Dance

Brno is a city full of contrasts. A short walk through its centre reveals curious contrasts: the Rozkvět passage next to the House of the Lords of Lipá or the Omega department store inserted into the historic centre are clear examples. The Brno Philharmonic also bases its musical production on the contrast of old with new. More than once I have praised the fresh programmes of the concerts, which go for contrasting musical works and present combinations of compositions which are rarely heard alongside each other. In the case of the concert entitled Romantic Fairy Tales of 24 January however the programme was down to earth. There were no sudden dissonances or odd instrumental combinations and the musical language did not depart from the moderately conventional. However we do not have only the contrasts of old and new, known and unknown, but unfortunately also between quality and its absence and not last between interesting and dull.  more

For what is already the sixth time the National Theatre Brno has presented promising choreographers from among its own ranks. Yesterday in the Reduta Theatre there was the premiere of another year of the unusual project entitled Choreographic Studio. Nine mini productions were performed by soloists and members of the company to their own choreography.  more

An interview between Kateřina Bajo, the main coordinator for the membership of Prague as a city of literature in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and David Dittrich, main coordinator for the membership of Brno as a city of music in the same network. The UNESCO Creative Cities Network was set up in 2004 and its main aim is to support cooperation and international cooperation and creativity. Now it brings together 180 member cities from 72 countries from around the world. The cities fall into 7 creative areas – literature, music, design, film, gastronomy, traditional crafts and media. A city applying for membership in the network has to fulfil very strict criteria, and it must be supported not only by the commission of experts but also by all the member cities.  more

Yesterday the biggest hall of the Brno Exhibition Centre – Pavilion P – was filled with an audience of a thousand. The premiere of the ballet West Side Story was completely sold out. The performance was given by the National Theatre Brno, the author of the original concept and also the original choreography is Jerome Robbins, the libretto is by Arthur Laurents, the music from Leonard Bernstein and the song lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The Brno performance of this world-famous musical was directed by Mário Radačovský, who also created the choreography for this new production. The sets were designed by Marek Hollý and the costumes by Alexandra Grusková. The lighting design was by Tomáš Morávek while the projection was directed by Jan Fuksa and Martin Svobodník.  more

Brno is now one of the 180 cities from around the world that belongs to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Only some three dozen of these are focused on music. After Prague it is the second city in the Czech Republic to be accepted into this network. The awarded title recognises the work of artists, people working in culture, the diversity of genres and cooperation with the surrounding region.  more

The unique event ZUŠ Open will present on Tuesday May 30 up to a thousand musical, dance, theatre and artistic performances in 280 Bohemian, Moravian and Silesian towns and cities. Brno also will have an exceptionally rich programme tomorrow, culminating in a joint vocal performance of children with Magdalena Kožená on Moravian Square and a celebratory concert of the Mozart’s Children Festival in Besední dům together with the Brno Philharmonic. The Brno event is part of Brno’s candidacy for the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of music.  more

The classical ballet Sleeping Beauty in four parts (prologue and three acts) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was performed by the National Theatre Brno on the stage of the Mahen Theatre.  more

I saw them at the bottom end of Kobližná street. That’s it! It’s a rare example, seldom seen. With this my picture of Brno’s musical fauna has been brought to a satisfying close. After all what kind of city of music would it be if an organ grinder didn’t appear at least occasionally!  more

Artists from the Brno national Theatre enjoyed the first applause of the new season in the open air. Just like last year, the largest Moravian theatre opened in the sun-warmed piazzetta in front of Janáček Theatre. The large temporary stage on the outdoor staircase of the opera house was dominated by soloists of the opera and ballet, as well as the opera orchestra and chorus. The large space in front of Janáček Theatre was again filled with hundreds of standing spectators. According to the data available to the theatre, the number of visitors, who stopped by to see the more than two-hour-long tasting of existing and planned productions of the opera and ballet at the Brno National Theatre exceeded 1,000. The weather and the mood of future visitors corresponded to the programme in all aspects: the remarks by the theatre director Martin Glaser and all three artistic leaders (Mário Radačovský for balet, Jiří Heřman for opera and Martin Františák for theatre) were concise and factually informative. The above quartet always introduced individual blocks with examples of productions.  more