Dance
News
Just in: Martin Glaser appointed Director of the National Theatre. He wants to stay in Brno until July 2028
Today, Culture Minister Martin Baxa announced the results of the selection process for the new General Director of the National Theatre and appointed Martin Glaser to the post. He is expected to start on 1 August 2028. more
Eyes of Brno: Behind the mirror with Jana Kosíková
This evening from the Eyes of Brno series will be dedicated to Jana Kosíková, a long-time soloist of the NdB Ballet. Visitors can get a glimpse into the world of this successful prima ballerina and her career. more
Goddess by the ONDRÁŠ Military Art Ensemble
The ONDRÁŠ Military Art Ensemble is preparing a dance and music production inspired by the phenomenon of goddesses. Jan Kysučan's original work is based on folk art and will have its Brno première this week at the Goose on a String Theatre. more
NdB is looking for dancers for the upcoming opera Manon Lescaut
The Janáček Opera ensemble of the National Theatre Brno (NdB) is announcing an audition for dance roles in the upcoming opera Manon Lescaut by Giacomo Puccini, directed by Štěpán Pácl. The production is to be choreographed by Andrea Miltnerová and the première is announced for 7 February 2025 at the Janáček Theatre. more
The Brno Culture Newsletter presents an overview of what is happening in the city’s theatres, clubs, summer festivals and other cultural events in Brno. more
The Ibérica Festival will kick off with the traditional gala concert in the courtyard of Špilberk Castle. The festival, which brings together Spanish, Latin American, Czech and Slovak artistes, will again this year offer a programme packed with concerts, creative workshops, theatre and lectures about Cuba by Tomáš Hanák. The opening night will feature a performance by Spanish Roma singer and pianist Diego Amador and dancer Cristina Aguilera. They will be joined by singer Miguel Lavi and guitarist David Caro. more
The Brno Culture Newsletter presents an overview of what is happening in the city’s theatres, clubs, summer festivals and other cultural events in Brno. more
Brasil Fest Brno: João Bosco, Marina Sena and carnival in the streets
The samba and other Brazilian rhythms will have the summer streets of Brno packed with music and dance. The city will welcome Brasil Fest Brno at the beginning of August. This year's fifth annual festival will feature two-time Latin Grammy winner, guitarist and singer João Bosco, as well as pop singer Marina Sena. The festival will host a carnival in the streets, accompanied by concerts and workshops. more
Year of Czech music with ProART: Smetana 200 and Ogoun 100
The ProART art group is celebrating 20 years of its activity. In addition to the celebrations, the Year of Czech Music also commemorates the anniversary of the composer Bedřich Smetana and the Czechoslovak choreographer Luboš Ogoun. These anniversaries will be combined into one production, DREAMS OF CONSCIOUSNESS. more
The Brno cultural newsletter brings you an overview of events and opportunities in the forthcoming period for theatres, clubs, festivals and cultural events in Brno. more
Feature articles
The Ondráš Military Artistic Ensemble took a dance across the peaks and valleys of the Carpathian Arch in the première of their new show Through the Carpathians. The new show by the professional part of the ensemble took place on the stage of the Radost Theatre in Brno. And it was truly a joy to watch this new venture. It sees the ensemble leave the spectacular choreography behind for a while and return to its original folk roots without giving up on any of its own expressive style. more
The office of Brno - UNESCO City of Music, with the financial support of the South Moravian Region, presents a line-up of active folklore groups (ensembles, chasers, musics) in the Brno region as part of the Year of Folklore Ensembles. more
In the spirit of the idea that Brno and folklore belong together, the Folklore Ensemble Happening of the Year took place on Thursday 6 June. The event was organised by the Brno UNESCO City of Music Office in cooperation with the Brno Dances and Sings association. The event thus became part of a long-term project that set out to map the amateur music scene in Brno, and not only folk music. Last year Brno City of Music reached out to choirs in a similar way, and in the future will host garage bands and more. This just goes to prove the diversity of Brno's music scene, not only as regards professional ensembles, but also enthusiastic amateurs for whom music is an inseparable part of their lives. more
For the fourth year in a row, audiences could visit the courtyard of Špilberk Castle and enjoy the dance art of the Ondráš Military Art Ensemble from Brno in a series called Evenings with Ondráš. This year, on the two days of 15 and 16 June, those interested once again saw the best that the company currently has to offer. Moreover, the concerts were fundraisers, with the money raised going to the Military Solidarity Fund. I will take a look at the second, Friday evening, during which Ondráš invited his friends from the Mladina ensemble of Pilsen to the stage. more
Folklore enthusiasts from all over Moravia met in the reconstructed hall of the largest Czech Sokol Hall on Kounicova Street in Brno. The traditional seventy-first ball was organised by the Slovácký krúžek Brno Club on Saturday 21 January. Two associations with a deep First Republic tradition were thus connected, and it seemed that they had shared a natural common bond all that time. more
Traditions, costumes, songs and often special food. This is the basis of folk culture, which is strongly rooted in Moravia. Interest in it has been growing recently – the Czech Republic is taking it as one of the bases of its promotion for domestic and foreign tourists. What is folklore actually about? Are young people coming back to it? And what makes it interesting? We interviewed Marie Hvozdecká, a music editor focusing on folklore at Czech Radio and also a long-time programmer of the folklore scene at the Brno Music Marathon Festival. As she says, “having an interest in folk music is a good thing. However, in order to remake it into a new form, one must know its origin and meaning, otherwise it becomes a mockery.” more
The municipal council of Velká nad Veličkou decided already in mid-April that this year's Horňácké Festivities (original name: Horňácké slavnosti) would not take place on the traditional dates around the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, and their scope, previously meant to be of three to five days, would also be modified. Obviously, it was impossible to foresee the development of lockdown measures towards the third week of July, but musicians from the Horňácko district tried to come up with at least a partial alternative solution in order to maintain continuity. Eventually, two concerts were officially held on two consecutive Saturdays: On 18 July, live broadcast of a public radio recording of Czech Radio Brno under the title Hrajte že ně, hrajte aneb Horňácké trochu jinak (Play for Me, or Horňácké Festivities in a Slightly Different Fashion) took place at the Culture House in Velká nad Veličkou. A week later, at a sports complex in Javorník, a traditional competition for "the biggest expert on Horňácko peasant songs" was held under the auspices of the Horňácko Dulcimer Band of Libor Sup. Needless to say, both events have found their spectators and listeners. more
After Easter, an official statement that ruined every folklore lover's day appeared on social networks and in the media. The folklore festival in Strážnice will not take place this year. The reasons are well known to everyone. Yesterday, another wave of coronavirus lockdown easement began, and this was not the only reason why we talked to Martin Šimša, director of the National Institute of Folk Culture (NÚLK) in Strážnice. Well, is there really a reason for mourning? What can we look forward to in the immediate future? And when is the best time to visit the castle park and the open-air museum in Strážnice? These questions, and not only these, will be answered in the following interview. more
To write a guide to music in Brno in the past and present means digging deep into one’s own recollections and those of others as well as into sources with varying degrees of reliability, and as far as possible not believing anything automatically but always asking “Did this really happen just like that?” And in doing so, to be very, very suspicious of one’s own memory. Two basic questions that cropped up in connection with almost every sentence were “What is it about this band or that event that makes them special? Would someone who’s never been to Brno and has no ties with the city find it interesting?” more
Due to the impact of extraordinary measures taken because of the Covid-19 pandemic on stakeholders of the cultural and creative industries in Brno, Brno leaders and the Department of Culture of the Brno City Municipality are working intensively on a set of precautions for minimizing the damages. At the same time, communication is conducted on all levels of public administration, predominantly in collaboration with the Institut umění – Divadelní ústav [Arts and Theatre Institute], which is mapping the situation on the nationwide level. Until 22 March 2020 you can help assess the current situation by means of an online survey (the link is provided below). Further steps will be taken according to the results of the survey. more
International dance day with NdB Ballet
International Dance Day on April 29 is an important day for Ballet NdB, which we celebrate every year in the form of an open air program, a festive performance or another event. As in previous years, the Brno Ballet cannot be absent from the celebrations on the piazzetta in front of the Janáček Theater, when the open air program can already be considered a traditional form of celebration.
PROGRAM
15.00 Open Class with Jana Přbylová Open ballet training under the name Open class for dancers, professionals and amateurs is open to anyone interested after registration until the capacity of the temporary ballet hall is filled. You can register here.
15.45 Exhibition The program will continue with a subsequent short concert with samples of the repertoire, where the juniors of Ballet NdB 2, students of the Brno Dance Conservatory and the Filiánek Ballet School will also perform.
Don Quijote
One of the pillars of the classical ballet legacy is the ballet Don Quixote to the music of Ludwig Minkus, inspired by Cervantes' famous novel The Ingenious Don Quixote de La Mancha. It describes the adventures of the hero, the knight Don Quixote, who is torn by ideas moving between illusion and reality.
Workshop: How is opera made x How is ballet made?
Introduce students to theater genres in a different way!
What do opera and ballet have in common and how do they differ? What does the process of creating a production look like from the first idea to the finished performance? What professions work in the theater and what do we actually need them for? What do a choreographer, director, costume designer, or set designer have to think about to make a performance successful? We will find the answer to these and many other questions together at the workshop – How is opera made x How is ballet made?
The workshop also includes a short tour of the Janáček Theater.
Don Quijote
One of the pillars of the classical ballet legacy is the ballet Don Quixote to the music of Ludwig Minkus, inspired by Cervantes' famous novel The Ingenious Don Quixote of La Mancha. It describes the adventures of the hero, the knight Don Quixote, who is torn by imaginations moving between illusion and reality.
However, the ballet productions use Cervantes' story in their libretto only as inspiration and pretext. All the stage action is centered around the young loving couple Basilio (Basil) and Quiteria (Kitri), who are hindered by the rich suitor Comacho (Gamacho). Only thanks to Don Quixote will their love be fulfilled.
Don Quijote
One of the pillars of the classical ballet legacy is the ballet Don Quixote to music by Ludwig Minkus, inspired by Cervantes' famous novel The Ingenious Don Quixote of La Mancha. It describes the adventures of the hero, the knight Don Quixote, who is torn by imaginations moving between illusion and reality.
However, the ballet productions use Cervantes' story in their libretto only as inspiration and pretext. All the stage action is centered around the young loving couple Basilio (Basil) and Quiteria (Kitri), who are hindered by the rich suitor Comacho (Gamacho). Only thanks to Don Quixote will their love be fulfilled.
Balet NdB 2: Serenity / A healthy dose of madness / Dům Bernardy Alby
PROGRAM 6
The choreography Serenity will bring the calm power of minimalism to the stage, inviting the audience to silence and deeper perception. The theme of the choreography is based on the contrast of movement and stillness. The dancers will move on the border of dynamic movement until the moment of absolute stop. These moments of stillness evoke living sculptures that create a space for a meditative experience and a pause in a busy world. With this work, the choreographer, Barbora Rašková, tries to offer the audience a unique opportunity to slow down and let themselves be carried away by the depth of the moment.