Czech Dance Films Under the New York Sky

• Press release from the Czech Centres and the Dance Film Festival, dated August 20th, 2021

WITH A NEW FLAIR AND ENERGY
Non-verbal theater and dance have a longstanding tradition in the program strategy of the Czech Center New York (ČCNY), but COVID put a stop to this, and thus experimentation began. Thanks to the support of ČCNY, a dance film project by the New York studio of Dušan Týnek was presented here in the past. Now, a whole new project – this time created in collaboration with the Prague Dance Film Festival – will bring a “dance present,” and as such has excellent prospects for captivating New York audiences. Dance-for-camera films combine the poetry of film with a new dimension of dance.

JANA NÁVRATOVÁ, ART DIRECTOR OF THE DANCE FILM FESTIVAL:
“After five years, we are set to return to the Bohemian National Hall with more Czech dance films. Back in 2016, we presented a collection of Czech dance-for-camera films for the first time ever. This year will see us offer artistically more mature works, which are the result of a newfound enthusiasm and the courage to experiment and search for a strong visual and emotional statement that blurs the line between dance and film.”

MIROSLAV KONVALINA, DIRECTOR OF THE CZECH CENTER NEW YORK:
“A time that has been so incredibly difficult for travelling and organizing live art events has actually been very beneficial for the dance film genre. This is not about replacing live performances, but rather about offering a full-fledged, independent, interdisciplinary space where dancers, choreographers, and filmmakers can meet with their audiences. We are very happy that the Czech Center New York can offer this space and we are confident that our visitors will find Czech dance film production intriguing.”

The organizers have also decided to go one step further and enrich the show (staged on the rooftop of the Bohemian National Building in New York) with a live dance performance by Czech dancer Denisa Musilová and her American dance partner Tami Stronach (USA).

DANCING “UNDER THE STARS”
Delimitation– this year's winner of the international competition at the Dance Film Festival was shot by director Tereza Vejvodová with dancer Markéta Jandová in the lead role. The film explores the search for personal space and feelings of loneliness in the midst of a bustling metropolis. Tereza Vejvodová also directed the second film for the event, Roselyne, which is a film version of the solo of the same name by performer Cécile Da Costa. The character of Roselyne is based on a real woman who paid too much attention to her surroundings and forgot to live her own life. The film provides an intimate insight into the fragility and chaos in which the character tries to find herself.

The film Ephemera was created as a ready-made variation of the site-specific project of the same name, Farm in a Cave, at a time when the ensemble could not play the production in front of a live audience due to COVID restrictions. The leader of the Farm in the Cave ensemble, Viliam Dočolomanský, and director Jiří Matoušek conceived the film as a psychedelic walk through a house of horrors and curiosities. Dočolomanský was able to offer the camera panoptical characters and unsettling horror situations, which serve as random glimpses inside the inhospitable spaces of a dissected building and a path to the floor of the subconscious, where we meet monsters, traumas, and bad dreams.

In the film Fibonacci, director Tomáš Hubáček paid a great tribute to the beautiful, natural landscape around Kyjov in Moravia. In collaboration with choreographer Maria Gourdain, they created an environmental visual poem in which the structure of the landscape is enhanced by the rhythm of music and the movement of a human herd as an expression of both the unity of life and a concern for life’s wellbeing.

The program that viewers will see in New York reflects both the quality of Czech dance and choreography and the power of the audiovisual concept. The selection is thus a valuable insight into the themes of contemporary Czech art.

INTERVIEW WITH MIROSLAV KONVALINA / PRESS RELEASE ATTACHMENT
Read the interview with Miroslav Konvalina, director of the Czech Center New York; it’s also possible to cite quotes from the interview or paraphrase with the consent of the respondent and the author of the interview.

Czech dance films under the New York sky // Interview with Miroslav Konvalina about “Czech dance on the roofTOP”…
Press Release Attachment dated 20. 8. 2021

https://www.czechcentres.cz/en/blog/2021/08/ceske-tanecni-filmy-pod-newyorskym-nebem

• The press release is available for download 🠓

• Gallery 🠓

• More information about the event: Czech Center New York