10 & 13/10 2021 |
Prague, Trade Fair Palace, Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia
American choreographer, arts activist and mentor Sue Schroeder is coming to the Czech Republic for an intensive 10-day collaboration with selected Czech choreographers and members of her ensemble, Core Dance. Sue Schroeder’s work is based on “scores,” or movement interventions, in this case, drawn from selected works in the National Gallery’s permanent exhibition 1796–1918: Art of the Long Century. Visitors will see choreography emerging from the subject matter of objects, paintings and sculptures and the concept of the exhibition as a whole.
Coproduced by SE.S.TA Centre for Choreographic Development and Core Dance Studio in collaboration with the National Gallery Prague, the Gallery Without Borders project began in 2020. This year, the participating artists will finally meet in person.
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(Artworks above: Pepa Mařáková, Self-Portrait with Her Father, 1896, collections NGP; Karel Malich, Red Sculpture, 1964 (2013), courtesy of Galerie Zdeněk Sklenář)
This October, Gallery Without Borders 2021 will present dance makers from the Czech Republic and the United States for the first time, live and in person. Unconventional performances will transform the Sculpture Garden at the Convent of St. Agnes and the exhibition 1796–1918: Art of the Long Century at the Trade Fair Palace.
Under the leadership of American choreographer, arts activist and mentor Sue Schroeder, selected Czech choreographers and members of Schroeder’s Core Dance ensemble will spend 10 days preparing their performances under the eyes of gallery visitors.
“Instead of taking an approach where an artwork "inspires" my dance making, I prefer to research and study artists' intentions. At the same time, I incorporate a number of artistic strategies into my dance process: painting, drawing, diary entries, line drawing, sculpture, etc. The point of departure for most of my work is improvisation and these alternative creative processes stimulate artists to discover new and unique types of movement,” says Schroeder, director and co-founder of Core Dance and the project’s lead artist and mentor.
In 2020, Sue Schroeder created a virtual process for Gallery Without Borders that engaged artists from the Czech Republic and the United States in group and individual coaching sessions. Artworks from the National Gallery’s permanent exhibition 1796–1918: Art of the Long Century were the foundation of this structure.
The full team participated in a total of five virtual sessions in April and May of 2020, which culminated with performances streamed live from the Czech Republic and the United States.
The project involves Czech-based choreographers Eva Urbanová, Barbora Látalová, Zdenka Brungot-Svíteková, Johana Pocková and Roman Zotov-Mikshin. These artists got the chance to collaborate with a celebrated international practitioner and, thanks to the virtual environment, were also able to collaborate with a well-established group of American artists, Walter Apps, Benjamin (Laith) Stevenson, Shawn (Humlao) Evangelista, Iman Siferllah-Grim, working on the same artistic material at the same time.
Schroeder continued to hold online meetings into 2021. These have led to the creation of a new international dance ensemble, with a shared vocabulary and communication methods and the development of choreographic notation (scores) associated with specific artworks, chosen by the dancers from a selection curated by Schroeder.
Gallery Without Borders is characterised by its departure from traditional understandings of dance. The project encourages fruitful and inspiring conversations about the visual arts and also facilitates a kinaesthetic approach to telling the “story of art.”
As is often the case in her work, Schroeder reflected on the intentions of the exhibition’s curators, Veronika Hulíková and Otto M. Urban. The selection of paintings she curated for the performers was dramaturgically divided into the same units as the exhibition: Man, World and Ideas.
In order to share scores and offer feedback in collective sessions, she introduced Lawrence Halprin’s RSVP Cycles. This method is used for generating individual and collective solutions to problems and to develop creativity.
Experience the visual arts differently as you encounter choreographers in the midst of creation.
In the Sculpture Garden, encounters with works by Czech sculptors transform choreographic scores into an unusual conception of space informed by site-specific aesthetics. Dance guides the visitors' gaze across the stage of the entire garden, framed by the convent’s gothic architecture.
Selected sculptures (as reflected by the choreographers)
Music used in the performances
As is characteristic of her creative methodology, Sue Schroeder reflected on the intentions of curators Veronika Hulíková and Otto M. Urban while working in the exhibition 1796–1918: Art of the Long Century. The selection of paintings here was dramaturgically grouped into units that correspond to the exhibition’s three chapters: Man, World and Ideas.
Works of art enter into dialogue in the exhibi-tion; their authors could never have met one another, but now these paintings and sculptures meet in a new, interdisciplinary conversation with dance and the world of dancers. While the curators guide the visitors' gaze through the selection and placement of works in the exhibition space, the choreog-raphers do so actively and dynamically, here and now, through their movement and performance — their bodies become the visitors’ eyes.
Selected artworks (as reflected by the choreographers)
Music used in the performances (in order as replayed)
— Free entrance.
— We respect the valid anti-epidemic measures of the government: covid.gov.cz.
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Veletržní palác, Národní galerie Praha, Dukelských Hrdinů 47, 170 00 Praha 7-Holešovice
Klášter sv. Anežky České , Národní galerie Praha, U Milosrdných 17, 110 00 Staré Město
Born and raised in Detroit MI, Walter Apps started his dance training at the age of four. He received his BFA from Point Park University in 2016. Immediately after graduating, he worked with Texture Contemporary Ballet. Next, Walter moved to New York to work with Yin Yue, Rubén Graciani, and Patrick O’Brien. He has had the privilege to perform works by Aszure Barton, Septime Weber, Lar Lubovitch, MADBOOTS, and Ohad Naharin, to name some. Walter has choreographed, directed, photographed, and filmed works of his own alongside his dancing career. Most recently, “Water We”, a work-in-progress take on water consumption, premiered in Atlanta at the Excuse The Art festival in 2020. Walter is currently a Dance Artist with Core Dance. / Photo: Joseph Titus [ … ]
Mezinárodně působící nezávislý umělec, tanečnice, performerka, choreografka a pedagožka, absolventka VŠMU (SK), seanse - Teaching Artists (N), programů Prototypes III Nadace Royaumont a Incubateur de Chorégraphes (FR). Zaměřuje se na současné pohybové a divadelní techniky, improvizaci, kompozici, somatické přístupy, pohybový výzkum a transdisciplinární spolupráce v oblasti tanečního umění a performance. Vzdělává se také v komunikaci a využití coaching přístupů v umělecké a pedagogické práci. Jako interpretka, spolutvůrkyně či asistentka spolupracovala s mnoha domácími i zahraničními umělci v Evropě, USA a Asii. Věnuje sa také vlastní autorské tvorbě (chiens anufragés, Define Yourself or Get Defined!, HAZARD ZONE). Je jedním z iniciátorů a organizátorů festivalu ImproEventsPrague (2010 - 2015), v rámci programu Francouzského Institutu byla rezidenční umělec na Cité Internationale des Arts Paříži v roce 2017/2018. Zdenka je také jednou ze zakladatelek spolku OSTRUŽINA z.s. a spoluautorkou projektů DIFFERENT?, Tančit o Žižkov a souHra. Práci OSTRUŽINA z.s. prezentovala na konferencích ITAC2 Brisbane 2014 a ITAC4 v New York City v roce 2018. Spolupracuje také s Ateliérem fyzického divdla KSFT-DIFA JAMU v Brně. / Photo: Lea Girardin [ … ]
Shawny Evans/Humlao is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at Hollins University, and they hold a Bachelor of Arts from Kennesaw State University. They have studied with the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies, and is a member of the Dance Studies Association. Additionally, they have performed with Kit Modus, Full Radius Dance, Dance Canvas, Liquid Sky Entertainment, and Southern Arc Dance. / Photo: James L. Hicks [ … ]
Barbora Látalová graduated from the Duncan Centre Conservatory in 1997. She is a dancer, choreographer and teacher who is always posing new questions and who never ceases to seek answers. To enrich her education, Barbora does not hesitate to travel around the globe in search of new opportunities. She has been performing in several projects at the same time, spanning from those of international theatre company Nie of Alex Byrne, through various works by Czech choreographers, to more recent performances for children [ … ]
Johana Pocková (1992) graduated from the Duncan Centre Dance Conservatory in Prague, completed a six-month internship at the Peridance Capezio Centre in New York and two years at the SEAD (Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance). She is currently devoting herself to auteur choreography. In 2017, she won the Jarmila Jeřábková Award for her choreography MURDER! A little comic book history. She has also presented the productions Why Not Now?, Na Váhu! and Full Warehouses of Emotions in recent years and the dance film Folds of Touch. Together with Sabina Bočková, she is the creator of the performance The Lion's Den, which was selected for the Czech Dance Platform 2020 and among the top 20 productions on the European platform Aerowaves 2021. Her latest work, together with Sabina Bočková and Inga Zotová-Mikshina, Treatment of Remembering, was selected for the Czech Dance Platform 2021. In 2019 she founded the dance association POCKETART, and in 2020 she won the first Dance News Award for her contribution to the dance scene. As a performer, she collaborates with the Tantehorse group and the Cirk La Putyka. / Photo: Antonin Kratochvil [ … ]
In over 40 years of work in the arts, Sue Schroeder, Core Dance Artistic Director, has created more than 110 original dance works for theatres, museums, green spaces, architectural works, and water environments. Her work has appeared throughout the United States and Mexico, Israel, France, Germany, Poland, Georgia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Iceland, United Kingdom, Sweden, Canada, Guatemala, and Hungary. Schroeder’s multidisciplinary vision has led to collaborations with influential voices in dance, music, spoken word, visual arts and design. Additionally, Schroeder is recognized as an Arts Activist and Mentor and the Founding Artistic Director of Core Dance. As a contemporary Dance Maker, Schroeder focuses on the creative process, movement research & exploration, using dance-making as a catalyst for social change. Sue has created 110+ original dance works for theatres, museums, green spaces, architectural works & water environments in the U.S. and internationally. She integrates prominent voices in dance, music, spoken word, visual arts and design, using dance to catalyst social change. She is an Arts Activist, Mentor and Founding Artistic Director of Core Dance. / Photo: Jerry Siegel [ … ]
Iman (meaning faith/magnet) Siferllah-Griffin is a dance practitioner and facilitator of healing based in Atlanta, GA. She is the co-creator and member of the internationally known dance duo Al Taw’am LLC. Genres that inform her movement style are Hip Hop, Traditional West African, Dance Hall, Popping, House, Waacking, Modern, Capoeria Angola, Yoga, and other Black American vernacular dances. Iman’s current focus is harnessing her intuitive and spiritual abilities intersectionality with dance. / Photo: Awa Mally [ … ]
Laith Stevenson is a movement artist and published poet from rural Alabama. She attended Emory University, where she received her B.A. in Political Science and Arabic. In addition to her primary studies, she maintained an active presence in the Dance and Creative Writing programs. Here, she began her training in Ballet and Modern Dance. After graduating, she began cultivating her process into movement and choreography to facilitate insightful dialogue on identity and interpersonal relationships. She currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, where she works with Core Dance. / Photo: Christian Meyer [ … ]
Eva Urbanová (SK/CZ) graduated from the Department of Choreography at Prague’s HAMU, and studied at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London. As a dancer, she has worked with Yuki Suzuki, Petra Fornayová, and Jana Stárková, among others; as a choreographer, she has worked with the Dance Conservatoire Prague, Janacek Conservatory in Ostrava and the junior dance company Bohemia Balet. In 2019, she created the work DANCE is not DEAD! for the Central European Dance Theatre in Budapest. Her work Women of Dust was chosen by the 2020 Malá Inventura festival in the "Young Blood” category. Eva’s movement vocabulary is predominately inspired by contemporary Israeli dance and physical theatre. In 2021, Eva is being supported by SE.S.TA Centre for Choreographic Development as part of the KoresponDance at Work programme. / Photo: Petr Kiška [ … ]
Roman Zotov-Mikshin was born in Tula (Russia) and since he was 17 he has lived in Prague. During his studies at Prague Duncan Centre, he learned contemporary dance, modern techniques such as Graham, Limon or Cunningham, martial arts, street dance and he took part in many choreographies as an author and dancer. Since 2015 he has entered various kinds of stages. He has worked with Nadar Rosano, Sue Schroeder, Maxim Diděnko, Lenka Flory, Michal Záhora, Mirka Eliášová, Jana Bitterová and many other artists. He cofounded Ferst Dadler company. Since 2018 he has taught improvisation, composition and other dance-related subjects at Prague Duncan Centre. He was awarded the Jarmila Jeřábková award in 2015. / Photo: Dmitry Pryakhin [ … ]
— There is no prior registration or application required for this event.
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The project is part of the long-running Dance in the Gallery cycle, which is characterised by interdisciplinary collaboration between dance and the visual arts. The project invites visitors to look at artworks anew through an unusual means of expression.
The Dance in the Gallery cycle is characterised by interdisciplinary collaboration between dance and the visual arts. The project invites visitors to look at artworks anew through an unusual means of expression and has been produced in collaboration with the National Gallery Prague and Prague City Gallery since 2012. Several times each year, Dance in the Gallery places performers in current exhibitions, opening new perspectives through movement and offering new encounters with visual and conceptual art.
Among other beliefs, Dance in the Gallery holds that the art form of dance is accessible to everyone, whether it is encountered in a theatre, or as an unexpected intervention in public space. In this second context, dance becomes a catalyst for new ways of experiencing exhibitions.
As a transdisciplinary project, Dance in the Gallery develops several levels of collaboration between contemporary dance artists and galleries. In addition to enriching both dance artists and galleries, it does innovative work with spectators, rendering visible not only the final outcome (the performance), but also the creative process.
SE.S.TA is always interested in finding new levels of cooperation and ways of joining up concepts and know-how. Since the beginning, Dance in the Gallery has allowed SE.S.TA to support artists’ ongoing professional development with additional frames of reference drawn from permanent and short-term exhibitions at the National Gallery in Prague. The resulting exchange of know-how between the fields of dance and the visual arts gives professional artists conceptual tools for their work and offers gallery representatives greater sensitivity and a new approach to exhibition concepts and dynamics.
