Dance

News

This year, the Ondráš Military Art Ensemble is organising the 6th annual Evenings with Ondráš benefit series, to be held in the courtyard of Špilberk Castle in Brno. This year's event is exceptional not only for its charitable side, but also for its important link to Jaroslav Jurášek, as this year is the 100th anniversary of his birth. Admission to both evening performances is free of charge.  more

The Ibérica festival returns in 2025 with a lavish line-up of music, dance, theatre and cuisine. Visitors can look forward to artistic performances and workshops in several towns and cities across the Czech Republic.  more

For the sixth time this year, the streets of Brno will come alive with the energy of the country’s largest festival of Brazilian culture. Brasil Fest Brno 2025 will take place in the middle of the summer holidays and it is preparing a number of new attractions for this year: stands overlooking the carnival parade, workshops with Brazilian stars, and a children's parade.  more

The motto of this year's ProART Festival is Transform_Heal_Through_Art. The international workshop festival of dance, music, acting, photography and other performing arts for professionals and the general public combines daytime art workshops with an evening programme. The Brno leg of the festival will take place at the Villa Engelsmann.  more

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

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

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

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

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


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Upcoming events

Ballet at the Bishop's Court

20/07/25, 20:15 / Biskupský dvůr

The main ensemble of Ballet NdB 1 will perform the magical choreography of Nacho Duat Gnaw. The junior formation Ballet NdB 2 will dance Bára Rašková's work Serenity, and the unique project Ballet NdB 3, which brings together mature dancers after completing their professional careers, will also be presented to the public for the first time. They will perform the choreography Po zarostlém chodníčku by Mário Radačovský, which premiered at EXPO 2025 in Osaka. We will also bring guests from Prague to the Bishop's Court - a dance show by the contemporary dance company 420PEOPLE combined with a live rock concert by the band Please The Trees under the name The Watcher.

18:00 WORKSHOP Martin Hon + dance hall 20:00 Sabor Latino Come and try Latin American salsa dancing under the guidance of experienced instructor Martin Hon or just sit and listen to the rhythms of Cuban dance music performed by the Sabor Latino band. At the workshop you will learn the basics of Cuban salsa, which you can hone throughout the evening during the dance hall. Martin Hon is an experienced dancer and instructor of Cuban salsa. Course leader and organizer of Open Air Salsa pod Petrovem. Sabor Latino is a six-member band playing Cuban dance music (salsa and Latin jazz). You will hear well-known hits of Cuban music and salsa that will not leave you indifferent! We play music for both listening and dancing, so you can meet us at a festival, in a club at a Latino dance party or concert, at a dance lesson or at a wedding, birthday or corporate party. Members: Martin Lauer – vocals, conga, Ladislav Muroň – flutes, vocals, maracas, Tomáš Vrtek – piano, vocals, Jan Galia – double bass, vocals, Hubert Holásek – bass guitar, Adam Sikora – timbales, Enrique Rivera – guiro, claves, bongos, cowbell.

F SCENE 2025

24/07/25, 19:30 / Biskupský dvůr

As every year, the beautiful space of the Bishop's Court under the Peter and Paul Towers will come alive with folklore in the 28th year of the F SCÉNA 2025 folklore evenings cycle. The Jánošík Folklore Association, in cooperation with the Czechoslovak Legionnaire SPIA Czech, z.s., in co-production with the Brno City Theatre and SNIP & Co., an advertising company, has prepared this traditional spectacle for folklore lovers.

F SCENE 2025

25/07/25, 19:30 / Biskupský dvůr

As every year, the beautiful space of the Bishop's Court under the Peter and Paul Towers will come alive with folklore in the 28th year of the F SCÉNA 2025 folklore evenings cycle. The Jánošík Folklore Association, in cooperation with the Czechoslovak Legionnaire SPIA Czech, z.s., in co-production with the Brno City Theatre and SNIP & Co., an advertising company, has prepared this traditional spectacle for folklore lovers.

F SCENE 2025: Like father, like son

26/07/25, 19:30 / Biskupský dvůr

"SUCH A FATHER, SUCH A SON" - this is the title of the performance, which gives an idea of how strong the family bond is and how the customs of grandfathers and fathers are passed on to their descendants. It is these traditions that are the determining link in the prepared composed program. Folk songs, dances, customs and traditions have not only been preserved to this day thanks to written or film recordings, but mainly thanks to the fact that they were passed on in families from generation to generation, from mother to daughter, from father to son. They then passed them on to associations, "circles", the foundations of later emerging folklore ensembles, which began to process them into a stage form. And the very membership in a folklore ensemble is also becoming a tradition, and we can boldly use the comparison "Such a father, such a son" or "Such a mother, such a Katka". For example, the Demižón Folklore Ensemble, founded and led by Jiří Rybecký, who is also the creator of today's program, a former member of the VUS Ondráš, also has the third generation of bearers of folk traditions in its ranks.



Listening Guide: Leoš Janáček's Sinfonietta
with Jakub Hrůša
  more