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July 20th, 2008
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A positive spin on new works

The Czech dance scene continues its remarkable resurgence
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April 9th, 2008 issue

By Lucie Rozmanková

COURTESY PHOTO
The VerTe Dance troupe gets into the whirl with Tereza Ondrová and David Králík performing Forty-three Sunsets.
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Czech Dance Platform


When: April 11-14
Where: Divadlo Ponec, Duncan Centre, Alfred ve Dvoře, Divadlo Disk
Tickets: 100-190 Kč, available at the venues
For daily performances, see the Calendar listings; for a full program, check www.divadloponec.cz
Staff Writer
In the world of dance, April traditionally belongs to Česká taneční platforma (Czech Dance Platform), a showcase of rising young talent in the contemporary Czech dance scene. As Marta Lajnerová, director of the festival says, “Our motto is, ‘Everything you wanted to know about Czech contemporary dance but didn’t have time to see.’ ”
Lajnerová and her crew have culled the best new works from the past year and neatly packaged them in four days. “This is especially convenient for foreign audiences,” she says. “They can see a great deal in four days, and get a picture of Czech dance.”
The festival was established 14 years ago by the founder of Tanec Praha, Yvonna Kreutzmanová, to help nurture new talent in the Czech contemporary dance community. “Modern dance used to have a strong tradition in Czechoslovakia before World War II,” Lajnerová explains. “We wanted to help re-establish the tradition.”
The festival has proved to be a good tool to support this movement. It’s not only promoted new Czech dance, but led to residencies for Czech choreographers in France, Hungary, Poland, Mexico and the United States. Lajnerová is also delighted to point out, “Czech contemporary dance will have a presentation at the Festival de Marseille in July this year to mark the Czech chairmanship of the European Union. [A Czech work] was even chosen for presentation at the prestigious Tanz Messe [Dance Fair] in Düsseldorf.”
Czech Dance Platform is not limited to Czech citizens; it’s open to any work that involves Czech dancers, a Czech choreographer or a Czech-based project or artist. The pieces for the festival were chosen this year by a five-member board of specialists that includes Ivana Kubicová, head of the dance department at HAMU; Jana Návratová, the editor-in-chief of Dance Zone magazine; and Lajnerová. The same board will decide which choreographer wins the Sazka Award, a 400,000 Kč ($24,891) prize designated for creating a new work.
The festival offers a total of 14 pieces by various artists this year. Opening night (April 11) is devoted to last year’s Sazka Award–winning piece, Portrait by Ioana Mona Popovici, a Romanian artist based in Prague.
Other highlights include Mirka Eliášová’s Zrcadlení (Mirroring), described as “a piece about a woman stuck in everyday stereotypes,” and Angels and Demons by the young, Czech-based Korean choreographer Ji-eun Lee, which probes the depths of human subconsciousness.
The professional Czech contemporary dance company DOT 504 will perform two works: Proposition, choreographed by Lenka Vágnerová, and Josef Fruček and Linda Kapetanea’s Holdin’ Fast (shown on the cover), inspired by Milan Kundera’s novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being. In the latter you can see Helena Arenbergerová, a fresh nominee for the Thalia Award, the country’s most prestigious annual dance prize, performing in the lead role.
Closing night (April 14) will present, among other works, Small Hour, choreographed by Václav Kuneš, a Czech dancer who has a great reputation abroad for his tenure with the Nederlands Dans Theater, where he closely collaborated with Jiří Kylián. Kuneš has returned to his homeland, where he’s already established a dance company, 420 People.
Also of interest is an experimental piece, In-Finito, by Věra Ondrašíková, which incorporates new technologies. It was created in collaboration with the Czech Technical University.
Asked for her assessment of the current Czech dance scene, Lajnerová notes two distinct strains: choreographers trained at Hamu, Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts, and those trained at the Duncan Centre, an independent contemporary dance academy, who seem to favor a more personal, intimate type of choreography. But Lajnerová didn’t have much time to reflect on that before the festival, when, like many local arts managers, she was awaiting last-minute funding decisions from Prague City Hall.
In spite of such obstacles, Czech Dance Platform gets under way at Divadlo Ponec April 11, offering four days of fresh work that anyone with an interest in dance can appreciate, with no Czech-language skills required. Lajnerová says she likes to see foreign audiences that are “open to seeing something new.” And everyone gets to vote for their favorite piece in the Audience Award competition.
Take in some performances and you’ll see a thriving contemporary dance scene that is not only growing, but becoming more professional and exciting every year.
Lucie Rozmanková can be reached at lrozmankova@praguepost.com


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