art group created in Autumn 2021 by Tomáš Danielis as a reaction to contemporary events. Its main goal is to support creating and distributing contemporary art pieces as sociological probes. Radical Empathy focuses primarily on creating performative art (dance and stand-up), original texts (mainly for performing arts), photography and media work. It does that without geographical restriction, but with (critical to) the European region and events in mind. The first art pieces created by the group had been Mainly Love inter-media performance (Nuit Blanche Festival, 2021), Custom View (Moyzes Hall Bratislava, 2022), followed by the photographic exhibition Entelechiea (Arteska Detva, 2022). People, whom participated on this 2 events are Tomáš Danielis, Marek Godovič, Soňa Kúdeľová, Zuzana Husárová, Lenka Sršnová Ľubomír Panák, Anthony Rouchier, Samuel Velebný (as curator of exhibition). In their work together they used, re-used and recycled besides documentary materials also works of David Bowie, Pat Matheny, Vladimír Godár, Gioachino Rossini and others.
Michal Heriban: I AM PLACEBO
In his introspective solo I Am Placebo, Michal Heriban explores the relativity of the present moment. He questions how memory, the subconscious, and habits influence our actions, our perception of ourselves, and the world around us. The intriguingly layered stage design—featuring a projection screen, a mirror, and shirts hanging on the wall—creates an impression of a multidimensional reality, a space where we can glimpse the past, be alone with ourselves, and dare to reveal our true selves—whether genuinely or only seemingly. In this dynamic and physically demanding choreography, precise and structured movements alternate with improvisation, mirroring life itself—if we can organize and reassess the past, we have a foundation to rely on when facing unexpected challenges in the present.
Mira Kovářová
A dance-visual performance with choreography by Michal Heriban and original, evocative music by Jozef Vlk explores the themes of human memory, automated behavior stored in the subconscious, unconscious habits, and conscious programming. Thorugh three episodes and three movement approaches, the audience observes how body memory, structured choreography, and improvisation behave in a mutual flow.
Concept by: Michal Heriban
Choreography: Michal Heriban
Performers: Michal Heriban
Lighting design: Veronika Malgot, Kristýna Hauptová
Music: Jozef Vlk
Sound design: Ondrej Geče
Costumes: Andrea Pojezdálová, Michal Heriban
Production: Michal Heriban, Veronika Malgot, One Breath Theatre
Promotion, PR: Michal Heriban
Michal Heriban is a Slovak choreographer, performer, and visual artist based primarily in Bratislava, Munich, and Prague. He is a co-founder of the theater company Jedným dychom and has been participated in over 40 full-length productions since 2012. For the past 10 years, he has closely collaborated with German choreographer and visual artist Micha Purucker. His focus includes physical theater, contemporary dance techniques, improvisation, voice in movement theater, prop work, and visual art. In the Czech Republic, he has been nominated for the Thalia Awards in 2020, 2022, and 2023 and has collaborated with tinstitutions and companies such as he National Theater in Prague, the National Theater in Brno, 420PEOPLE, BURKIKOM, Lenka Vagnerova & Company, Losers Cirque Company, Petra Fornayová, Nude Theater, DPM Theater, Move Ostrava, Anna Konjetzky, Ceren Oran, Renana Raz, Rotem Tashach, Elledanse Theater, and Radoslav Piovarči. He has also taught workshops in Seoul, Algeria, Israel, Germany, and at dance conservatories in Prague, Ostrava, HAMU (The Music and Dance Faculty of the Academy of Performing arts), as well as at various dance festivals.
threeiscompany & Jaro Viňarský: IHOPEIWILL
Movement improvisation, limited by an intricate construction, as an artistic reflection of the current development of society. The performance raises the question of our responsibility towards future generations. It addresses serious issues such as the climate crisis and the increasing tension and aggression in society. This interdisciplinary work connects physical performance, sound design, and visual installation. The creators’ final message expresses a sense of anticipation and hope based on the belief that people have the ability to realize their individual responsibility for the shape of the world we live in. The work won the DOSKY 2024 award for outstanding achievement in dance theatre.
Mira Kovářová
IHOPEIWILL explores our shared future amidst ongoing political tensions and escalating climate challenges. It conveys a sense of expectation and hope despite the prevailing global atmosphere of fear and great uncertainty. IHOPEIWILL is an event that combines physical performance, sound design, and visual installation. Each of these media functions independently one next to the other and yet in synergy, which together form an organic whole. The inspiration for the piece came from conversations with people in which we were interested in the optics of personal family environment and relationships across generations. What do we envision for the future – not only for ourselves but for the generations to come? What kind of world do we wish for them, and what can we do to help fulfill those wishes? IHOPEIWILL thus becomes an artistic reflection of the current trajectory of society and our responsibility towards future generations.
Created by: threeiscompany in collaboration with Jaro Viňarský
Set design: threeiscompany
Performance: Soňa Ferienčíková
Sound: Never Sol, Alexandra Timpau, Lukáš Kubičina
Visual content creator: Maria Júdová Tichá
Light design and technical support: Ints Plavnieks, David Cartwright
Videography for installation: Richard Chomo
Produced by: BOD.Y ngo (Soňa Ferienčíková, Zuzana Frištiková, Romana Packová)
Executive production, PR: Romana Packová
Creative producer: Dirk Förster
Partners:
Main financial partner: Slovak Arts Council
Financial partners: ZSE foundation, EFFEA
Co-producers: KoresponDance, NuDanceFest, Tanec Praha / PONEC – dance venue, Theaterfestival Schwindelfrei, Záhrada CNK
Partners: Telocvicna – Dance Residency Center / PlaST – Slovak Contemporary Dance Platform, Cinetica
The IHOPEIWILL residency is supported by the European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists – EFFEA, an initiative of the European Festivals Association (EFA), co-funded by the European Union.
Supported using public funding by Slovak Arts Council.
Interview respondents:
Agi Ferienčíková, Andrea la Rose, Anna Biháryová, David Tišer, Gabriela Šallayová, Hale Doganci, Marek Keveš, Markus Hubr, Ronny Zangenberg, Samuel Černý, Václav Šíma, Yara Abu Aataya
Special thanks:
Antónia Tomalová, Christophe Henri Laurent, Gabriela Tomášková, Giseli Polávka Borduchi, Marcela Záchenská, Kubo Horničák, Lukáš Bobalík, Lukáš Kubičina, Mária Kačeriaková, Maťo Urban, Milan Sláma, Michal Šimečka, Norbert Čabala, Peter Tichý
Jaro Viňarský is a dancer, choreographer, and performer. He studied ballet and dance choreography at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (VŠMU) and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (HAMU). He has received numerous awards, including the SAZKA AWARD for Discovery in Dance, the Audience Award at the Czech Dance Platform, and the prestigious BESSIES NEW YORK DANCE AND PERFORMING ARTS AWARD in the Outstanding Performer category. In 2011, he founded the non-governmental organization SKOK! in Slovakia.
thereeiscompany is an interdisciplinary female collective with a strong interest in blurring the boundaries between different artistic fields.In 2017, dancer and choreographer Soňa Ferienčíková, digital visual artist Mária Júdová, and sound artist and architect Alexandra Timpau joined forces to explore how interdisciplinary collaboration and audience involvement can further expand the horizons of contemporary dance.
Ceren Oran / Moving Borders / Tanečno: THE URGE
Impossibility to go out, to the theater, to meet the audience, colleagues or family. In the spring of 2020, social networks were flooded with videos that testify to the desire of artists to dance and stay in touch, stay visible. Choreographer Ceren Oran chose several of them as inspiration for her latest project, which she deliberately placed in a public space. The Urge draws inspiration from the frustrating experience of two years of pandemic and isolation, but transforms it together with the dancers into something highly vital, contagious in the best sense of the word, in the sharing of joy, energy, fascination of the moving body, in the intense sharing of the moment here and now in direct contact with the viewer in a public space. Collective trauma and an individual’s individual reaction to a social crisis Oran transforms into choreographic images that combine energetic, synchronous dance passages with individual dancers’ improvised solos. Pulsating electronic music determines the dynamics and changing rhythm of the choreography, the energy of which urgently and uncontrollably spreads directly to the audience. The musical component is complemented by live improvisation of the saxophonist, which increases the tension between the dancers – the crowd and the individual – the musician.
Concept, choreography: Ceren Oran
Choreographic cooperation: Maayan Reiter, Rotem Weismann
Dramaturgical cooperation: Karolína Hejnová
Project initiated by: Ceren Oran & Moving Borders, MOVE Ostrava and Tanečno
Dance: Miriam Budzáková, Matúš Szeghö, Paulína Šmatláková, Andrej Štepita, Lukáš Záhorák
Music: Hüseyin Evirgen
Live music: Lenka Molčányiová
* free entry
