I was first invited into this world by the director of the Štúdio Tanca Dance Theatre, Zuzana Ďuricová Hájková, in 1998, at a time when the theatre was based in the National Opera in Banská Bystrica.

Today, the Štúdio Tanca Dance Theatre (STDT) is an established professional dance theatre with its own performance venue which meets all the standard technical criteria for the production and presentation of dance works. For years, it has been instrumental in bringing original projects to Slovakia which are aimed at educating the wider public about contemporary dance and the philosophy of modern dance theatre. The STDT collaborates closely with Slovak and foreign performers and has represented the country at well-known international dance festivals in Poland, Hungary, Russia, Germany, Italy, Egypt, Japan, Belgium, India, France, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Czech Republic.

Apart from its regular programme, which primarily features original productions, the STDT also holds dance classes for the public and organises the annual festival of contemporary dance, Four (+1) Days of Dance for You, which, in 2013, was renamed as Days of Dance for You. The dramaturgy of the festival attempts to blend traditional stage forms with a colourful variety of different genres. The festival's principal ambition is to mobilise the artists, inspire the audience, and present the rich diversity of the craft, thus contributing to the popularisation of contemporary dance among the wider public. In 2013, the STDT celebrated the 15th anniversary of its founding.

The list of dance activities in Banská Bystrica wouldn't be complete without mention of the Ján Levoslav Bella Conservatory. It was here that Zuzana Ďuricová Hájková founded and led for a long while, a contemporary dance department. This environment has fostered and nurtured a number of exceptional Slovak dancers and sent them off into the world of professional dance.

Dance migration from Banská Bystrica to Prague and back to Central Slovakia

Bastard is a story of dislocation. It's about the loss of one's place in the world and the inability to rediscover it. It's about the circumstances which force a person to migrate from place to place. The problem is that on our journey through life, we're not just searching for a place to be, live and settle. We are also seeking acceptance, respect, and the recognition of our fellow man. The migration of the Bastard is caused precisely by the absence of these attitudes and by our diminishing ability to adopt them towards those who are decidedly “other” from ourselves.

(from my report on the first part of The Painted Bird trilogy, written for Stanica Žilina – Záriečie)

My own journey through the world of dance fortunately doesn't bear the marks of such sad stories as Bastard, whom I have portrayed for four years. At this time, I view it more as an allegory for the way my life in theatre can inform and influence my life off stage.

I will skip the seven years I spent in Prague and return to Central Slovakia, this time to Žilina, where I moved, following my then partner. Logically, I could not have avoided the cultural hub Stanica (station) Žilina – Záriečie. The year was 2008. The station, surrounded by the Žilina Rondo, had already been open for five years. A hybrid between an independent arts centre, a creative laboratory and a collective of cultural activists, Stanica aspires to be a centre of critical thinking, creativity, and education. After almost 11 years of its existence, barely anyone can doubt that the incredibly vigorous, creative and persevering team behind the station are doing a mighty good job.

The station is run by Truc Sphérique, an association founded in 1998. Apart from the station, it has been also been responsible for the gradual restoration of another cultural centre – the New Synagogue/Kunsthalle Žilina. The station hosts and organises a whole range of events and activities, such as concerts, exhibitions, dance and theatre productions, film screenings, seminar series, courses and workshops, residencies and exchange programmes for young artists, and various other arts events for children and schools – all the while humming with the atmosphere of small markets and cafés. It also serves as a waiting room and ticket office for the local train from Žilina to Rajec. The result is a sense of permanent commotion and pulsation, so typical of train stations.

Both contemporary dance and physical theatre have their place at the station. Every year, the centre produces at least one original dance show. Furthermore, it offers residencies for the production of shows, the primary media of which are the body and physicality. Further still, the station regularly features dance shows in its programme, and also provides informal dance education in the form of workshops. In the last two years, these activities (building on the now-former activities of the station) have been partially managed by SKOK!, an association with a focus on the physical arts, whose principal goal is to create such events that serve the promotion of dance to the wider public. I will return to this association in a little while.

A separate chapter in the story of dance at the station is undoubtedly the summer festival of “unorthodox” Slovak dance and theatre, KioSK, the seventh edition of which was held this year. KioSK is an example in the current production of independent Slovak dance and theatre. The dramaturgy of the festival focuses on dance, theatre, and performance art which deals with current affairs in original or inventive ways. There is a clear demand for performance art in Slovakia, which is evidenced by the fact that KioSK has been seeing more and more visitors each year. In fact, it has become so popular that if you don't buy your tickets well in advance, you'll find you're out of your luck. All this should suffice to say that KioSK is certainly an event worth attending. It takes place every year in the second half of July, so please, don't miss its eighth edition! (You can read more about KioSK in the first issue of the Tanec magazine in an article by Marek Godovič).

1986

It was in this year, twelve years before the founding of Truc Sphérique, that the Alternative Dance Theatre was born. For a long time, it was managed by its founder, Zuzana Lásková. In 2004, the company was taken over by dancer, choreographer and teacher Zuzana Burianová-Juhásová. It is based in the annex of the Žilina Puppet Theatre, where it currently manages the LABYRINT Centre for Movement and Dance. The centre is a place for regular dance courses, creative workshops, weekend seminars, projects, and shows. The breadth of choice is certain to satisfy all visitors regardless of age or gender.

Am I getting this right? The dance tradition in Žilina goes back a full 28 years! All the more reason for a dancer and choreographer to settle there.

SKOK! – Back to Banská Bystrica

To make a long story short: after eight years with the STDT, I was asked to design a physical performance for the Theatre from the Passage. Thus I found myself back in Banská Bystrica. Speaking of the theatre, it would be impossible not to mention its founder Viera Dubačová, whom I consider to be the heart and soul of independent art and culture in Central Slovakia and beyond. At that time Viera started looking for a space which would give more possibilities to artists and creative people from all walks of life, as well as to the representatives of various cultures and minorities, to realise their bold ideas and visions freely and without censorship. Initially, the theatre was based in the premises of a former creperie in one of the passages at the Slovak National Uprising Square. This venue was christened as the Ivan Palúch Theatre. However, because we knew that we could not stay there for long, Viera started looking for another venue where free art and independent culture could exist and flourish. Some time later she and her team of enthusiasts moved into new premises in the Beniczky Passage.

A New Beginning

And so The Garden – Centre for Independent Culture was born. Initially, the NGO functioned as an informal group of artists, cultural managers, and volunteers. These days, The Garden serves as a meeting place for different people and communities. The building where the cultural centre is based has been undergoing gradual restoration since the beginning. The common area in the historic part of the city occasionally serves as a multi-purpose theatre studio with an open programme, and also as a leisure zone in the form of a city park, which, in winter, is maintained by volunteers. The park offers the possibility of organising different open-air events and free-time activities. The centre as a whole aspires to provide a place for the production and presentation of contemporary and community art in the form of dance and theatre shows, concerts, festivals, and exhibitions, as well as for the presentation of its own productions.

The Garden also became the home stage of the City Theatre – Theatre from the Passage, which was founded in 1995 as the only professional community theatre in Slovakia working with the physically handicapped and, currently, also with other communities (Roma, immigrants, people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, etc.)

SKOK! civic association

In this creative and vibrant environment of Banská Bystrica, I feel the urge to contribute to the positive development of dance in Slovakia, not only through my professional work, but in greater societal contexts. In other words, I don't want to wait for someone else to improve the local conditions for work, the promotion of dance, and so on and so forth. Rather, I want to actively contribute to that development within the limits of my ability. I want to engage as much as possible with the existing and developing structures, especially with individuals, associations and independent cultural centres. That is what led me to establish SKOK! – as a kind of network for the creative development of alternative dance forms or – more broadly speaking – the development of the physical arts in Slovakia. The Garden has accepted SKOK! as a partner, thereby giving us space to realise our own vision of connecting people, asking questions and listening and exploring together – activities which will benefit as broad a segment of the public as possible. SKOK! places the relationship between the performer and the viewer into the forefront. Our goal is to produce such events as will humanise the artist in the eyes of the viewer, and to create an environment where the artist can articulate his work, explain the context of his intentions, and, in a mutual dialogue with the viewer, find common points of understanding and perception. On the other hand, we want to place before the artist a viewer who is not to be seen as a patient with a problem, but rather as a person capable of reflecting, confronting the unknown, the new, and able to open up to new creative approaches, depictions and experiences.

That is all… for the time being.

My return to Slovakia in 2008 was not prepared or planned. It was the result of a convergence of professional and personal circumstances. After almost six years of working in Central Slovakia, I realise—even now as I am writing this article—that it was a fortunate return, and that I have successfully reintegrated into the Slovak dance, cultural and artistic communities. It gives me great pleasure to say that not one of these communities is stagnant, which goes to show that the pace of progress is less relevant than its quality and intention.

Jaro Viňarský (1978) – dancer, choreographer and performer, founder of SKOK!

Between 1996 and 2001, Viňarský studied ballet choreography at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. He then continued his studies in Prague at the Czech Academy of Performing Arts in the field of choreography.

Between 1998 and 2000, he was a member of the STDT in Banská Bystrica. In 2004, he was awarded the Audience Award at the Czech Dance Platform. In 2006, he won the SAZKA “Dance Discovery” AWARD for his solo performance LAST STEP BEFORE. Since 2004, he has worked closely with Belgian choreographer Karine Ponties. Currently, he is involved in leading creative dance workshops, especially for non-professional dancers and people of other professions. He is laureate of 2013 BESSIE NEW YORK DANCE AND PERFORMING ARTS AWARD in the “Outstanding Performer” category.