KonfronTance Dance Festival Premiers in Prague

Prague has always been well known for its flourishing art scene. This year, many alternative productions have emerged. The latest - KonfronTance - a play on words which loosely translates as confrontational dance - will be held in Prague from October 4th to 13th. The event will take place at the Duncan Centre, the Archa Theatre and in the Universal noD gallery space at Prague's Roxy venue. The presentations will feature a full spectrum of contemporary work and the festival's main goal is to achieve a more pronounced emphasis on truly contemporary and idiosyncratic international choreography.

"The main difference between being a choreographer here and in Toronto, is that I'm more respected here. I can say that I'm a choreographer or a dancer and people automatically ask questions about the work. Whereas in somewhere like Canada it's more like- I would tell people I'm a choreographer or a dancer and they would ask "what's that" or start to laugh. So, I think that for an artist it is much easier to be in Prague because the community really supports it's artists. I think Prague is a great place for an emerging artist to start."

Do you think that the general Czech population has more knowledge about the arts than say the general population in North America?

"In the education system here you grow up with art around you, with architecture all around you, with history all around you. So you know the difference between a building built in the 1900's and a building built in the 1700's. Whereas, in North America you don't have any of these examples in front of you. So, yes... I think that people here grow up with art in their everyday lives."

Could you describe the Konfrontance festival and your piece which is being presented on Friday?

"The Konfrontance dance festival which runs from October 4th to the 13th at the Duncan centre Archa, and the no-D studio and is run by Tatyana Langaskova. It is a very contemporary dance festival where there are people from Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Canada, America, the Netherlands, yes anyways, various people are presenting. I think it's a very special festival because it is a smaller festival and it really represents choreographers that are working on very new ideas in more of a contemporary setting. For me this is an incredible opportunity to present my nine minute solo called "9 minutes" because I am definitely just on the brink of trying to begin as a full time choreographer. And to have this chance, to be able to meet so many people that I admire in the dance scene is incredible. The way I got into the festival was that Tatanya Langaskova came to the Cesta festival and she saw my piece there and asked me if I could present a solo. So, I created this solo and basically I am trying to remember a story and tell it and run away from it through the body."