About
Slovak Dance Platform
We invite you to the Slovak Dance Platform – the second edition of the showcase of Slovak contemporary dance. After the first pandemic edition in May 2021, when Slovak dance was presented to an international professional audience only online, we look forward to face-to-face meetings in Bratislava and Banská Bystrica.
The platform will present a generationally and conceptually diverse range of creative practices of Slovak contemporary dance. From the 36 works submitted, the dramaturgical board has selected 9 dance productions that have been created in the last two years and will be presented to the audience over the course of three evenings. The platform also includes discussions and formats for international and national professionals, promoters, curators and artists, while the performances are open to the general public.
The Slovak Dance Platform was initiated by four organisations working in the field of contemporary dance in Slovakia – Association Bratislava in Movement, Platform for Contemporary Dance (PlaST), Contemporary Dance Association and Theatre Institute.
Bratislava in Movement Association and PlaST are the main organisers of the platform, whose aim is to organise it regularly every two years.
We invite you to discover the Slovak dance. Up close.
Under the auspices of the Mayor of Bratislava Matúš Vallo.
A graduate of the University of Economics and the Academy of Music and Performing Arts (dance pedagogy), where she completed her post-graduate studies as well. She was ballet master at the Slovak National Theatre, and later teacher and choreographer at the Nová Scéna Theatre. Since 1983 she has been faculty member at the dance creation department of the Academy of Music and Performing Arts, since 2015 she is the head of the department. In the years 2006 – 2010 she was the chief dramaturge of the ballet ensemble of the Slovak National Theatre. She was dramaturge and executive director of the dance company Balet Bratislava and head of the dance company of the Nová Scéna Theatre. She is a practitioner of the Feldenkrais method. Since 1997 she has been artistic and until 2020 also the executive director of the international contemporary dance festival Bratislava in Movement.
Director, choreographer, performer and publicist. She graduated from the Faculty of Law of Comenius University, studied at the Academy of Performing Arts and at the EDDC in Düsseldorf. She was a member of the ballet company of the State Opera in Banská Bystrica and a member of the Théatre du mouvement in Paris, later a tribal actress of the Bratislava SkRAT theatre. In 1997 she co-founded the Association of Contemporary Dance. From 2003 to 2007 she was a dance dramaturge at A4 – Centre for Contemporary Culture, which she co-founded. She founded and still runs the international contemporary dance festival Nu Dance Fest. She is a member of the editorial board of the magazine for contemporary art VLNA and a member of the Board of the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica. Since 2022 she has been a member of the artistic board of Trenčín ECOC 2026. She has created more than 20 original performances. As a co-author or performer she has been part of many domestic projects, as a curator of several European cultural cooperation projects. Currently, she is also working as a film actress.
Dramaturg of the Kiosk festival, theoretician and publicist. Graduated in aesthetics at the Faculty of Philosophy of Comenius University in Bratislava. In 2011, she defended her dissertation at the Department of Theory and History of Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, where until August 2022 she conducted seminars and lectures focused on the theory of photography, aesthetics and the theory of consumer culture. She is the President of the Slovak Association for Aesthetics, where she organizes Czech-Slovak aesthetic conferences, as well as a series of discussions on art for high schools. Since 2018, she has been part of the dramaturgy and production team of the Kiosk Dance and Theatre Festival, which has led her to write more about contemporary dance, movement theatre and dance performance (MLOKi, Kød – specifically about theatre, Monitoring Theatres, etc.) in recent years. For the fourth year he has been part of the Dance Season (Platform for contemporary dance) project, which maps current work on the domestic dance scene through analysis and discussion. She is also a member of the editorial board of the magazine Kapitál and a member of the music band Srnka.
Dance theorist, dance critic, dramaturg of the Slovak National Theatre Ballet. She graduated in dance science at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (1996). She has worked as a dancer in independent groups and contemporary dance projects. She was the editor-in-chief of the first professional dance magazine Tanec (later Salto). She wrote about dance and theatre for various art periodicals, Javisko, Taneční listy, Taneční zóna, Kultúrny život and daily newspapers Sme, Pravda, etc. She worked as a dramaturge of the Slovak National Theatre Ballet (1998 – 2000), later at the editorial department of the Theatre Institute, where she realized editorial and exhibition projects in the field of dance in Slovakia. From 2004 to 2010 she worked at the Slovak National Theatre, where she headed the editorial department of the Marketing Centre. She was the editor of SND publications Malé dejiny Hamleta, Národné, 50 rokov UDD, Súpis repertoáru SND 1920 – 2010), editor-in-chief of the magazine Scéna SND. From 2010 to 2012 she worked for the media company Film Europe and wrote reviews on dance. Since 2012 she has been the dramaturge of the SND Ballet.
Organizers
THE BRATISLAVA IN MOVEMENT ASSOCIATION is a civic association working in the field of professional contemporary dance development. The main activity of BMA is to organize the Bratislava in Movement – International Festival of Contemporary Dance every year.
Except for performances the festival brings a program activating the community – workshops, lectures, discussions, film screenings and exhibitions. The festival represents Slovak dance scene in an international context and develops international cooperation.
During the 24 years of its existence, it presented 226 ensembles and artists from 28 countries, organized 74 accompanying events / 4 international interdisciplinary artistic projects, 2 art-educational projects, 10 site-specific projects, 42 workshops, 5 lectures, 4 exhibitions of dance photographs, 4 screenings, 2 international conferences /.
The festival presented the following important choreographers and companies: Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Peeping Tom, Russel Maliphant, José Navas, Marie Chouinard, Xavier Le Roy, Susanne Linke, Wim Vandekeybus / Ultima Vez, Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, Rui Horta, Cie. Drift, Ballet Preljocaj, Joseph Nadj, Granhøj Dans, Steve Paxton, Stephen Petronio Company.
THE BRATISLAVA IN MOVEMENT FESTIVAL was established in 1997 and shaped by a community of dancers and teachers from the Contemporary Dance Association founded in 1996. The aim of the association was to organize activities for the dance community and encompassed three areas: education, presentation of contemporary dance and its reflection. In 2000 the festival detached itself from the activities of the Contemporary Dance Association and its organization was taken over by the newly established BRATISLAVA IN MOVEMENT ASSOCIATION.
ASOCIÁCIA BRATISLAVA V POHYBE / BRATISLAVA IN MOVEMENT ASSOCIATION
Šancova 43
831 04 Bratislava
Slovakia
festivalba@gmail.com
www.abp.sk
Contemporary Dance Platform (Slovak acronym: PlaST) is an independent umbrella organisation of 51 artist members and 9 organisations as honorary members which systematically works on creation of sustainable infrastructure and good conditions for contemporary dance, its growing visibility as a respected art form and a vital part of society. It was created in Bratislava in 2016 out of need of artists to protest against politically motivated interventions negatively influencing contemporary dance scene but it slowly grew to become a larger initiative initiating strategic steps for better funding and stronger inclusion of contemporary dance into national cultural strategies. In 2017 Contemporary Dance Platform launched and published a complex analysis of the state of financing and production conditions for dance creators in Slovakia within the period of years 2010 – 2016. Many of latter activities of the organisation came as a result of conclusions of given mapping. Currently its activities include organizing discussions and seminars on up to date problems, mapping and informing about current dance production, a project of systematic analysis, reviewing and discussions about current productions and informing general public about Slovak dance scene as such by means of a web portal www.plast.dance. In co-operation with Bratislava Self-Governing Region and cultural organisation Nadácia Cvernovka it is currently building a project of a Residential Centre for contemporary dance and performance art Telocvicna in Bratislava and in co-operation with partner institutions it is enganging in international promotion of Slovak contemporary dance.
PLATFORMA PRE SÚČASNÝ TANEC – PLAST / CONTEMPORARY DANCE PLATFORM
Staré záhrady 14
821 05 Bratislava
sucasnytanec@gmail.com
www.plast.dance
The Theatre Institute (est. 1961) is an expert institution with a country-wide scope, which administers the Slovak theatre culture heritage including contemporary dance. The Theatre Institute manages the information system etheatre.sk, documentation funds, archive funds and collections, audiovisual and multimedia funds, and collections of gallery and museum value, all connected to theatre productions, significant figures, theatres and independent theatre and dance companies and is the biggest publisher of expert theatre literature in Slovakia. The Institute’s editing plan covers a wide range of publications regarding dance culture. They are accessible at the Information centre PROSPERO – Rudolf von Laban: Life for Dance. Memories, Richard Schechner: Performance: theory, practice, rituals, Eva Gajdošová: Súčasný tanec/Contemporary Dance. Made in Slovakia II. extended edition, Emil Tomáš Bartko: Slovak Dance Theatre Art Forms 1920 – 2010, Miklós Vojtek: Terpsichora Istropolitana. Dance in Pressburg of the 18th Century, Marta Poláková: The Freedom to Explore Dance.
The Theatre Institute collaborates with its partner institutions in Slovakia and abroad, especially with partner institutes and museums in the V4 countries. In international cooperation, the Theatre Institute can take advantage of its membership in international non-governmental organizations ITI, ENCIPA, IETM, SIBMAS and ICOM. An important mission of the Institute is to present Slovak theatre and dance abroad via supporting stands at fairs (Tanzmesse, PQ) as well as international exhibitions (theatre.sk) or hosting performances at festivals (Presentation of Slovak contemporary dance and theatre Slov: motion in Brussels, Rehearsal for Truth in New York, etc.).
The research and presentational project 10 Choreographers of Slovak Contemporary Dance aims to introduce a selection of dance projects reflecting a wide spectrum of original Slovak dance works. Individual profiles are based on an analysis of three productions from different periods of the given choreographer. Online catalogue captures the work of contemporary Slovak choreographers up to year 2019 and presents the diversity of the creative capacity within European context. Within the framework of project The Slovak Artists Abroad Fund, the Theatre Research Centre lays the groundwork for a complex research covering the work of Slovak dance artists abroad.
DIVADELNÝ ÚSTAV / THE THEATRE INSTITUTE
Jakubovo nám. 12
813 57 Bratislava
Slovakia
+421 220 487 102
du@theatre.sk
www.theatre.sk
Contemporary Dance Association (CDA) was founded in 1996 by teachers, choreographers and dancers. It belongs to the founding associations of A4 – space for contemporary art in Bratislava. CDA realizes contemporary dance festival NU DANCE FEST (started in 2006). CDA was the main organizer of NU VIDEO DANCE, dance film competition (two editions were held in 2014 and 2015), produced the DANCE IN THE ARENA project (2001-2002), organized the SUMMER DANCE SCHOOL in Liptovský Mikuláš (2001-2012). CDA has produced more than 40 productions of Slovak choreographers and participated in foreign co-productions. In addition, several projects took place in the field of international cooperation, e.g. LAB_A3 – international project of systematic presentation and education supported by EU CULTURE 2000, BeINTERNATIONAL – international project of cooperation of young Italian and Slovak dance artists, KoresponDance – pilot project before the founding of the festival Korespondance in Czech Republic.
ASOCIÁCIA SÚČASNÉHO TANCA / CONTEMPORARY DANCE ASSOCIATION
Anenská 1
831 05 Bratislava
ast@sucasnytanec.sk
www.sucasnytanec.sk